29 - Contemporary themes and controversies in bereavement research

Summary

The Handbook of Bereavement has provided a comprehensive overview of current research on bereavement. The phenomenology of grief, distinctions between normal and pathological grief, and measurement and assessment techniques are described in considerable detail. The volume also brings into focus a wide variety of theoretical approaches that have been incorporated recently into bereavement research. It documents not only detrimental effects to mental and physical health but a much broader range of consequences associated with loss. It explores the relative vulnerability of different individuals and groups. Analyses also go beyond the consideration of marital bereavement to examine what is known about many different types of loss, including the special cases of AIDS survivors and of Holocaust survivors. Evaluations are provided regarding the availability and efficacy of many different types of support for bereaved persons, ranging from informal help to self-help groups to various counseling and therapy intervention programs.

Despite the length and scope of the volume, however, coverage still has been highly selective. We would have liked to have extended the discussion further to include, for example, comparisons with other types of loss or trauma, such as divorce. Also, as our authors have acknowledged throughout the volume, many questions remain unanswered. Finally, as the careful reader will have discerned, there are still disagreements and controversies between authors and some inconsistencies in results from one study to another.

In this concluding chapter we review theoretical, methodological, and empirical themes emerging from the contributions to this volume, identify continuing controversies and directions for future research, and highlight social and policy implications.