TITLE:
Grief and Bereavement in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic
AUTHORS:
Xiaoyan Ivy Wu, Margo Turnbull, Amos Yung, Bernadette Maria Watson
KEYWORDS:
Grief, Bereavement, COVID-19, Hong Kong, Culture, Ritual Practices
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.7,
July
15,
2022
ABSTRACT: The
death of a family member or friend is a significant stressor in an individual’s life and adverse bereavement can lead to
mental and/or physical consequences. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
and the associated infection control regulations have been reported to disrupt
people’s bereavement. However, the majority of the present literature has
focused on Western contexts with no published studies on bereavement in Hong
Kong. Given that grief and bereavement is a universal but culturally-specific
experience, this article foregrounds the
role of culture and ritual practices in Hong Kong Chinese’s bereavement. By focusing
on the Chinese cultural identity, it highlights how their grieving process has
been influenced by the pandemic and associated
regulations. This article calls for more attention to this fundamental but
under-investigated research area.