Ultimate Coping Strategies

The Differences among Parents of Murdered or Abducted, Long-Term Missing Children

Bibliographic Data

ID13629926
AuthorsRobert Deyoung (0000-0002-1474-6407, Saint Thomas University, Miami, Florida, corresponding author), Barbara McCormick Buzzi (St. Thomas University), Barbara Buzzi (Saint Thomas University, Miami, Florida)
Year2003
Volume47
Issue4
Pages343-360
Publication date2003-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/qytt-gc1x-mnlx-6wlu
OpenAlexW2081596320
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited12

The purpose of this study was to assess, through naturalistic inquiry, the differences between and relationships among coping strategies of parents of murdered or abducted, long-term missing children, where the offender was non-familial. Multiple data sources were used to examine two areas: the perceptive differences of coping among parents of murdered children in contrast to parents of abducted, long-term missing children; and the ways in which coping strategies of parents of murdered children differ from the coping strategies of parents of abducted, long-term missing children. A single dominant theme emerged when analyzing the similarities and differences among the groups: the duration of expected coping was dependent upon the likelihood of the resolution of the ambiguity of the situation. The analysis identified that both groups suffered comparable bereavement manifestations and utilized similar coping strategies during times of ambiguous loss. The two groups mirrored each other emotionally until the time that parents of murdered children attained clarification of the ambiguous loss through outcome determination. At this point, parents of murdered children were then able to embark on the different emotional and physiological tracks toward the identifiable phases of resolution, which is grieving the loss of their child

Ambiguity · Coping (psychology · Developmental psychology · Clinical Psychology · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology

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