ABSTRACT
Bereavement does in fact have many faces. Until approximately two decades ago the process of bereavement tended to be seen in a rather narrowly focused manner. Bereaved persons were expected to grieve in essentially the same way, with the societal expectations not taking into account their relationship to the deceased nor the manner of death. All bereaved persons were expected to grieve like an older adult who had lost a lifelong spouse. Generally it was expected that if the deceased had been ill for a sufficiently long period, the survivor would have had time to engage in some degree of anticipatory grief. Some allowance was made if the death was a sudden and unexpected occurrence following such incidents as heart attack or stroke.
