Ideological Meaning-Making after a Loss of a Parent to COVID-19

The coronavirus spread rapidly and soon became a global pandemic that claimed the lives of millions worldwide, including tens of thousands of individuals in Israel. Family members were at times forced to witness the rapid deterioration of their loved ones from behind physical isolation barriers, under strict restrictions intended to reduce contagion, yet which also created painful distance. In this study, I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel constituted more than a health crisis; it also encompassed social and political dimensions, expressed, among other ways, in the policy adopted to manage the pandemic and 
in the conduct of Israeli society.

For tens of thousands of families, COVID-19 was the cause of the death of a loved one. Constructivist theories address, among other aspects, the collapse of familiar narrative frameworks and of basic assumptions and beliefs about the world following the death of a close person. The bereaved individual is confronted with the task of finding new or renewed meanings for life without the deceased. This is a profound and intensive process and constitutes a significant part of the mourning experience (Neimeyer et al., 2010). The present study focuses on ideological meaning-making. Ideology is commonly defined as a set of shared political, moral, and religious belief systems held by those who adhere to it (Jost, 2006; Oren & Possick, 2010; Rokeach, 1968). In other words, ideology functions as a framework through which the individual constructs meaning in order to understand the world.

The primary aim of the study is to understand how ideological meaning-making unfolds among individuals who lost a parent to COVID-19. The underlying assumption was that this population undergoes unique meaning-making processes due to the exceptional circumstances of the death and to the responses of social and institutional bodies to the loss and to the narratives that characterized the pandemic period. In accordance with the understanding that ideological meaning-making occurs when meaning derived from the socio-political sphere is reformulated through dialogue with the environment and repositioned within a broader social context (Barak & Leichtentritt, 2015), participants in this study were also in dialogue with the public sphere during their meaning-making process. Due to the limited research attention given to this domain, a qualitative methodology was chosen, guided by a descriptive-phenomenological approach, in order to delve into the lived experience of the study participants and to understand how they articulate the meaning of their loss in ideological terms and in relation to the broader context in which it occurred (Holloway, 2005).

The theoretical background is presented in the literature review chapter. The first section addresses meaning-making processes and the ways in which loss destabilizes existing systems of meaning and motivates a search for renewed organization of the experience. The second section focuses on ideological meaning-making and examines how ideology becomes integrated into the processing of grief and provides a broader interpretive framework for understanding the loss. The third section presents the COVID-19 pandemic as an ideological crisis in Israeli society and highlights the socio-political context of the pandemic period. The fourth section discusses the loss of a parent during COVID-19 and the coping patterns that emerged as a result of the unique circumstances of the loss.

The study centered on two questions (1) What is the process of ideological meaning-making experienced by individuals who lost a parent to COVID-19, in light of the socio-political climate in which the loss occurred? (2) How does this process integrate with the global worldview and attitudes held by the participants?

Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 15 participants aged 26-54, conducted between 2023 and 2024. The findings were analyzed using thematic analysis, which involved repeated reading of the material in its entirety, bracketing assumptions about the world and the phenomenon, identifying shifts in meaning that were part of the phenomenon under study, and organizing them into themes that consistently emerged across the interviews.

Several central themes emerged from the data. The first theme focused on the experience of the loss itself, its exceptional and traumatic aspects, and on the mourning process through which participants sought to adapt to a new reality and restore equilibrium. This theme examined the mechanisms that supported participants’ coping, including a continued internal relationship with the deceased parent, engagement with spiritual and religious dimensions, and manifestations of growth and functional adaptation in daily life years after the loss. Three additional themes addressed institutional and social bodies that were central to participants' loss experience: the healthcare system, Israeli society, and the state. In relation to these bodies, significant gaps emerged between expectations and reality. These gaps initiated a process of meaning-making in which participants sought to make sense of the loss. 

The findings indicated that a primary mechanism of ideological meaning-making was dialogue, both with the surrounding environment and with the deceased, where the relationship occasionally took on an ideological tone. The accumulation of experiences and dialogues reshaped participants’ global perceptions of society, the healthcare system, and the state. In all cases, these processes led to the formation of critical and sometimes pessimistic perceptions, reflecting the gap between expectations and reality, and the accompanying feelings of disappointment and alienation. At the same time, these dialogues held meaningful value in the mourning process, as they assisted in reorganizing the global system of meanings, with the loss itself continuing to serve as an interpretive vantage point through which 
participants understood the socio-political reality. Additionally, the transition to other forms of 
meaning-making, such as religious or spiritual dimensions, functioned as a balancing and compensatory mechanism in instances where the ideological dimension proved challenging or was abandoned. This allowed participants to continue constructing meaning, cope with life without the parent, and ultimately to experience growth.

This study can shed light on how meaning-making processes occur, and particularly how ideological meaning-making develops. Its theoretical contribution lies in expanding the limited knowledge in this field. Practically, the study’s findings may increase awareness of the role of ideological meaning-making as a resource for coping with grief, especially when it is embedded within a socio-political context. Moreover, the study may highlight the potential of ideological meaning-making as a means of coping with loss that unfolds within broader systemic frameworks, and may serve as a base for developing community and clinical intervention models that support the bereaved