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Grief as an Emotion and as a Disease: A Social‐Constructionist Perspective
Author(s) -
Averill James R.,
Nunley Elma P.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1988.tb02078.x
Subject(s) - grief , perspective (graphical) , meaning (existential) , psychology , disenfranchised grief , psychotherapist , traumatic grief , disease , social constructionism , social psychology , medicine , sociology , social science , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science
This paper examines grief as an emotion and contrasts it with an alternative conception of grief as a disease. Emotions and (to a lesser extent) diseases are constituted, in part, through their relation to social systems. Recently, there has been a trend toward “treating” grief within the health care system. As this trend continues, grief will inevitably accrue some of the aspects of a disease, and it will lose some of its meaning as an emotion. The theoretical and social implications of this shift in meaning are explored.