1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« This study seeks to understand, through exploring the lived experience of losing a child, the moral experience of bereaved fathers. [...] This study, therefore, seeks to understand bereaved father’s experiences of being, for example, a good father, a good spouse, and a good mourner after the death of their child. » (p. 41)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’auteur a interviewé cinq pères (quatre proviennent de la région montréalaise et un habite en Ontario) ayant perdu leur enfant de huit mois à 20 ans précédant la rencontre.

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

« It has been recognized that Western bereavement programs […] rely primarily on models of female grief and fail to adequately take into account gender differences, especially men’s experiences of bereavement. As a result, in contemporary research, fathers’ grief has been studied primarily through the lens of mothers’ grief. This comparative approach has lead [sic] to the perception, in some bereavement studies, that fathers’ experience of grief is less intense and debilitating than that of mothers. […] The study to be discussed examines fathers’ experience of bereavement, using both the ethical framework of the moral philosopher Paul Ricoeur, and phenomenological analysis. [In this study, these] themes will be discussed […]: 1) Bereaved fathers’ experiences of social expectation and regulation; 2) bereaved fathers’ challenges with issues of morality […]; 3) bereaved fathers’ experiences with bereavement support services. By focusing on the experience of bereaved fathers’, my study challenges the common practice of comparing fathers’ grief to that of mothers will be avoided. This study is designed to show how the experience of bereaved fathers is gendered and must be examined in relation to social and familial expectations, as well as internalized standards of proper behavior. This study will contribute to building both a theoretical and clinical evidence base for the field of bereavement studies as well as to the interdisciplinary field of palliative care. » (p. 5)