ABSTRACT
People bereaved by a drug- or alcohol-related death often experience stigma. The chapter analyses findings from interviews with 106 bereaved family members in England and Scotland. Stigma was experienced directly from others; it could be assumed or perceived; and bereaved family members sometimes stigmatised themselves. Their grief was often disenfranchised, with others – including professionals and other bereaved people – assuming the deceased was not worth grieving. Family members therefore had to decide whether or not to reveal to others that drugs or alcohol were implicated in the death. However, stigma could be mitigated by its opposite: kindness from those encountered after the death. Drawing on theories concerning the end of life, bereavement and emotional labour, the chapter analyses the relationship between stigma and kindness. Stigma entails stereotyping, othering and disgust, each of which has emotional and cognitive aspects; kindness entails identification and fellow feeling. Small acts of kindness displayed by practitioners were valued highly.
