“She’s not the child we had”: How parents reconstruct their child’s identity to include violent and with mental illness

This study examines the grief experiences of parents raising children with serious mental illness and violent tendencies (SMI/VT). We conducted in-depth interviews with 32 self-identified parents of young and adult children with SMI/VT. We employed a modified version of grounded theory for the data...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family trauma, child custody & child development (Print) child custody & child development (Print), 2024-01, Vol.21 (1), p.22-40
Main Authors: Sporer, Karyn, Toller, Paige W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult children
Ambiguity
Children
Grief
Grounded theory
Identity
Mental disorders
Parents & parenting
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Summary:This study examines the grief experiences of parents raising children with serious mental illness and violent tendencies (SMI/VT). We conducted in-depth interviews with 32 self-identified parents of young and adult children with SMI/VT. We employed a modified version of grounded theory for the data analysis, which revealed that the grief of parents of children with SMI/VT parallels that of parents whose children have died. To cope with their grief, participants reconstructed their child’s identity in one of two ways: (1) my child is absent (i.e., my child does not exist, this person with SMI/VT is not my child), or (2) my child is present (i.e., my child is here but the SMI/VT is not a part of my child). We frame our findings through the concept of ambiguous loss. Our manuscript concludes with recommendations for practitioners.
ISSN:2690-4586
2690-4594
DOI:10.1080/26904586.2023.2170942