Dimensions of Diversity in the Reconstruction of Meaning (IN: Living With Grief: who we are, how we Grieve, edited by K J Doka & J D Davidson)

The details of people’s stories of loss suggest a complex process of adaptation to a changed reality. This chapter reflects on these complexities, adopting as a starting point a view of grieving as a process of reconstruction, with special emphasis on its diversity rather than sameness across persons & groups. It reviews a few basic propositions of the meaning reconstruction model, & follows this with a consideration of 3 factors: culture, gender, & spirituality, that contribute to the form & shape of this meaning-making in the lives of those who have had a loss.