Understanding Bereavement in Latino Families: A Practical Guide for Practitioners

The death of a child is one of the most stressful life events that a family can experience. Every year, thousands of families in the U.S. lose a child due to miscarriage, stillbirth or complications shortly after birth. No matter how far the pregnancy progressed, families may experience a range of emotions.

Grieving is a part of the normal process of reacting to loss. Grief is a universal phenomena that is expressed in culturally specific ways, and people from different cultures may grieve differently. Understanding how Latino families express grief is an important step in assisting those families through this very difficult period.

Latinos and Grief: Cultural Values and Practical Implications
Here are some widely held cultural beliefs and values that can influence how Latino families experience and express grief.

• Familismo (Family)
During periods of bereavement, Latinos often turn to family and extended family networks for social and emotional support. Grief is perceived as a private, familial matter. For this reason, Latinos may not want to speak with professional therapists or hospital staff about their feelings of loss. Still, always ask if they would like to speak with a professional. There is evidence of increasing Latino participation in support groups and bereavement therapy

.• Religion
Many Latinos are deeply religious and rely on their faith in times of crisis. Rituals associated with death may be very important for many families, especially Catholics. Vigils, receiving last rites and baptism before death are important rituals associated with death and dying. Families may wish to have a priest or pastor present at or near the time of death if this is possible. Families may also wish to light candles. While burning candles is against many hospital regulations, electric candles are widely available and would be an acceptable alternative.

• Baptism
Catholics believe that everyone is born with the original sin and if you are buried without being baptized, you will not go to heaven. In the case of the neonatal or newborn death, if the baby is not baptized, he or she will end up in the Limbo of Infants and not get to heaven. For this reason, many families will perform the baptism ritual at the same time of the memorial service.

• Perceptions of Death
Many Latinos believe that there is spiritual and psychological continuity between the living and the dead. Wakes and yearly celebrations of life reinforce this relationship. Some people may wrongly assume that a family cannot “let go” of their loved one or “move on” when in fact, their ongoing relationship with the deceased is in keeping with cultural norms.

• Reactions to Grief
Reactions to grief can vary greatly from muted to overt physical displays. Research has shown that Latinos may experience more bodily aches and pains such as stomach aches, back pain and headaches than Caucasians in response to the death of a loved one. Women may have an “ataque de nervios,” (nervous breakdown). Many consider this an acceptable cultural response to very stressful situations.

• Machismo
Latino men may not openly express their grief because of the cultural ideal of “machismo.” They may strive to appear strong and stoic in the face of loss. Some people may wrongly assume they are not affected by the death or not supportive of their partner. Males might feel more comfortable expressing their feeling with other males.

• Fatalismo (Fate)
Many Latinos believe in fate and destiny and that life is not entirely under one’s control. This belief may help to ease the grief they feel.

• El Luto (Mourning)
Many Latino families will be in mourning or in luto for at least the first nine days coinciding with the "novenas" or "rosarios". In the Catholic church, a novena is a devotion consisting of prayer said by a rezadora (female who say the prayers) on nine successive days, asking to obtain special graces for the deceased. Children are believed to become angels. Las novenas may consist of small prayers or recitation of the Rosary through the day. The closest members of the family will be expected to mourn their lost by wearing black and in some cases white, and abstaining from parties or other festivities by a length of time set by the family. Mourning periods vary from family to family from nine days up to one year.