The bereavement reaction a cross-cultural evaluation

Abstract

The closing scene in the drama of life is death. From the beginning of time, man has stood in awe of the inevitable end, the strange visitation that conquers every individual, stills every tongue, stops every action. To account for this alien phenomenon, man has, over the years, slowly advanced a number of hypotheses and developed patterns of behavior, rituals, and ceremonies to deal with the emotional problems arising from this final separation. It is upon these reactions to the loss of a loved one (or the bereavement reaction) in different regions of the world at dif ferent times, and especially in contemporary America, that this paper is centered, with emphasis on the symptomatology, pathology, and the significance of these reactions. The question arises, should not the reaction to bereavement have a universal pattern: grief, confusion, fear? Such, we know, is not the case. In one culture the sick or dying person may already be considered dead; in another, even after the disposal of the corpse the individual is still con sidered socially alive. A substitute may be appointed to act his role, or he may be considered to live on through another. Time plays a varying part, too. Among the Pueblo Indians, for example, bereavement is short and hurried, while in the Cocopa Indian tribe it may extend for years. With the Zu?i, a day or two after the funeral the statement is made that a year has passed. We find that there are analogous features in cultures quite remote from each other geographically; there are also remarkable dif ferences in cultures close to each other.