Black Grief, Black Healing
Exploring African American Parents Grief With Cultural Implications for Treatment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17190893 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nyla Rogers (0009-0002-3719-1990, Counseling Psychology Howard University Washington DC USA), Shareefah Al’Uqdah (0000-0003-1660-6560, Counseling Psychology Howard University Washington DC USA, corresponding author), Denzell Brown (0009-0005-0636-0503, Counseling Psychology Howard University Washington DC USA), Briayanna Johnson (0009-0007-3004-8135, Counseling Psychology Howard University Washington DC USA) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | e70145-e70145 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Family Process (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/famp.70145 |
| PMID | 41993024 |
| OpenAlex | W7154707435 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 53 |
African American parents experience child loss at disproportionately high rates, yet family systems and grief literature have largely overlooked this population's grief experience. This paper examines how therapists can provide culturally responsive care to African American parents navigating the death of a child. Drawing on existing literature, this paper expounds on the historical trends within the African American family system while delineating unique African American grief practices. Practical and culturally relevant clinical practices such as facilitating robust social support networks, creating structured opportunities for public and communal mourning, and therapeutically addressing the intensity of grief-related emotional responses are provided. Family therapists are called to expand their grief frameworks and family interventions beyond individualized, Western-centric models to encompass the collective, justice-oriented dimensions of loss that shape the lived experiences of African American families
African american · Culturally appropriate · Culturally sensitive · Disenfranchised grief · Extended family · Grief · Psychological intervention · Family Support in Illness · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Migration, Health and Trauma
Structural Racism In Historical And Modern US Health Care Policy
Death of family members as an overlooked source of racial disadvantage in the United States
Black Marriages Matter
Meaning Co‐Construction
Culturally humble and anti‐racist couple and family interventions for African Americans
The Black Lives Matter Movement
Representations of African Americans in the Grief and Mourning Literature from 1998 to 2014
African Americans in Bereavement
African American Homicide Bereavement
Parental grief reactions and marital intimacy following infant death
Bereavement Experiences of Mothers and Fathers Over Time After the Death of a Child Due to Cancer
Cultural responses to loss and grief among Black Americans
The Continuing Process of Parental Grief
Narratives of Grieving African-Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members
Cause of Death and the Quest for Meaning After the Loss of a Child
International Families in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Religious coping among African Americans, Caribbean Blacks and Non‐Hispanic Whites
On becoming multicultural in a monocultural research world
Africanity
EMBRacing Racial Stress and Trauma
Distinctive Features of the African-American Family
Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies
Race and Formal Volunteering
African American Religious Participation
Religiosity, Homogamy, and Marital Adjustment
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |