A Death in the Family: The Differential Impacts of Losing a Loved One

Abstract

This paper will look at how the death of an immediate family member affects the surviving family members, as well as how it impacts the family structure. The death of a parent, the death of a spouse, the death of a child, and the death of a sibling will all be examined and compared to see how these different situations impact different members of the family. Variables such as age, gender, and relation to the deceased turn out to be important predictive factors in how an individual copes with the loss. The family structure must be reorganized after the loss of one of its members, but how families go about this restructuring differs immensely. How the family is restructured has major implications for how the family is able function after the death. Learning how both individuals and family units grieve the loss of an immediate family member and examining the differences, can lead to a better understanding of what grieving processes are the most effective.