The Sacred Self

Suffering Narratives in Old Age

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13630611
AutoresHelen K Black (0000-0002-5266-5122, Thomas Jefferson University, autor correspondente)
Ano2006
Volume53
Fascículo1
Páginas69-85
Data de publicação2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/d16k-qr37-1yqd-kdhx
OpenAlexW2101815853
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas11

This article is based on ongoing qualitative research that explores elders' (80+) experiences of suffering. We show how respondents link the subject of suffering to a personal sense of the sacred in order to find meaning for suffering. We describe the major concepts of this article: the sacred, suffering, aging identity, and narrative. Through case studies, we show how an individual's sense of the sacred and experiences of suffering are revealed through the use of metaphors and symbols in the narrative. A key finding of this article is that concepts and experiences of suffering and a personal sacred emerge contextually from an elder's individual biography and communal history, as well as from present life circumstances

Aesthetics · Art · Biography · Identity (music · Literature · Meaning (existential · Narrative · Narrative identity · Personal identity · Psychoanalysis · Psychology of self · Psychotherapist · Self · Sociology · Subject (documents · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology · Theological Perspectives and Practices