Blogging as a Means of Grieving

Background: Grieving Process

Although research has identified various phases of grief, scholars tend to agree on three broadly defined stages, including (1) shock, (2) acknowledgement, and (3) reconstruction (Bowlby, 1980a, DeVaul, Zisook, & Faschingbauer, 1979; Harvey, 1996; Kübler-Ross, 1969). These phases might overlap, but the first two stages generally precede the reconstruction phase (Shuchter & Zisook, 1993; Weiss, 1993). We find Parkes (1970b, 1972) and Bowlby’s (1961, 1969, 1972, 1980a) conceptualizations of the stages of grieving to be most useful for discussing this topic. Their interpretation of grieving is clear and comprehensively acknowledges all of the challenges that someone might encounter during the course of grieving. The phases may overlap with one another. In some cases, the phases of grief may be accompanied by prolonged depression or by acute and episodic “pangs” (Parkes, 1972, p. 39). A grieving person might also experience several overlapping phases at the same time or may swing between phases (Parkes, 1970a).