Thanatology 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Grief Counseling, Utrecht University, John Bowlby
17 Dec 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
This article was downloaded by:
[UDST - Death Studies]
On:
25 February 2010
Access details:
Access Details: [subscription number 790425462]
Publisher
Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-
41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Death Studies
Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713657620
THE DUAL PROCESS MODEL OF COPING WITH BEREAVEMENT:
RATIONALE AND DESCRIPTION
Margaret Stroebe; Henk Schut
To cite this Article Stroebe, Margaret and Schut, Henk(1999) 'THE DUAL PROCESS MODEL OF COPING WITH
BEREAVEMENT: RATIONALE AND DESCRIPTION', Death Studies, 23: 3, 197 — 224
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/074811899201046
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THE DUAL PROCESS MODEL OF COPING WITH
BEREAVEMENT : RA TIONALE AND DESCRIPTION
````````````````````````````````````````````````````
MARGA RET STROEBE and HENK SCHUT
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
T here are shortcoming s in traditional theorizing about eective ways of coping with
bereavement,most notably,with respect to the so-called ‘‘grief work hypothesis.’’
Criticisms include imprecise denition,failure to represent dynamic processing that
is characteristic of grieving,lack of empirical evidence and validation across cultures
and historical periods,and a limited focus on intrapersonal processes and on health
outcomes.T herefore,a revised model of coping with bereavement,the dual process
model,is proposed.T his model identies two types of stressors,loss-and
restoration-oriented,and a dynamic,regulatory coping process of oscillation,whereby
the g rieving individual at times confronts,at other times avoids,the dierent tasks
of grieving.T his model proposes that adaptive coping is composed of conf rontation–
avoidance of loss and restoration stressors.It also argues the need for dosage of
grieving,that is,the need to take respite from dealing with either of these stressors,
as an integral part of adaptive coping.Empirical research to support this concep-
tualization is discussed,and the model’s relevance to the examination of complicated
grief ,analysis of subgroup phenomena,as well as interpersonal coping processes,is
described.
‘‘Grieving is crucial, necessary and unavoidable for successful adaptation.’’
( Malkinson, 1996, p. 155)
‘‘Those who show the most evidence of working through the loss are those
who ultimately have the most difficulty in resolving what has happened.’’
( Wortman & Silver, 1987, p. 207)
The notion that one ‘‘has to do one’s grief work’’ is well-known
in popular as well as scienti c literature on bereavement, although,
We wish to thank Robert Neimeyer and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful
comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
Address correspondence to M. Stroebe or H. Schut, Centre for Bereavement Research &
Intervention, Research Institute for Psychology & Health, Utrecht University, P.O. Box
80140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Dea th Studies, 23 : 197–224, 1999
Copyright 1999 Taylor & Francis
Ó
0748-1187/99 $12.00 1.00 197
Downloaded By: [UDST - Death Studies] At: 21:08 25 February 2010
198 M.Stroebe and H.Schut
as the above statements illustrate, contemporary researchers dier
in their conclusions about the efficacy of working through grief in
coming to terms with loss. In recent years, in fact, researchers have
begun to question this conceptualization of adaptive coping ( e.g.,
Rosenblatt, 1983 ; Silver & Wortman, 1980; Stroebe, 1992;
Wortman & Silver, 1987) . I t is important to increase our under-
standing of what comprises eective coping with bereavement, for
bereavement is a life event associated with much distress and with
physical and mental health detriments ( Parkes, 1996; Stroebe,
Stroebe, & Hansson, 1993) . There are good reasons to assume that
certain coping strategies enable some people to come to terms with
loss and avoid severe health consequences, whereas others adopt
strategies that are detrimental to health. Thus, better understand-
ing of what comprises adaptive versus maladaptive coping should
enable us to predict dierential health outcome more accurately,
and ultimately to work toward reduction of risk among vulnerable
individuals.
The origins of the grief work notion can be traced to the 1917
paper of Sigmund Freud, and his concept of ‘‘Trauerarbeit’’ ( grief
work) . Both Lindemann ( 1944) and Bowlby ( 1980) incorporated
the concept into their own explanations of the grieving process. It
is probably true to say that the most impactful in the eld of
bereavement today is Bowlby’s attachment theory. According to
Bowlby, working through grief is important for the purpose of
rearranging representations of the lost person and, relatedly, of the
self. Although this enabled detachment ( labeled reorganization in his
more recent work) or the breaking of aectional bonds ( Bowlby,
1979) , at the same time, it also furthered the continuation of the
bond, a relocation of the deceased so that adjustment can grad-
ually be made to the physical absence of this person in ongoing life
( see Fraley & Shaver, in press, for a recent appraisal of Bowlby’s
ideas about loss and bereavement) . The concept of grief work has,
then, remained central in theoretical formulations, and it has also
continued to have in uence in applied elds, being incorporated in
principles of a wide variety of counseling and therapy programs
( cf. Parkes, 1996; Raphael, Middleton, Martinek, & Misso, 1993;
Stroebe, 1992; Worden, 1991).
How can we address the growing concern among bereavement
theorists in recent years about the adequacy of an explanation of
Downloaded By: [UDST - Death Studies] At: 21:08 25 February 2010
Document Summary
This article was downloaded by: [udst - death studies] Informa ltd registered in england and wales registered number: 1072954 registered office: mortimer house, 37- Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www. informaworld. com/smpp/title~content=t713657620. The dual process model of coping with bereavement: To cite this article stroebe, margaret and schut, henk(1999) "the dual process model of coping with. Bereavement: rationale and description", death studies, 23: 3, 197 224. This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources.
