The Sacred Self

Suffering Narratives in Old Age

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13630611
AutoresHelen K Black (0000-0002-5266-5122, Thomas Jefferson University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2006
Volumen53
Número1
Páginas69-85
Fecha de publicación2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2190/d16k-qr37-1yqd-kdhx
OpenAlexW2101815853
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias 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