ABSTRACT
Most of the research considered in the previous four chapters concerned spousal bereavement. The concentration on this form of grief in research undertaken in western industrialised societies such as the US and Britain may be linked to the central importance of the bonds between marriage partners in these ‘individualistic’ societies (Triandis, 1995; Chapter 3). In ‘collectivist’ societies, where family and collective responsibilities are seen as more important, bonds between spouses are weaker whereas those between parents and children, and between other relatives, tend to be stronger: attachments are more likely to be more dispersed among a number of kin (Volkart and Michael, 1957).
