Perspectives on Loss and Trauma

Assaults on the Self

John H. Harvey

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780761921615
• eBook ISBN: 9781452252117
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Psychologie sociale

With this book, John H. Harvey—widely acknowledged as a key founder of the field of loss and trauma—introduces this broad, interdisciplinary field to undergraduate and beginning graduate students. While many texts cover individual areas such as death and dying or stress and coping, none cover the diversity of loss events that Harvey does in this single volume. Perspectives on Loss and Trauma is the first undergraduate text to present major loss as an encompassing category that includes trauma, death and dying, and stress and coping. It reviews theory and research on the most challenging types of human loss and trauma:

• death and dying
• disease and injuries
• war and violence
• divorce and dissolution
• unemployment and homelessness
• the holocaust and genocide

Written in consideration of cross-cultural, international perspectives on loss, Perspectives on Loss and Trauma discusses relevant therapy approaches and emphasizes a story-telling approach to coping with major loss. It concludes with chapters on therapy and personal adjustment to loss, providing immediate applicability to counselors, therapists, social workers, and other human service professionals.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 - Introduction to the Study of Loss and Trauma
• A Social-Psychological Approach
• Definitions
• Nuances of Defining Major Losses
• An Extensive Literature
• Emphasizing People's Construction of Meaning
• Contextualization of Loss Experiences
• The Experience of a "Pileup" of Losses
• A Set of Basic Ideas
• Trauma: Conceptual Background
• "Missing" Something: A Central Experience in Loss and Trauma
• Conclusions: Emphasis on Basic Principles
• Chapter 2 - Losing Loved Ones to Death
• The Death of Loved Ones
• A Survey of the Bereavement Literature
• Diverse Grief Responses
• The Death of a Child
• The Death of a Spouse or Significant Other
• The Death of a Parent
• A Child's Grief
• Relevance of Basic Ideas
• Chapter 3 - Dissolution and Divorce
• A Culture of Divorce
• Changing Mores: A Fading Stigma
• Defining an Emotional Divorce
• Nonmarital Dissolution Versus Divorce
• When Deteriorated Relationships do Not End
• Moving toward Dissolution
• Entertaining Uncertainty about Causality
• Gottman's Analysis of Dissolution
• The Process of Disaffection
• Vaughan's Analysis of the Progression toward Termination
• Who is Most or Least Distressed?
• Infidelity
• The Aftermath of Divorce: Staying Single
• Deciding to Remarry
• Health
• Vivid Memories of Loves Gone by
• The Effects on Children
• Wallerstein's "Unexpected Legacy" Argument
• Conclusion: The Future of Divorce and Dissolution
• Chapter 4 - Loss Due to Illness and Injury
• Chronic Pain, Illness, and Disability
• Losses Associated with Accidents and Diseases in Early and Midlife
• Losses Related to Major Accidents
• "Marking" Persons Who are Chronically Ill or Disabled
• Aging and the Loss of Health
• Caregivers
• Courage in Dealing with Loss Due to Injury or Disease
• Conclusions
• Chapter 5 - Unemployment and Homelessness
• Chapter 6 - Suicide
• The Pervasiveness of Suicide
• Historical Notes
• A Cry for Help
• What to do if Confronted with a Friend's Thoughts of Suicide
• Contemporary Issues in Suicide
• Meanings of Suicide
• Etiology: "Psychache" and Depressed Anguish
• Etiology: The Biological Case
• The Dynamics of Suicide: Clues to Intentions
• Suicide and the Elderly
• Suicide and Mental Illness
• Myths about Suicide
• Rational Suicide
• Coping with the Suicide of a Loved One
• The Internet and Support Groups
• Conclusions: Legacies
• Chapter 7 - Life Span Losses and Aging
• The Normality of Frequent Life Span Losses
• Is Aging Just about Loss?
• Themes in Life Review
• The Experience of Aging
• Selective Review of Loss-Related Aging Evidence
• Bereavement and Aging
• The Dialectic of Loss and the Quest for Romance in the Golden Years
• Stigmatization and the Elderly
• The Loss of Health, Hope, and Meaning
• Life's Final Season: Going out with Pride and Dignity
• Finding Will and Hope Despite the Frequency of Loss
• Chapter 8 - Violence and War
• The Basic Literature on Violence and Aggression
• Environmental Factors
• Biological Factors
• Maintaining Aggression
• Research Evidence on Domestic Violence
• A Real-World Example of Dating Violence
• Sexual Abuse and Revictimization
• Sexual Stigmatization and Violence
• Incest: A Fundamental Assault on the Self
• Violence Perpetrated by Children
• Loss and Grief Resulting from War
• Vietnam
• Normandy Stories
• Conclusion: Finding Peace after the Ravages of War and Violence
• Chapter 9 - The Holocaust and Genocide
• Auschwitz: Symbol of Evil
• Holocaust Testimonies
• Surviving the Holocaust
• Goldhagen's Thesis
• Generational Effects
• The Holocaust in American Experience
• The Stigma Associated with Surviving the Holocaust
• General Ideas about Genocide
• Hitler and Stalin's Roles in Making the 20th Century the "Bloodiest" Century
• Conclusions: How to Avoid Another Holocaust
• Chapter 10 - International Perspectives on Loss and Adaptation: The Case of Romania
• The Need for a Broader Perspective on Adaptation
• Historical Overview
• Accounts of Loss
• Quantitative Findings
• Personal Observations
• Limitations
• An Update on Conditions in Romania
• Conclusions
• Chapter 11 - Adaptation and Therapeutic Approaches
• Can Some People Recover without Grieving?
• Selected Approaches to Therapy for Traumatic Losses
• Pathologic Grief and Complicated Mourning
• Support Group Movement
• Psychological Trauma and Its Complications
• Coping with Disenfranchised Grief
• Coping with "Silent Losses"
• Conclusions
• Chapter 12 - Perspectives on Personal Adjustment to Loss: An Integrative Commentary
• Framing
• Framing the Loss of a Close Relationship
• Physical Fitness and Tenacity
• Guidance from Darkness
• Grappling with Bereavement
• Searching for Forgiveness
• Tears That Last
• Finding Peace
• Some Integrative Comments on Central Ideas
• References
• Index
• About the Author