Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Bereaved Parents' Negotiation Of Identity Following The Death Of A Child, Paige W. Toller

Communication Faculty Publications

This study examines changes in bereaved parents’ identities following the death of a child. The bereaved parents in this study experienced two dialectical contradictions of identity, which are: (a) a parent without a child to parent and (b) I’m an outsider- I’m an insider. Results describe how parents used communication to negotiate these contradictions of identity. Implications for the study of parental bereavement, communication, and identity are discussed.