Parental Grief after Infant Loss - Grief as a Normative Practice
This thesis examines bereaved parents’ experiences of grief after the loss of an infant child, and how cultural representations, expectations, and norms mediate individual bereavement experiences. It explores how bereaved parents interpret and mediate their own grief experiences and practices by drawing on interpretive repertoires that are available through their personal and family history, popular culture, personal accounts, bereavement communities, etc. In light of recent debates on diagnosing prolonged or complicated grief as a mental disorder within the diagnostic manuals, the thesis also explores how bereaved parents relate to professional and popular accounts of grief as a potential illness.