THE IMPACT OF AIDS STIGMATIZATION ON AFRICAN MECHANISMS OF COPING WITH BEREAVEMENT: THE CASE OF THE SOUTHERN SOTHO

Abstract

Different ethnic groups, the world over, have their own unique ways of coping with bereavement that are influenced by their shared worldview. This paper is aimed at giving an account of the way the Southern Sotho group deals with the issue of bereavement and how this traditional way of dealing with bereavement is negatively impacted upon by the on-going stigmatization of the AIDS epidemic. Adopting a conceptual analysis and informed by the idea of the narrative therapy, the paper argues that the on-going stigmatization of individuals and families that have lost lives and their loved ones to the AIDS epidemic is rendering some of the traditional mechanisms of coping with bereavement ineffective and irrelevant.