Example Of Death, Grief, And Bereavement: A Cultural Interview Essay

The person interviewed in this case was a 64 year old married Indian female. For confidentiality purposes, the interviewee would be identified under the initials DV in this paper. DV recently suffered from the loss of a loved one, specifically his father. The author of this paper aims to summarize the findings of the interview session about death that was recently conducted featuring her as the interviewee.
The cultural rituals for coping with death among Indians are pretty much the same with that of people from western countries; embalming, organ donation, and typical body preparation procedures are allowed and practiced. However, they have a unique perception about life after death. They believe in life after death and consider it as an important part of samsara or reincarnation. This is why their ultimate goal before death is to be free from any form of human desire because it is one of the requirements to transcend into a state of salvation. All family members are usually allowed to participate in any death-related rituals or customs that the family may have. It is important to note that Indians, being Hindus that they are, does not approve suicide so it may be considered as a less acceptable form of death. The social stigma that comes with this may therefore add to the pain of loss. Mourning periods and memorial events are also conducted in order to honor a person’s death, which is similar to the practice of other cultures. The mourning period is something that offers comfort to the families in times of loss.
As stated earlier, a normal expression of grief and acceptance of the loss would be the holding of a wake, funeral service, and memorial service. Healthy grief has been defined by DV as a form of grievance that does not significantly and negatively interfere with one’s personal life; unhealthy grief is basically the exact opposite. Either way, she said that support groups such as family and friends play an important role in promoting the normal process of grievance (i.e. good grief).