Bereavement in the English family 1850–1980: Exploring change over time

Abstract

The family’s role was central to bereavement in nineteenth century England and has continued to be influential in certain regions and classes up to the 1940s. But cultural norms in bereavement shifted powerfully in the twentieth century because of demographic and medical change and the two world wars, especially the Second World War. A pervasive model of suppressed and privatized grieving became entrenched in the English psyche for the next 30 years and inevitably reduced the involvement of the family.