Abstract
Child loss may undermine one’s faith. Whereas much is known about religion’s role following loss, less is known about the experience of divine struggle—namely, struggling with complex God-related emotions/beliefs—particularly among diverse sociocultural samples. Employing a narrative approach, we interviewed 20 bereaved Modern-Orthodox parents. Analysis revealed three types of divine struggle (explicit, implicit/silenced, none) differentiated by four categories: core emotional experience, response type, significance of faith in the coping process, and the impact of grief-induced divine struggle on parent-God relationship. Findings emphasize the need for culturally-sensitive inquiry of divine struggle, that divine struggle may be silenced, and therapists’ awareness is critical.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1329-1343 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Death Studies |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | Dec 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Funding
This research was supported by grants from the Israel Foundation Trustees - Competition for Research Grants for Doctoral Students in the Social Sciences No. 30 to Rivi Frei-Landau, and was supported by the President's Office, Bar-Ilan University.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israel Foundation Trustees |