Paper short abstract:

This paper presents initial PhD research findings concerning the role of silence for those bereaved by suicide. Drawing on a case study, it discusses experiences of shame, painful emotions and expressions of grief following a death by suicide and explores the role of silences in healing.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents initial PhD research findings concerning the role of silence for those bereaved by suicide. Research studies indicate that silence is understood to permeate discourses as a polysemic phenomenon fundamental to understanding the communicative structures and meanings within a society, including negotiating ruptures in relationships (cf. Foucault 1990; Marsh 2010).

This paper discusses a case study of an extended family's bereavement following the death of a loved one by suicide. It takes an ethnographic approach exploring the family's experiences and how silences shaped life trajectories and relationships following the death. It draws on semi-structured interviews and observations, including reflections on a post-mortem examination report and a personal grief journal by the deceased's mother describing the death and the months that followed.

My initial research findings suggest the family experienced various forms of silence following the death, impacting relationships in multifaceted ways. For instance, the deceased's mother discusses feelings of low self-worth due to a self-perceived inability to resolve her grief. Further, she discusses a desire not to burden others with her experiences of pain and how she concealed grieving in front of family members. It suggests a sense of shame, guilt, and anger surrounds painful emotions and expressions of grief concerning deaths by suicide. This paper argues that silences become implicated in keeping family narrative identities safe and may assist in healing, particularly by focusing on special events and memories and developing unique family rituals in remembrance.