Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

After a sudden traumatic death, bereaved relatives may feel particularly distressed. We look at the role of spirituality (including religion, whether following communal forms or more individually expressed) in people's lives after the traumatic death of a relative. Our findings are based on narrative interviews with 40 people bereaved through murder, manslaughter, car crash, train accident, fire, bomb explosion, industrial explosion, or pedestrian incident. People were interviewed in their homes throughout the UK. A qualitative interpretive approach was taken, combining thematic analysis with constant comparison. A few people said that after the death they felt angry or cynical about religion, but many people turned to spirituality or religion for help at this time. People reported that through spirituality or religion they found practical support, comfort, help in making sense of what had happened, belief in continued existence beyond death, a way of ensuring 'continuing bonds', and healing. Despite declining church attendance and a decline in the number of people who call themselves Christians, it seems that in the UK religion still remains important for people bereaved by a traumatic death. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Original publication

DOI

10.1080/13576275.2011.535998

Type

Journal article

Journal

Mortality

Publication Date

01/02/2011

Volume

16

Pages

1 - 19