Cross Cultural Experience

Cross-Cultural Experiences of Grief in Relation to Death
As has been alluded to, the experience of grief may in fact be universal, but the way it is expressed, the duration of the feeling and the way it is understood is where the variation lies. So rather than focusing on whether grief is universal, the question lies in how the experience of grief differs or is similar across different cultures (Lofland, 1985, p. 172).

Western experiences of grief typically consist of intense and enduring periods of sadness or sorrow, pain and suffering. We encourage the outward expression of emotion and crying and weeping is encouraged, though not necessary, as we understand that everyone processes grief differently (Walter, 1996, p. 11). When faced with …show more content…
402). This culture of death and grieving really calls into question the Western desire to grieve and mourn loss, and also our understanding of maternal instinct or ways of thinking. For the people of the Alto do Cruzeiro, death is rife and mothers must often make choices between their children, as to which life is most viable, which child is most useful or attractive, much the same as at large emergencies wherein paramedics make calculated choices as to which lives are most viable (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, p. 402). Resources are scarce and so older healthier children are given preference over younger, more fragile children (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, p. 401). In light of how common death is, there is a complete lack of mourning process or memorial for the loss of children, no funerals or burial rituals (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, p. 420). When an infant dies there are rarely tears shed as they believe crying might prohibit the baby from rising up to heaven, and it is moreover seen as a relief, that the end of suffering for the child in death, was better than to see it live on (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, pp. 423-425). They grieve for the living who must continue in life and watch the constant suffering around them (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, p. 408). In a world where life and death is so fragile, they can never put any one person at the centre of anything (Scheper-Hughes, 1993, p.

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