ABSTRACT
This book takes a social look at the experience of bereavement as it reflects the norms, values and beliefs of contemporary British Society. Illustrated by recent research, it explores the extent to which and the variety of ways in which dead loved ones may retain a significant social presence in the life of survivors and how bereavement interacts with other personal agendas to shape people’s day-to-day social experience and sense of identity. By focusing on the way people make sense of their experience, as revealed by the interview narratives of 25 bereaved people, this book expands current thinking on the nature and role of the continuing bonds people forge with their dead. It highlights how the continuing significance of the dead in the lives of the living revises what most people understand as the boundaries between the living and the dead. Drawing attention to the profoundly social nature of grief, it considers the practical implications this has for supporting bereaved people.
