Schetky D H
University of Vermont, Maine Medical Center, Portland, USA.
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1998;26(3):383-91.
The author's interest in the issue of mourning in prison is twofold. As an active hospice volunteer, she became involved with bereavement work, which sensitized her to the issues of loss encountered upon joining the staff at the Maine State Prison. More often than not, the inmates with whom she met had unresolved issues of loss. The impetus for a grief support group came from an inmate who had experienced the death of five relatives during his period of incarceration; he commented on how difficult it is to mourn in prison, and he worried about how he would deal with all his losses when confronted with them upon his release. The author raised the possibility of a support group and the inmate offered to help organize it. This article describes the author's experience with such a prison-based support group and what she has learned, through this experience, about mourning in prison.
作者对监狱中的哀悼问题有着双重兴趣。作为一名活跃的临终关怀志愿者，她参与了丧亲工作，这使她在加入缅因州立监狱工作人员队伍时，对所遇到的丧失问题变得敏感起来。她遇到的囚犯往往有着未解决的丧失问题。一个悲伤支持小组的想法源于一名在监禁期间经历了五位亲属死亡的囚犯；他谈到在监狱里哀悼是多么困难，并且担心出狱后面对所有这些丧失时他将如何应对。作者提出了成立一个支持小组的可能性，该囚犯主动提出帮忙组织。本文描述了作者在这样一个基于监狱的支持小组中的经历，以及通过这段经历她对监狱中的哀悼所学到的东西。
