Abstract

The study aimed to examine meaning-making of bereaved parents regarding the death of their adult child, as well as the coexistence of natural and supernatural explanatory frameworks used to attribute meaning to the death. The loss of a child is perceived as premature, against the laws of nature and a tragedy that could have been prevented. As such it is extremely difficult for parents to accept and comprehend. According to constructivist theory which views humans as meaning-makers by nature, parents attribute various meanings to the death of their child. Such meanings may include natural and supernatural explanatory frameworks. Although these explanations are often conceptualized in contradictory terms, considerable evidence indicates that the same individuals may use both explanations to make sense of their child's death, as there are multiple ways they can coexist in the human mind. A qualitative method was chosen to collect and analyze the relevant data. Fourteen Israeli couples, parents who experienced the sudden and unexpected loss of an adult child, participated in in-depth interviews. The interviews were analyzed with reference to a holistic-substantive narrative approach. The findings indicate that parents attribute various meanings to their child’s death, some supported by natural explanations (such as a tragic coincidence) and some based on supernatural explanations (e.g. divine intervention). The study also found that most participants use both natural and supernatural explanations concurrently to explain and give meaning to their child’s death. The research findings expand the understanding of the ways individuals perceive death and mortality. The findings also raise fundamental questions that future research may address, such as the relationship between natural and supernatural explanatory frameworks of death and emotional aspects of grief, the role of these explanatory frameworks in the continued relationship with the deceased child, and the relations between these frameworks and PTSD.