Abstract

VIEIRA, Márcia Núbia Fonseca. When a pet dies: a study about mourning. Psicol. rev. (Belo Horizonte) [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.1, pp. 239-257. ISSN 1677-1168.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5752/P.1678-9563.2019v25n1p239-257.

This study is the result of a survey carried out among people whose pets had died. The objective was to understand the process of facing the loss of their pets. A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews, applying some fundamentals from John Bowlby’s attachment theory and W. Worden’s mourning tasks were tools used for the analysis of the collected data. According to these references, it was possible to conclude that the survey participants established strong attachment bonds with their pets, quite similar to those present in human beings. It can be concluded that, due to these strong attachments in which intense expectations of affective nature were filled, all the processes of grief that were experienced by the subjects had the similar characteristics to those presented in the mourning processes arising from the loss of meaningful people.

Keywords : Mourning; Attachment; Pets; Not allowed mourning.

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