Introduction

The main question the authors are trying to answer is what are the cultural differences among elderly women in coping with the death of an adult child. This question arose out of a larger study on generativity in elderly women who had and raised children and women who had not. Interviewers in the larger study observed that Jewish women who had lost an adult child responded differently than the non-Jewish mothers. Since the present study focuses on cultural, ethnic and religious factors, the authors have defined them in the following way: Culture is defined as "patterns of ideas, beliefs and behaviors integral to distinctive social groupings." (p. S321); Ethnicity is defined as subgroupings within a culture; Religion is defined as one property that may both express and modify ethnic distinctions. The authors found that the literature supported cultural differences in mothering, coping, outlook and generativity. The following is a summary of their findings.

"Most women over sixty have been socialized to see marriage and child rearing as their main purpose and work in life." (p. S322) For Jewish mothers, often there is a melding of personal boundaries. They often see themselves more as mothers than wives. Non-Jewish mothers have a different concept of motherhood. WASPs see mothering as a technical business. Black mothers are often juggling work and mothering and have a higher frequency of relinquishing childcaring responsibilities to kin. Irish and Italian mothers also have very close ties with their children, but use them to solidify the family unit.

The authors found it was generally agreed that losing a child "eclipses and diminishes" other losses. (p. S322) This is especially difficult with the elderly who have particular problems in coping. The authors identify four tasks involved in coping with the death of a loved one. a) acceptance of reality of loss; b) experience pain of grief; c) adjusting to the environment in which the deceased is missing; d) withdrawal of emotional energy and reinvestment in another relationship (Worden, 1982 cited in Gooden 1991, p. S322) The literature indicated that Jews confronted pain and expected attention from others to help them cope. Non-jews were more stoic and were disdainful of sharing their troubles. This relates to a difference in outlook between Jews and non-Jews. Jews have a tendency to dwell on the negative. Non-jews have a tendency to minimize or deny the negative (p. S323)

Generativity is very important through out the elder years. It is a way to work through issues to put a sense of closure on life. Children are a central "vehicle" of generativity in later years. Loss of an adult child makes parents question all the previous assumptions about life. Jewish mothers experience a profound loss of generativity when their child dies. The same is not true of non-Jewish mothers.

Methods and Results

The authors used a combination of qualitative and quantitative data in their study. (p. S324) The qualitative data consisted of a series of ethnographically devised in depth interviews lasting between 2 and 4 hours each. The interviews were designed to elicit the following information: life histories; generative affect; cognitions; and behavior. The latter was gathered through questions about relations, accomplishments and feelings about having, and having lost, children. The qualitative data was gathered through a series of Likert questionnaires assessing generativity. Three areas of testing were health, well being (positive affect; negative affect; depression; and loneliness) and personality (mastery and control; locus of control; narcissism; and dominance and nurturance).

The results "elucidated three common themes." (p. S324) The first concerned the meaning of the death for the mother, of which there were three. The first was in the conceptualization of motherhood. Jewish mothers developed and maintained secure attachments, even after death. Non-jews separated themselves from mothering the dead child. The second difference concerned the reaction to the social environment. Jewish mothers had difficulty maintaining social ties when they lost their child and consequently their identity as a mother. Non-Jewish mothers used social ties to ease grief. The third had to do with generativity concerns related to death. Jewish mothers lost their sense of purpose when their child died. Non-jewish mothers maintained a sense of purpose and sometimes enhanced it through the loss of the child.

The other two themes were, the expression of the mothers' grief, and her ability to restore her life in the face of the loss. (p. S325) The authors found that expression of grief followed a continuum between fusion and distancing. Jewish mothers were less likely to let go and expressed a sense of helplessness. Non-jewish mothers were more distancing and rarely expressed hopelessness, anger, etc. Jewish mothers had a harder time reconstructing their lives. Only death could relieve them of their pain. Non-Jewish mothers had the attitude that they should rise above the tragedy and "get on" with life.

The quantitative results indicated differences between Jewish and non-Jewish mothers. Jewish mothers were more depressed, had less positive affect and less sense of mastery over their lives. They felt more externally controlled and lonely. Both the Jewish mothers and interviews found the Jewish mothers to be less generative. The authors felt it was important to control for the following variables which might affect a mother's ability to cope with the loss of an adult child: healing time, age and health of mother, and presence of a remaining son or daughter. Only age produced a moderate correlation in the sense of mastery.

The authors concluded that culture is a major factor in elderly women's response to the loss of an adult child. The observed differences were supported by the quantitative data. Offer religious ideology as an explanation for the cultural differences. Christianity believes that this life is a preparation for death, and that resurrection brings eternal life. Judaism believes that rewards and punishments are dispensed in this life. These differences could be important coping mechanisms for the mothers. The authors noted that a confounding factor could be the cultural acceptance of verbalizing emotions. Culturally Jews are more likely to overdramatize and non-jews are more likely to minimize emotional reactions.

Critique and Implications for Social Work

I really liked the concept of this study. The combination of qualitative and quantitative data enabled the authors to humanize the study as well as maintain empiricism. Replication of this study would be important for a number of reasons. First, the issue was explored because interviewers in the larger study noticed some differences in the populations. This would bias the study because differences were expected. Replication would also allow for a larger sample-size which took economic, geographic, and inter-faith variations into account. The method of gathering subjects can be criticized for not being a random sample (subjects were gathered through newspaper ads, word of mouth etc.). A random sample might include mothers who were not attached to their children. Finally, it would be important to know how Jewish mothers compared to non-Jewish mothers on the quantitative scales when there was no death of an adult child. This would indicate whether or not the reactions to losing an adult child are culturally predictable and relational.

This study has much to offer to the study of social work. First it provides a more holistic methodology for collecting data. The ecological nature of social work precludes application of studies wherein variables are isolated and not related to external influences. Secondly, the subject of parents losing children is particularly relevant to disadvantaged populations. Specifically to the elderly, there are situations where a grandmother is caring for the children of her deceased child. The cultural information included in this study would be useful as a basis for understanding individual reactions to such situations. Thirdly, the article points out the economic and emotional support provided by an adult child. The death of that child could have profound effects on the elderly parent which would need to be addressed in a social work context. Fourthly, the majority of AIDS related deaths are among people under 50, leaving a relatively new elderly population which has to cope with the loss of an adult child. Finally, while the Jewish population is relatively small in Texas, there are large populations on the East and West Coasts. Gerontological work in those areas would benefit from the information presented in this article. Especially since there is some indication that Jews are culturally more inclined to seek out therapeutic relationships.

Goodman, M., Rubenstein, R.L., Alexander, B.B., and Luborsky, M. (1991). Cultural differences among elderly women in coping with the death of an adult child. Journal of Gerontology, 46 (6), S321-329.