Grieving online: newcomers' constructions of grief in an online support group.
Research into peer conversations in online grief support groups remains scarce. The authors used discourse analysis to examine 107 initial posts to one such group to examine how newcomers constructed their initial posts to display their eligibility for membership. The authors identified three discursive features: formulating unusual stories of loss, describing uncontrollable emotional and physical states, and engaging in "troubles telling." These discursive patterns illustrate how grief is constructed in ways that may simultaneously conform to and resist norms around grief that exist offline. Implications for practitioners include the need to support individuals through validation of their "nonnormal" grief.
a Department of Educational Technology and Foundations , University of West Georgia , Carrollton , Georgia , USA.
Mary Alice
MA
Varga
Trena M
TM
Paulus
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010379:Peer Group; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*