Losses and support in the grieving process –– pastoral and media context
Abstract
The loss of a close person is accompanied by various emotional, cognitive, behavioural, physical, spiritual and social reactions. The process of grieving therefore has an impact not only on the course of grief, bereavement itself, and the perception of losses, but also on the human being generally. In accordance with experts, grieving after a loved one who died of the virus that causes COVID-19 is specific. In most cases, it is characterized by a lack of personal contact with a seriously ill person due to infection and quarantine measures during hospitalization, and later a characteristic ban on personal farewells or touching due to the potential threat of infection. In addition, this specifics is accompanied by reflections on how the infection occurred in the first place, or anger at the lost person for not being careful enough, or anger at the health system that provided help to the sick loved one. The paper takes into account the aforementioned as a starting point for the presentation of grief and bereavement, which also takes place in the space of social media during the pandemic. The article seeks to contribute to the overall concept of pastoral bereavement support and contemporary digital support for grief and bereavement. It can be achieved by presenting the possibilities of online support for mourners in the context of the French philosopher Vladimir Jankélévitch's (1977) relational model of death. Rabatel and eventually Floréa referred to this issue and started the research on the announcement of death in the media. The goal of such studies was to show that the conventional media focuses on the death of distant people that "doesn’t concern us" (i.e., "third person death"), whereas new technologies give the opportunity and space to talk about the death of close people (i.e., "second person death") as well as one's own death (i.e., "first person death"). The text presents the online space as a place where pastoral care and accompanying the mourners or grieving men is not only possible but also beneficial.
References
Aldrich, A. Z. (2022), "Finding Social Support Through Social Media During COVID Lockdowns", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://today.uconn.edu/2022/06/finding-social-support-through-social-media-during-covid-lockdowns/#
Beaunoyer, E., Hiracheta Torres, L., Maessen, L., Guitton, M. J. (2020), "Grieving in the digital era: Mapping online support for grief and bereavement", Patient Education and Counseling, 103(12), 2515-2524, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.06.013
Bios Urn. (n.d.). "How Technology and Social Media Are Transforming Rituals Around Death", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://urnabios.com/technology-social-media-death-grieving/
Bisceglio, P. (2013), "How Social Media Is Changing the Way We Approach Death", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-approach-death/278836/
Brubaker, J. R., Hayes, G. (2012), "We will never forget you [online]: An empirical investigation of post-mortem MySpace comments", pp. 1-10. Proceedings of the 2011: ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Hangzhou, China, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/ 10.1145/1958824.1958843
Brubaker, J. R., Hayes, G. R., Dourish, P. (2013), “Beyond the Grave: Facebook as a Site for the Expansion of Death and Mourning”, The Information Society, 29(3), 152-163, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2013.777300
Brubaker, J. R., Hayes, G., Dourish, P. (2014), “Beyond the Grave: Facebook as a Site for the Expansion of Death and Mourning”, The Information Society, 29(3), 1-40, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2013.777300
Burke, M., Marlow, C., Lento, T. (2010). "Social network activity and social well-being", pp. 1909-1912. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM.
Castro, L. A., Gonzales, V. M. (2012), "Afterlife Presence on Facebook: A Preliminary Examination of Wall Posts on the Deceased's Profiles", pp. 1-6. CONIELECOMP 2012: Electrical Communications and Computers, 22nd International Conference?, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/CONIELECOMP.2012.6189938
Corr, Ch. (2001), "Anticipatory of Grief". In: Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Edited by Oliver Leaman, Routledge, New York, 538 p. ISBN 10: 0415188253.
Dixon, S. (2022), "Social media use during COVID-19 worldwide – Statistics & Facts", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/7863/social-media-use-during-coronavirus-covid-19-worldwide/
Doka, K. J. (2003), “Acute Grief”, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Edited by Kastenbaum, Gale, Thomson, New York, 1000 p. ISBN 10:002865689X.
Fingerhood, S. (2020), "Social Media’s Impact on Death and Mourning", viewed 28 March 2024, available at:https://medium.com/@sarahfin_1267/social-medias-impact-on-death-and-mourning-d5949cc6a032
Fullerton, N. (2021), "Instagram vs. Reality: The Pandemic’s Impact on Social Media and Mental Health", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-blog/2021/april/instagram-vs-reality-the-pandemics-impact-on-social-media-and-mental-health
Georges, F. (2014), "Post mortem digital identities and new memorial uses of Facebook: Analysing the memorial page creators' identity", Thanatos, 3(1), 82-93, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318358946_Post_mortem_digital_identities_and_new_memorial_uses_of_Facebook_Analysing_the_memorial_page_creators'_identity
Guitton, M. J. (2012), “The immersive impact of meta-media in a virtual world”, Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 450-455, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.10.016
Gulino, E. (2021), "Social Media Has Always Been an Outlet for Grieving. The Pandemic Made It an Essential One", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/social-media-grief-posting
Iłowiecki, M., Zasępa, T. (2003), Moc a nemoc médií [The power and disease of the media], Veda, Bratislava, 183 p. ISBN 9788022407403. [in Slovak]
Jankélévitch, V. (2017), Penser la mort?, Levi, Paris, 139 p. ISBN 10: 2867461057.
