Citation

Barak A, Leichtentritt RD. Death Stud. 2015; 39(6): 360-368.

Affiliation

a School of Social Service Administration , The University of Chicago , Chicago , Illinois , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07481187.2014.958626

PMID

25928033

Abstract

The study provides a view of ideological meaning-making processes of 10 Israelis who lost a child examining the parents' perspectives and written public documents. The texts and interviews were analyzed using Gadamer's hermeneutic philosophy.

FINDINGS indicate that bereaved parents construct conflicting ideologically oriented viewpoints: doubting and affirming the Zionist ideology; ascribing sense and senselessness to the loss; and joining the ethos but keeping personal meanings. Our conclusion is consistent with theorists who reject the notion that the human narrative should be coherently unified. We point to potential links between relational dialectics and meaning-making theory and outline implications for practice.

Language: en