CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Bereavement is an inevitable part of life. The individual's reaction to it depends on higher relationship to the dead person. Bereavement brings about feeling of sadness emptiness, dejection and a times depression. Death is an unpleasant experience, and it forces people to make significant adjustment in their lives. The Psychological adjustment required during mourning include: coping with loneliness, finding new meaning for life, coping with anger, coping with guilt and low self-esteem, and seeking new sources of love.
Given the number of major adjustment require it is no wonder that death of a loved one is such a stressful experience. Bereaved parents often refers to their loss as the ultimate tragedy. According to Alexy (1982), following the death of a child the grieving process is usually experienced intensely and often includes periods of numbness, despair, loneliness and isolation, anger, guilt and waves of some other forms of negative emotion. Quite often, changes in fundamental life values and philosophical beliefs are reported by some as a consequence of experiencing the death of a child (Rando, 1984).
Even though some attention has been paid to the psycho-social situation of the widowed, less attention is being paid to the plight of bereaved parents. The experience of loss among bereaved parents is usually intensified because of the tenacious emotional bonding between parent and child and the perception of the death as being unnatural (since parents are expected to die before their children, all things being equal).
Markusen. Owen, Fulton and Bendiksen (1978) while considering a situation which can, lead to complication in the grieving process of bereaved parents, focused on some of the adjustment problems precipitated by the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). They identified several features of (SIDS) that tend to be especially troublesome including the unexpected nature of the death itself. It is more difficult to bear since the cause and prevention might not be known. The severing of Parent - infant bonding adjustment problems for surviving siblings and many relations who might be demanding for explanations concerning the sudden death can cause some distress for parents. Bereaved Parents may sometimes cry unexpectedly, feel extremely lonely and yet resist others' attempt to provide social support. There may also be attempts to escape from the reminders of the loss while cultivating memories of the dead child. Such parents behaviour may be ambivalent in that while insisting that life is no more worth living after the death of a child, they may resume their careers and be eager to take care of their surviving children and take up the responsibilities of home life. Hence, bereaved parents are usually put to the test of reconciling these contradictory impulses.