Abstract:
The study sought to explore the sequel of bereavement on parentally bereaved
students at the University of Limpopo. The study was qualitative in nature. Ten
bereaved students (4 Males & 6 Females) were purposefully sampled and interviewed.
Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using a reflexive
thematic data analysis method.
The major themes that emerged from the data were isolated and outlined. The results
showed that post-parental bereavement, students experienced and expressed their
loss distinctly. Notably, their grief was expressed both emotionally, cognitively,
behaviourally, physically and spiritually. In spite of the grief having been experienced
and expressed diversely, the findings revealed that factors such as - a) circumstances
surrounding the death of a parent, b) religious beliefs and cultural practices, c)
meanings attached to the death, and, d) lack of support post-bereavement, all
influenced participating students’ grief trajectory.
On the one hand, the results highlighted that students relied on diverse strategies
(e.g., bereavement rituals, counselling services) which helped in their processing and
coping with the death of a parent. In particular, psychological counselling was found
to be beneficial, although it was associated with mental health stigma. The study
findings therefore suggest that parental bereavement can result in the experience of
grief, which is an emotionally painful experience that can be complicated secondary
to a myriad of factors. A complicated grief experience could lead to academic
underachievement in the student population. This therefore suggests that complicated
bereavement needs to be treated as earliest as possible in order to avert its
interference with the academic work of affected students. It is recommended further
that higher institutions of learning need to invest more efforts to educate students on
bereavement and its potential impact on their studies. Additionally, efforts should be
directed at addressing the stigma of mental illness on-campus so as to help improve
the user friendliness of on campus student psychological counselling services. The
study is concluded by, amongst others, recommending that future research needs to
look closely into university students’ meaning making process in bereavement.
