Damon L.

Brice

PSY- 100

January 24, 2017

Ms. Michelle Griego

Grief Research Paper

Many people deal with grief differently some people deal with grief privately and some

people deal with it openly. The process of grieving has five different steps. Not all the time

people exactly go through the steps accordingly. The five steps are: denial and isolation, anger,

bargaining, depression, and acceptance. denial and isolation is usually the first reaction when that

person finds out about the illness or loss of someone or a thing. They would try to deny the

reality of what has taken place. They usually say to themselves this can't be happening or this

is not happening. Also, they try to block out the situation and try not to think about it. Anger

usually follows denial and isolation. once the denial is over that's when anger kicks in, and

grieving is in full effect. Bargaining is when the person try to reason with themselves. They

would usually say things like only if I work came home sooner or only if I we'll go to the

doctor when I need to this will never happen. Depression is a sadness that comes over a person

after the anguish dissipates They tend to worry about the costs and burial and shut down from

people that depend on them. Acceptance is when a person accepts the reality of what happened

and choose to move on. Not everybody grieves or mourns the same it is experienced by people
from all walks of life across many cultures (Axelrod, 2016). Some people grieve inwardly or

privately and some people grieve outwardly or express their emotions on their sleeve. There's no

right or wrong way of grieving. Some people may skip the denial and isolation process all

together and go straight to anger process. Then others will go to the denial phase and then anger

and then the bargaining phase etc. The different ways someone response to a loss relies upon, the

different components, the social surrounding where he or she lives, the way by which he or she

identifies with different people, and the implication he or she ascribes to life (Mystakidou,

Tsilika, Parpa, Katsouda, & Vlahos, 2004). Each culture, deals with grief in a different manner

when it comes to losing a loved one. For an instance, there was a study in South Africa. The

study was based on how people perceive death and bereavement. The way a person grieve

usually is based on their belief system. for instance, people from Tswana, tend to grieve longer

than the Muslims. the people from Tswana they participate and rituals and ceremonies because

its very important for their grieving process. The first seven days of the death of the loved one

the family would get together and live with the bereaved loved one and start their grieving

process they grieve for their loved one up to a year. During that time, they grieve privately with

their family members and assisted the grieving person hygiene and other necessities. As for the

Islamic people, they grieve more quietly. The woman of the decreased dont attend the memorial

services. Because they are not allowed to express their emotion publicly. As for the men, they

usually cry together at a control manner in the grieving process takes up to 130 days for the death

of the husband. For the wife, the man is allowed to mourn for 3 days (Appel, Papaikanomou,

2013). Then after the mourning period is over they can continue with their lives. Both cultures

believe that death is part of life and they dont question the realities of life and death. After they

grieve then they move on with their lives. Each of the 5 steps that Dr. Kubler-Ross states is being
utilize when it comes down to being to process the of loss of a loved one. Everyone goes through

the process of grieving, but not in the same order. In conclusion, different cultures has different

accustoms on how they grieve. Some grieve quietly and some grieve openly. Some try to make

sense of what happened and some just accept it for what it is a part of life. Some bounce back

from the tragedy and for some it will more time to get over the loss of that person or relationship.

But, it always comes back to the same result That grieving is a process that must be carried out

to move on. It depends on where that person is from. The five stages of grieving is true for

everyone. Everybody needs to be able to express their sorrow in the time of loss.
 Reference Page

Appel, D., & Papaikonomou, M. (2013). Narratives on Death and Bereavement From Three

South African Cultures: An Exploratory Study. Journal Of Psychology In Africa, 23(3), 453-458.

Axelrod, J. (2016). The 5 Stages of Grief & Loss. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 23, 2017,

from https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/

MYSTAKIDOU, K., TSILIKA, E., PARPA, E., KATSOUDA, E., & VLAHOS, L. (2004).

DEATH AND GRIEF IN THE GREEK CULTURE. Omega: Journal Of Death & Dying, 50(1),

23-34.