Julliard, V., Georges, F. (2018), “Produire le mort: Pratiques d’écriture et travail émotionnel des deuilleurs et des deuilleuses sur Facebook”, Réseaux, 210(4), 89, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.3917/res.210.0089
Kacianová, N. Dobríková, P. "Smútenie za blízkym z hľadiska multidimenzionality človeka" ["Mourning a loved one from the point of view of the multidimensionality of a person"], pp. 7-21. In Kacian, A. (2015), Sprevádzanie smútiacich v medzináboženskom a medzikultúrnom kontexte [Accompanying the grieving in an inter-religious and inter-cultural context], Biblická škola v Martine, Martin, 143 p. ISBN: 978-80-968542-6-4. [in Slovak]
King, R., Carter, P. (2022), “Exploring Young Millennials’ Motivations for Grieving Death Through Social Media”, Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 7, 567-577, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-022-00275-1
Knott, E. (2001), “Bereavement”, Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Edited by Glennys Howarth, Oliver Leaman, Routledge, New York, 560 p. ISBN 9780203426463.
Massimi, M. (2012), “Technology and the human lifespan: Learning from the bereaved”, Interactions, 18(3), 26-29, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/1962438.1962447
Matuščáková, Z. (2021), "´Kolobeh života´ pomáha pozostalým: Smútenie sa stáva ťažším. Nevieme prijať stratu" [“Circle of Life' helps survivors: Grief becomes harder. We cannot accept loss”], viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.forbes.sk/pomaha-pozostalym-smutenie-sa-stava-komplikovanejsim-nevieme-prijat-stratu/ [in Slovak]
Moore, J., Magee, S., Gamreklidze, E., Kowalewski, J. (2017), “Social Media Mourning: Using Grounded Theory to Explore How People Grieve on Social Networking Sites”, OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 79(3), 231-259, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222817709691
Oláh, M. (2021), "Tri otázky na psychiatra Jozefa Hašta o smútení v pandémii" [“Three questions for psychiatrist Jozef Hašt about grieving in a pandemic”], viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.tyzden.sk/rozhovory/75245/tri-otazky-na-psychiatra-jozefa-hasta-o-smuteni-v-pandemii-/ [in Slovak]
Pandya, A., Lodha, P. (2021), “Social Connectedness, Excessive Screen Time During COVID-19 and Mental Health: A Review of Current Evidence”, Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 3, 684137, 1-9, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2021.684137
Park, N., Kee, K. F., Valenzuela, S. (2009). “Being immersed in social networking environment: Facebook groups, uses and gratifications, and social outcomes”, CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(6), 729-733, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2009.0003
Phillips, M. (2017), "How is the online world changing the face of how people grieve?", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.goodgrief.org.au/blog/how-online-world-changing-face-how-people-grieve
Rabatel, A., Floréa, M.-L. (2011), “Re-Presentations of Death in the Information Media”, Questions decommunication, 19, 7-28, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.4000/questionsdecommunication.8885
Rauch, J. (2017), "How Social Media Has Changed the Way We Grieve", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.talkspace.com/blog/social-media-changed-way-grieve/
Robinson, C., Pond, R. (2019), “Do online support groups for grief benefit the bereaved? Systematic review of the quantitative and qualitative literature”, Computers in Human Behavior, 100(1), 48-59, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.06.011
Snyder, V. (2023), "What Marketers Need to Know About People’s Social Media Patterns During the Pandemic", viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-patterns-during-the-pandemic/
Špatenková, N. et al. (2004), Krizová intervence pro praxi [Crisis intervention for practice], Grada, Praha, 200 p. ISBN 8024705869 [in Czech]
Walter, T., Hourizi, R., Moncur, W., Pitsillides, S. (2012), “Does the Internet Change How We Die and Mourn? Overview and Analysis”, OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 64(4), pp. 275-302, viewed 28 March 2024, available at:https://doi.org/10.2190/om.64.4.a
Whiting, A., & Williams, D. (2013), “Why people use social media: A uses and gratifications approach”, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 16(4), pp. 362-369, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/qmr-06–2013–0041
Williams, A. L., & Merten, M. J. (2009), "Adolescents Online Social Networking Following the Death of a Peer", Journal of Adolescent Research, 24(1), pp. 67-90, viewed 28 March 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558408328440
World Health Organization (2023), "WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard", viewed 28 March 2024, available at:https://covid19.who.int/
