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The Nature of Grief: The Evolution and Psychology Reactions to Loss
 
 

The Nature of Grief: The Evolution and Psychology Reactions to Loss [Kindle Edition]

John Archer

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Review

"Archer presents as complete an account of the psychology of grief as on is likely to find....here he does an extraordinary job of pulling together material from clinical psychology, psychiatry, evolutionary psychology, ethology, literature, the visual arts, history, and anthropology to produce a comprehensive and immensely satisfying account of the origins and functions of grief....One of the virtues of this book is the author's determination to confront grief in all its contrary complexity and variability....No library should be without this book."
-"Choice
"Archer presents as complete an account of the psychology of grief as one is likely to find....here he does an extraordinary job of pulling together material from clinical psychology, psychiatry, evolutionary psychology, ethology, literature, the visual arts, history, and anthropology to produce a comprehensive and immensely satisfying account of the origins and functions of grief....makes even the most arcane psychological theories accessible. No library should be without this book."
-"Choice

Product Description

John Archer presents a ground-breaking new synthesis of material from evolutionary psychology, ethology and experimental psychology on the process of grief. He argues that grief is a natural reaction to losses of many sorts; to the death of or separation from a loved one, but also to other aspects of life which are important to the individual. In contrast to much prevailing literature on the topic, The Nature of Grief does not regard grief as an illness to be cured or a psychiatric disorder. Instead, it shows how common an experience it is, throughout all human cultures and clearly present in the animal kingdom.


Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 2620 KB
  • Print Length: 334 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0415178584
  • Publisher: Taylor & Francis (20 Mar 2007)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B000OT7YNI
  • Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #359,030 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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John Archer
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Illuminating 17 Mar 2008
By Anora McGaha - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the questions that I have not yet found answered in books or on the Web is, why is the intense grief response to loss often wrenching sobbing and tears.

Believing that all human behavior has derived from the instinct to survive and reproduce the species, understanding the grief response has been most puzzling to me, especially the visible physical response.

Scientists have theorized that eye-lashes kept dust from the eyes, and tearing could wash dust or sand should it get in the eyes. But why does grief produce tearing, and beyond that breathless, chest and heart wrenching sobbing.

Seeking the answer to this question, I bought this book. While it isn't the readable, anecdotal book that is Ashley Montagu's book, Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin, nonetheless it is a rich source of what scientists have researched and concluded about grief and loss.

The conclusion the book left me with was that grief is indeed related to survival of the species. The younger the person dying, the stronger the grief, except in the case of care-givers to the extent that they are raising young ones, their death is grieved very deeply. We are hardwired to preserve young life and those who give birth to future generations.

While the book gave me this valuable understanding about grief, it did not answer my question about the evolutionary value of the tearing and sobbing. For that answer, I will have to continue my search.

Popular Highlights

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&quote;
Strong affections have always appeared to me, the most noble part of a man's character and the absence of them an irreparable failure; you ought to console yourself with thinking that your grief is the necessary price for having been born with (for I am convinced they are not to be acquired) such feelings. (Darwin, 1843; italics added). &quote;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users
&quote;
In all cases, the individual is said to possess a complex representation of the loved one stored in the brain: &quote;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users
&quote;
Griefin its most basic formrepresents an alarm reaction set off by a deficit signal in the behavioural system underlying attachment. &quote;
Highlighted by 3 Kindle users

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