Human Growth and Development / Unit 17 HGD 2437 review, 2 to 3 minutes
The Five-Stage Model and Its Evidence
The idea
Kübler-Ross's five themes, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, became the most famous account of dying and grief. The model is popular because it is intuitive, plainly written, and filled a gap in clinical care, and Kübler-Ross herself urged that the dying be allowed to speak openly, which helps prevent social death. But the research behind it was qualitative and not longitudinal, so the order and occurrence of the themes were never tested. When a longitudinal study of bereaved people did test them, the results were mixed. In the Yale Bereavement Study, acceptance was the most frequently endorsed response from the first month, and yearning, not depression, was the dominant negative feeling. Disbelief was not the initial dominant response. Once rescaled, the indicators did reach their peaks in the order the theory predicts, but the dominant pattern was acceptance throughout.
In practice
Two bereaved daughters: one moves through something like the five themes, the other feels acceptance and longing from the first week and never feels angry, and neither is grieving wrongly.
Where people slip
The misconception is that everyone grieves through five stages in order. "Themes" fits better than "stages": people skip and revisit them, grief fluctuates and spikes on anniversaries, and some reactions, such as bargaining, may never appear. Used as a prescription, the model can fail people who grieve differently or make them feel they are grieving badly. Resilience, which this unit covers shortly, is in fact the most common response to loss. For the exam, know the five themes in order, Kübler-Ross's name, and the criticism that the stages are not a fixed sequence. A contested classic is taught with its evidence, and its humane core, listening to the dying, survives.
Your place on the trail
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