Date

11-13-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

William Townsend

Keywords

Grief, front stage, African American, dramaturgy, social construction, funerals, meaning-making, narrative, phenomenology, COVID-19

Disciplines

Psychology | Sociology

Abstract

In recent times, the dominant psychological understanding of grief is as an emotion (Gravesen & Birkelund, 2021; Meiselman, 2021). However, grief is also socially constructed, meaning that the emotions and behaviors labeled as grief have their beginning in the social space. Grief, then, is a performative act shaped by cultural traditions and public rituals (Murrell et al., 2023). Consequently, the purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study is to understand the lived grief experiences of African Americans (AAs) living in New Jersey who experienced a personal loss through the death of another person during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erving Goffman’s dramaturgy guides this study as it explains how the front stage aspect of impression management is a key aspect of grief (Edgely, 2022). The study explores the “lived experiences” of African Americans who experienced a personal loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin Heidegger’s interpretative phenomenology, guided by Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, is used to answer this question. The sample size for the study will be between 12 to 15 people. Participants will be selected using a sequential mix of purposive sampling and snowballing. It is anticipated that the findings of this current study will identify themes that will assist in understanding the profound social and emotional consequences of losing the front stage and the strategies used by AA to ameliorate the effect of the front stage loss. Ultimately, the current study will provide insight into the social construction of grief and the adaptations that can occur when grief rituals and traditions are disrupted.

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