Ricardo Urquidi

On Death and Dying

Final Exam Essay
05/04/09
Essay
Grief is a common but complex feeling which experienced by all but yet

influenced by so many factors that it can’t be generalized. The method by which people

cope and finally resolve their grief, called grief work, is just as varied and immeasurable

as grief. There are many components that comprise the way a person is going to cope

with grief. Personality, socioeconomic background, ethnic background, the relationship

with the person, the type of death of the loved one, The circumstances of the death, the

griever’s current health and overall situation of life and more factors influence the way

one will progress through grief and reach a resolution.

Oddly enough one of the factors that doesn’t have a clear effect on grief work is

time. Time elapsed doesn’t necessarily guarantee resolution [1]. While other factors like

the closeness of the grieving person to the deceased has a great effect on the strength of

bereavement. The closer the two people were the larger the grief. Another very big factor

is if the death was expected or not. Anticipated grieving allows for a better chance at

achieving resolution. Sudden deaths and/or particularly horrific deaths have usually an

augmented response because of the added shock factor. This slows down the whole

process because the family first has to surpass the way the death happened and accept the

death. These and many, many other aspects can affect an individuals grief work.

The time grief work takes cannot be estimated nor hurried. Since it depends on a

myriad of components as well as circumstance before and after the death it is a true

person to person event that is purely a unique and subjective of an individual.

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 Ricardo Urquidi
On Death and Dying
Final Exam Essay
05/04/09
References:
[1] Russac, R.J., Nina S. Steighner, and Angela I. Canto. "GRIEF WORK VERSUS
CONTINUING BONDS: A CALL FOR PARADIGM INTEGRATION OR
REPLACEMENT?." Death Studies 26.6 (July 2002): 463-478. Academic Search
Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 5 May 2009
<http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=aph&AN=7030810&site=ehost-live&scope=site>.

Murders in the US

Number of mureders in the US from 2001 to 2007

17,200 17,030
16,929
17,000
16,740
Number of Murders

16,800
16,528
16,600
16,400 16,229
16,148
16,200 16,037
16,000
15,800
15,600
15,400
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Year

Top 10 Terms

1) Bereavement- The state of suffering pain

2) Ethnocentrism- characterized by or based on the attitude that one's own group is
superior
3) Funeral-Ritual used to allow the mourners to initiate grief work and in some cases
finalize religious rites for the deceased
4) Genocide-Mass murder of a particular group of people for ethnic, social or
political basis
5) Grief-The subjective emotion to reacting to loss that can cause biological,
psychological and spiritual changes.
6) Grief Work- The act of coping with loss
7) Palliatative Care- care of ill patients without intention of grief

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 Ricardo Urquidi
On Death and Dying
Final Exam Essay
05/04/09
8) Object attachment- The different ways that a person can deal with personal
attachment to the lost object and can be resolved either by retention, displacement
or resolution.
9) Maladaptive grief- Grief that has a negative influence on an individual and can
cause physical, psychological and social damage
10) Stages of Grief- Several theories describing the progression people make while
resolving their grief.