Loftland

Question 1

What does this article address broadly

Answer 1

How deeply social structures fit into private feelings

how deeply social arrangements may penetrate into private emotion, in this instance, grief

Argues: Don’t have the available data, but using previous data we can see there might be something

Question 2

What are the Four components of grief to examine in this article:

Answer 2

1. level of significance of the other who dies;
2. definition of the situation surrounding the death;
3. character of the self experiencing a loss through death;
4. and the interactional situation setting in which the prior three components occur

Question 3

Limitations with previous research?

Answer 3

Always been recurring issues of universality with ppl

It is and this is far more complex a question of how humans are alike and how they differ

Recently literature on grief emerged: (Diverse via class - but not via race and nationality) (Mostly british and American)

Question 4

What is “symptomatology”?

Answer 4

Like symptoms of grief:

includes such diverse physical and mental feelings and activities as:
sleeplessness,
restlessness,
loss of appetite,
frustration,
etc

Can range one to 3 years

Question 5

What does the literature tell us the normal grief experience is?

Answer 5

Therefore literature tells us the “normal” grief experience is painful, debilitating and relatively long-lasting

Question 6

What are her four goals for the paper?

Answer 6

1. Clarify why the data necessary to answer the question at issue is not currently available
2. Argue that because of the absence of data, the assumption of universalistic elements which is implicit in much contemporary work on the topic is at least suspect
3. There are good theoretical and limited empirical reasons for believing that grief may be profoundly socially shaped
4. Propose that an assumption of grief’s variability may prove fruitful as a starting point in further researches on the topic-

Question 7

Why is the data necessary to answer the question at issue is not currently available?

Answer 7

No comparable non-western data avalible

Human record has a lot of what ppl do in grief (ex. Social customs and and individual activities)

Grief= Emotional feeling
Mourning = emotional display

Tempting to infer grief from mourning (But we shouldn’t fully assume) (most reports do this)

Most modern discussions assume grief is universal

Question 8

What is grief like in contemporary thought?

Answer 8

View it as a non-fatal disease

Seems like grief is viewed like it has a set course (symptoms happen in expected manner)

Argument that: lack of grief rituals has extended the grieving process

Question 9

What factors shape the grief experience?

Answer 9

1. The Level of Significance of the Other
   Ex. in nationality A cousins are strongly attached, while in nationality B they are not
   
   • therefore grief will differ
2. The Definition of the Situation
   The definition of the situation of death is not always and everywhere the same
   -Early death now (rare)
   -Early death then (common)
   Historically death was like a routine: ex. Lady buried her husband and then was expected to remarry with whoever her nearest kin says

Question 10

How does character variation effect grief?

Answer 10

Argued that variation exists
explored changes in the embeddedness of the self in social structure

Another pt of contrast between not and historically: was no honeymoon before (signifies a change in feelings about feelings)
-Earlier ppl distrusted inner selves
- Modern honeymoon is specifically for inner feelings
There is cultural and historical variability in the self which grieves, then, surely, the grief itself must vary

Question 11

What is modern literature on grief about? Versus older literature?

Answer 11

-modern literature on grief is replete with descriptions of private activities in which
bereaved persons engage which keep their attention riveted to their loss
Ex. long walks, looking for lost one in others faces etc
-But we usually see that behaviour when that person in alone

Older:
In houses with many people - When these living situations coincided with pressures toward speedy “replacement” of spouse or infant or parent
-Can see how people don’t process it (cuz no privacy)

Question 12

What is the conclusion of this paper?

Answer 12

It is an emotion, however much based in biological capacities, which touches directly on the mutual interdependence of selves and societies