An Exploration of the experience of reminiscence conversations in the presence of a grandchild
Date
1995
Authors
Reid, Kelly Stephen
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Abstract
Research suggests that reminiscence, done in a meaningful social context may invite the reminiscer to construct stories that are empowering and validating. With no other apparent research existing that explores the effect of creating a self narrative in the context of a meaningful family member, this study addressed the question: "What is the experience of creating a self-narrative in the presence of a grandchild?". An interpretive phenomenological methodology was employed to explore this research question. Four grandparents each with one chosen grandchild, participated in this study. Data gathering involved two reminiscence conversations involving each grandparent/grandchild pair and myself followed by an interview between myself and each grandparent in which their experience of the reminiscence conversations was discussed. Themes in each grandparent's experience of the reminiscence conversations were identified and explored and then some of the shared ways the participants experienced the conversations was discussed.
All the grandparent participants expressed a clear positive bias in the content and style of the self-narratives. This was due to the pleasure that was reported to come from telling positively oriented stories and the social belief that their grandchild would not want to hear painful memories. Unhappy life events were de-emphasised although important losses and regrets were acknowledged by all participants. While most found the opportunity to acknowledge these events empowering, only one participant actively used the conversations to help resolve his regrets in a way similar to a therapeutic "life review". Of primary concern to this study was the question of the effect of the grandchild on the way the conversations were experienced. The participants indicated that their grandchildren promoted an emphasis on positive stories. The participants also shaped the conversations to engage and interest their grandchildren. To varying degrees, the grandchildren also revealed their roles as co-authors of their grandparents' narratives. The caring nature of the chosen listeners helped their grandparents to reconstruct parts of their narratives in a positive way. Finally, the grandchildren also enabled the participants to express the culturally defined grandparent role of the 'valued elder'. Implications for counsellors and further research was discussed in relation to the findings of this inquiry.