MAURICE EISENBRUCH CROSS-CULTURAL ASPECTS OF BEREAVEMENT. II: ETHNIC AND CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEREAVEMENT PRACTICES ABSTRACT. Despite a growing interest in bereavement in cross-cultural perspective, few reports have described a comparative analysis of bereavement. By examining the social contexts in the transformations of Western bereavement practices, structures common to bereavement in a range of cultures can be identified. The paper compares the contemporary bereavement practices of several ethnic and cultural groups in North America: Blacks; ethnic Chinese; Southeast Asian refugees; Haitians; Italians; Greeks; and Spanish-speaking groups. Consideration is given to the state of widowhood in different cultural systems. The impact of modernization among traditional societies demonstrates that even though Western tech- nologies are incorporated into the procedures followed by these modernizing societies, the deep cultural code remains intact. Five questions require further clarification: is bereavement an illness, or a Hte de passage and a normal life event? How widespread and useful are protective factors, such as group support, that facilitate successful resolution of grief?. How effective are mourning practices of various ethnic groups in preventing "bad grief", and might some of these practices be beneficial ff taken up by other ethnic groups? How can the Western health practitioner know that a bereaved person from an unfamiliar cultural group is suffering "bad grief"? How acceptable is Western grief counseling to non-Western clients? INTRODUCTION Bereavement practices vary from culture to culture, but for many years most people assumed that certain practices were common throughout the world. Researchers are only now learning about the variety of practices and their implications for health issues. As the understanding of Western observers and health professionals grows, those concerned with the health of non-Western patients will be better able to recognize the signs of atypical grief and respond accordingly. A complete study of bereavement in different cultures and the impact of bereavement on health would involve the disciplines of medicine, psychiatry and anthropology. Few researchers have attempted a full documentation and integration in this area, but there are several studies that have clarified the issues and problems. A society's particular bereavement practices can be described in static terms as a synchronic analysis, the description giving the outsider a frozen picture of a living culture. But to understand accurately the meaning of these practices we must have several pictures over time, for bereavement practices reflect the evolving state of the culture. This diachronic analysis can demonstrate that Cultural, Medicine and Psychiatry 8 (1984) 315 -347.0165-005X/84/0084-0315 $03.30. © 1984 by D. ReidelPublishing Company.