THE SOCIAL-CONTEXT OF GRIEF AMONG ADULT DAUGHTERS WHO HAVE LOST A PARENT

The interface between grief an intrapsychic and behavioral response to bereavement, and mourning, a process involving the social and cultura l prescriptions for the expression of grief, has seldom been examined. Using data from a qualitative study on the effects of an elderly pare nt's death on adult daughters, this paper provides evidence that grief and mourning influence each other. Individual response to loss can be understood by examining interwoven intrapsychic and socially evaluati ve domains. Individuals struggling to incorporate these two, sometimes conflicting, dimensions may in part make choices in their own experie nces of and responses to bereavement. This paper suggests that the int ernal debate involved in balancing personal and cultural forces not on ly leads to control of the expression of grief but molds the intrapsyc hic experience of grief as well. For example, the need to control grie f both serves to shape and contain it, and assists in maintaining an e nduring tie with the deceased elderly parent.