title: Recovery following bereavement: metaphor, phenomenology, and culture.
abstract: The concept of recovery following bereavement can be both useful and misleading. As a metaphor, the concept of recovery highlights some aspects of bereavement and obscures others. Bereaved people interviewed in 3 different studies typically did not bring up the term recovery so it did not seem to be a term that described their experience. Across cultures, the concept of recovery can be irrelevant or even misleading in understanding what goes on following bereavement. Arguably, a postmodern perspective in which no single concept is considered relevant for framing what goes on or what is desirable following bereavement might be best.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Science, 290 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, University of Minneota, St. Paul, MN 55108-6140, USA. prosenbl@umn.edu
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
mesh_terms: D001601:Bereavement; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D019365:Metaphor; D009626:Terminology as Topic