Death of a Parent
Transition to a New Adult Identity

Reveals the remarkable change in our sense of self following the loss of a parent.

Debra Umberson (Author)

9780521813389, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 April 2003

264 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.512 kg

'… the book contains many reassuring snippets of advice for 'adult orphans', and the reflections of the interview participants will surely be of interest to others in similar circumstances, allowing them to compare and normalise their own responses.' Cruse Bereavement Care

When a parent dies, most adults are seized by an unexpected crisis that can trigger a profound transformation. Using in-depth interviews and national surveys, Dr Umberson explains why the death of a parent has strong effects on adults and looks at protective factors that help some individuals experience better mental health following the death than they did when the parent was alive. This is the first book to rely on sound scientific method to document the significant adverse effects of parental death for adults in a national population. Exploring the social and psychological risk factors that make some people more vulnerable than others, readers will come to view the loss of a parent in a new way: as a turning point in adult development.

1. Ordinary loss, extraordinary change
2. Unexpected crisis
3. Symbolic loss
4. Turning point in adulthood
5. Intimate relationships
6. The next generation
7. The parent left behind
8. My brother's keeper
9. Rite of passage
Appendix: data and methods
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Coping with death & bereavement [VFJX], Family psychology [JMF], Sociology: death & dying [JHBZ]