Every culture experiences grief and has certain practices for mourning. Mourning is a series of behaviors following the individual’s terminal illness diagnosis, the death of a loved one, human or animal (Axelrod, 2016). Every culture expresses the different stages of grief in different ways. Even within the culture there can be varying levels of discipline that change the way the community grieves. Though, Kübler-Ross’ Five Stages of Grief sound simple and defines stages that everyone will go through, this was not her intention. The truth is that emotions are messy, everyone has their own life experiences, cultures, thoughts and can express the five stages in different order or only some of the stages (Friedman & James, 2008). This essay will discuss Dr. Kübler-Ross’ theory with perspective of the Mexican American culture, the Hindu way …show more content…
For example, if the immediate family immigrated to America, and the body would be buried in Mexico, the family would then have to move back to Mexico (Doran & Downing Hansen, 2006). This is critical for the celebration of Day of the Dead. This is when friends and family reminisce, light candles, eat the deceased favorite foods and visit the cemetery (Doran & Downing Hansen, 2006). This is practiced in hopes of attracting the spirits of the deceased, sometimes a strongly scented marigold called zempasuchil is used (Doran & Downing Hansen, 2006). Day of the Dead can help families still in the depression stage trying to achieve acceptance and those who wish to celebrate their acceptance. In the Mexican American culture when a loved one passes, the family takes part in a ritual called, novenario, which involves getting together each day for nine days beginning the day after the body is buried. While together they pray with the rosary, enjoy light refreshments and provide supportive conversation (Doran & Downing Hansen,