Families Making Sense of Death
Families Making Sense of Death
复制标题
家庭对死亡的理解
DOI：
10.2307/353778
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发表时间：
1997
影响因子：
6
通讯作者：
J. Nadeau
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. Nadeau
家庭对死亡的理解珍妮丝·温彻斯特·纳多。加州千橡市：Sage. 1998。289页，ISBN 0-7619-0265-1。25.95美元。《让死亡有意义的家庭》是一个感人的故事，讲述了10个家庭如何让亲人的死亡变得有意义。事实上，这本书的重点是在一个家庭成员去世后，家庭而不是个人如何带来这种集体思考的意义创造。研究失去亲人后的人生意义是一项罕见的事业——在这个项目开始的时候，作者还没有其他出版过的记录——纳多的开创性工作应该受到赞扬。由于这一领域没有前人的研究成果，纳多采用了定性研究方法，并通过为研究开发的25项问卷对10个家庭进行了采访。访谈的问题包括：家庭成员是如何得知死亡的，家庭成员和死者之间是否有“未完成的事情”，对死者的特定思考方式是否阻碍或帮助了家庭成员，以及是否揭示了“生活教训”或“生活真理”。“密集和非结构化”的访谈是单独进行的，也有其他家庭成员在场，在场的不同家庭成员的数量各不相同。有时整个家庭或几代人都以这种方式接受采访。这种方法强调了在多个系统级别上意义生成的重要性。作为采访过程的一部分，家庭成员被要求“读心术”缺席的成员可能会说什么，或者他们如何看待一个问题，方法是采用米兰的“循环提问”技巧。这些采访被录了下来，书中还包括了逐字摘录，以说明家庭成员的见解。考虑到这些家庭能够并且愿意参与面试过程，这是一个“开放系统”的研究，而不是“封闭系统”。事实上，许多参与者都评论（或至少意识到）面试作为他们意义形成的一部分的重要性。这个定性项目的理论基础源于符号互动和家庭系统理论。符号互动理论的前提是，意义是社会建构的，这样建构的意义决定了结果。家庭系统理论强调家庭结构的变化——即角色、规则和界限的重组——在死亡之后。事实上，家庭成员似乎通过与其他家庭成员的互动和讨论参与了意义创造的过程。通过“家庭谈话”，家庭成员似乎通过完成彼此的句子、提出问题、相互呼应、不同意和打断对方来共同构建日常谈话和交流的意义。…
Families Making Sense of Death. Janice Winchester Nadeau. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 1998. 289 pp. ISBN 0-7619-0265-1. $25.95 paper. Families Making Sense of Death is a moving account of how 10 families are making meaning of the death of a loved one. In fact, the focus of the book is specifically on meaning making and how families, rather than individuals, bring about this collective thinking after the death of a family member. Studying meaning making after loss in the family is a rare enterprise-no other published account had been available to the author at the inception of this project-and Nadeau should be applauded for her pioneering work. Because no prior work exists in this domain, Nadeau used qualitative research methods and interviewed each of the 10 families via a 25-item questionnaire developed for the study. The interview included questions about how the family members learned about the death, whether there was "unfinished business" between the family members and the deceased, whether particular ways of thinking about the deceased hindered or helped family members, and whether "life lessons" or "life truths" have been revealed. The "intensive and unstructured" interviews were conducted individually and with other family members present, and the number of different family members present was varied. Sometimes whole households or multiple generations were interviewed in this way. This approach highlights the importance of meaning making at multiple system levels. As part of the interview process, family members were asked to "mind read" what absent members might say or how they might view an issue by using an adaptation of the Milan technique of "circular questioning." The interviews were audiotaped, and the book includes verbatim excerpts to illustrate the insights of family members. Given that the families were able and willing to participate in the interview process, this is a study of "open systems," rather than "closed systems." Indeed, many of the participants commented on (or at least became aware of) the importance of the interview as part of their meaning making. The theoretical underpinnings of this qualitative project stem from symbolic interaction and family systems theories. Symbolic interaction theory is based on the premise that meanings are socially constructed and that the meanings so constructed determine consequences. Family systems theory emphasizes the changes in family structure-that is, the restructuring of roles, rules, and boundaries-following a death. Indeed, family members appeared to engage in the process of meaning making via their interactions and discussions with other family members. Through "family speak," family members seemed to co-construct meaning in ordinary conversation and communication by finishing each other's sentences, asking questions, echoing, disagreeing, and interrupting each other. …