THE DECEASED CHILD IN THE PSYCHIC AND SOCIAL WORLDS OF BEREAVED PARENTS DURING THE RESOLUTION OF GRIEF

A core dynamic by which grief is resolved by parents in Bereaved Paren ts, a self-help group, is a series of transformations of the inner rep resentation of the dead child in the parent's inner world and in the p arent's social world. As the reality of the child's death as well as t he reality of the parent's continuing bond with the child are made par t of the socially shared reality, the inner representation of the chil d can be transformed in the parent's psychic life. The end of grief is not severing the bond with the dead child, but integrating the child into the parent's life in a different way than when the child was aliv e. This article traces the course of the inner representation of the c hild in the parent's inner life and social world as the parent progres ses through Bereaved Parents. It concludes with some comments on the d ifferences that should be maintained between scholarly and popular und erstandings of phenomena in the continuing bonds survivors maintain wi th the dead.