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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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From sense-making to meaning-making
— understanding and supporting survivors of suicide | | Author(s) | Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart |
| Journal title | British Journal of Social Work, vol 43, no 2, March 2013 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, March 2013 |
| Pages | pp 317-335 |
| Source | www.bjsw.oxfordjournals.org |
| Keywords | Suicide ; Death ; Bereavement ; The Family ; Adjustment ; Theory ; Social work. |
| Annotation | This article reports findings from a qualitative study conducted in Switzerland, aimed at understanding how 48 survivors made sense of the suicide of a loved one. In-depth interviews were carried out and grounded theory analysis was performed. Suicide shatters the assumptive world of survivors. In their quest for meaning, they undergo three processes. Sense-making is seeking comprehensibility and consists of rebuilding the path which led to suicide and the figure of the person who died. Memory-building encompasses dealing with the legacy of suicide, by preserving reputation and presenting a public storyline intended for people outside the family circle. Meaning-making allows the survivor to journey towards an existential significance of the loss. Four ways of meaning-making were highlighted: for some, suicide becomes the driving force behind a commitment to suicide prevention; for others, it is the source of an increased awareness of life. Other survivors cannot find a constructive personal existential meaning, which prevents the rebuilding of self. Finally, for a minority, suicide is a mishap which needs to be dealt with. Suggestions are made on how social workers can assist survivors in their processes of meaning-making by supporting the elaboration of constructive narratives and offering tailored resources. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130405205 A |
| Classmark | EV: CW: DW: SJ: DR: 4D: IG |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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