Overview

African American Grief is a unique contribution to the field, both as a professional resource for counselors, therapists, social workers, clergy, and nurses, and as a reference volume for thanatologists, academics, and researchers. This work considers the potential effects of slavery, racism, and white ignorance and oppression on the African American experience and conception of death and grief in America. Based on interviews with 26 African-Americans who have faced the death of a significant person in their lives, the authors document, describe, and analyze key phenomena of the unique African-American experience of grief. The book combines moving narratives from the interviewees with sound research, analysis, and theoretical discussion of important issues in thanatology as well as topics such as the influence of the African-American church, gospel music, family grief, medical racism as a cause of death, and discrimination during life and after death.

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9780415951517

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Reviews

'Rosenblatt and Wallace provide an insightful portrait of racism and African American grief in America. This portrait does not simply start with the death of a loved one, but includes considerations of how racism frames and affects quality of life and the manner and rate of death for many African Americans. These moving, real-life stories also illustrate the role of faith for many African Americans in coping with racism and grief.' - Ronald K. Barrett, Professor of Psychology and African American Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA

Rosenblatt and Wallace provide an insightful portrait of racism and African American grief in America. This portrait does not simply start with the death of a loved one, but includes considerations of how racism frames and affects quality of life and the manner and rate of death for many African Americans. These moving, real-life stories also illustrate the role of faith for many African Americans in coping with racism and grief. <br>. <br>--- Ronald K. Barrett, Professor of Psychology and African American Studies, Loyola Marymount University <br> Using the best of contemporary scholarship on bereavement, the authors carefully sort out what is universal in grief, what is individual difference, and what is cultural. The book is a model for an important future direction in the study of bereavement. It is essential reading for anyone working with the bereaved in multi-cultural settings.. <br>--- Dennis Klass, Ph.D., co-author of Dead But Not Lost: Grief Narratives in Religious Traditions <br> These stories not only make a good case that elements of grief are different for African Americans relative to Euro-Americans, they also provide a unique look at the pervasiveness of racism in this society. The book demonstrates that racism too often is a part of the death process and the resulting bereavement and coping of the family. As one respondent said, I'm so happy that you're doing this work. We as readers should be, too. No one else has provided such a valuable glimpse of this part of the African American experience.. <br>--- John Harvey, Professor of Psychology, University of Iowa <br>

Author Information

Paul C. Rosenblatt, Ph.D., is Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Rosenblatt is a Fellow of both the APA and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the recipient of numerous other awards and distinctions. He currently sits on the editorial boards of several journals including Death Studies, the Journal of Loss and Trauma, and the Journal of Family and Economic Issues. Beverly R. Wallace, M.Ed., M.Div., is currently a Research Assistant and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. She also serves as Interim Chaplain and Chaplain for Vocational Life at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has experience as a Chaplain and Pastor at a number of institutions. Beverly Wallace is herself African-American, and she interviewed all 26 of the people discussed in the book

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