An exploration of sociopolitical grief

Grief is most commonly understood as an individual response to the death of a loved one. However, this view of grief is highly individualistic and does not incorporate the complexity of the grief experience as a response to many different types of losses. Grief may be individually and/or collectively experienced. It may also be present not just after the death of a loved one, but due to the ‘death’ of deeply held values, ideals, and identities that originate in social and/or structural spheres. A unique form of grief that has significant relevance to current world events is sociopolitical grief, which occurs in losses that result from the implementation of political policies, laws, organisational norms, and social messaging that have a profound impact upon specific individuals and groups. In this article, the concept of sociopolitical grief will be explored from many different perspectives, along with the unique implications for losses that originate at the governmental, structural, and/or social levels.