{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129361"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129361","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"What is and what could have been: Future identity bereavement","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Drong, Gabrielle"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Napolitano, Chris","Andrade, Flavia","Garthe, Rachel","Ginsberg, Rebecca"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-03-11","date_published":"2025-03-11","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z","subjects":["bereavement","loss","grief","incarceration","identity","future"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Gabrielle Drong"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129361","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Napolitano, Chris","Andrade, Flavia","Garthe, Rachel","Ginsberg, Rebecca"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Drong, Gabrielle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-03-11","2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["bereavement","loss","grief","incarceration","identity","future"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Gabrielle Drong"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129361"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Gabrielle Drong, accepted the attached license on 2025-03-10 at 15:30.","The student, Gabrielle Drong, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-03-10 at 15:41.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-03-11 at 13:12.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21607 on 2025-10-19 at 18:17:13","This study explores formerly incarcerated individuals’ experience of future identity bereavement. Although extensive research has been done on identity loss, the loss of a future identity, or the self-I-hoped-to-be, has not been conceptualized as a form of bereavement or considered a serious loss. Future identity bereavement may be particularly prevalent for incarcerated people, leading to social withdrawal, isolation, and emotional suppression. Imprisonment often detaches people from their support systems, and often complicates one’s prospects and ability to find community upon release. Despite prior research on identity in prison or the experience of bereavement for incarcerated individuals, attempts have not been made to link these two concepts or research them in the future temporality. To this end, I conducted 12 semi-structured recorded interviews with formerly incarcerated male and female individuals to capture rich narratives of their experiences of future identity bereavement. I utilized the Dual Process Model of Bereavement as a lens with which to conceptualize the loss. Following Giorgi’s (2000) Descriptive Phenomenological framework for analysis, themes emerged surrounding this phenomenon. Findings suggest that these individuals experience a multitude of future identity losses: loss of self in dream career, loss of self as parent, and the loss of the non-incarcerated self. Participants described their grief experience, noting feelings of sadness, guilt and shame, regret. They then described how they went on to cope, find meaning in their losses, and move forward with new future identities to strive for. Policy recommendations and interventions, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["What is and what could have been: Future identity bereavement"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Napolitano, Chris","Andrade, Flavia","Garthe, Rachel","Ginsberg, Rebecca"],"dc:creator":["Drong, Gabrielle"],"dc:date":["2025-03-11","2025-05"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-10-19 without embargo terms","The student, Gabrielle Drong, accepted the attached license on 2025-03-10 at 15:30.","The student, Gabrielle Drong, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-03-10 at 15:41.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-03-11 at 13:12.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21607 on 2025-10-19 at 18:17:13","This study explores formerly incarcerated individuals’ experience of future identity bereavement. Although extensive research has been done on identity loss, the loss of a future identity, or the self-I-hoped-to-be, has not been conceptualized as a form of bereavement or considered a serious loss. Future identity bereavement may be particularly prevalent for incarcerated people, leading to social withdrawal, isolation, and emotional suppression. Imprisonment often detaches people from their support systems, and often complicates one’s prospects and ability to find community upon release. Despite prior research on identity in prison or the experience of bereavement for incarcerated individuals, attempts have not been made to link these two concepts or research them in the future temporality. To this end, I conducted 12 semi-structured recorded interviews with formerly incarcerated male and female individuals to capture rich narratives of their experiences of future identity bereavement. I utilized the Dual Process Model of Bereavement as a lens with which to conceptualize the loss. Following Giorgi’s (2000) Descriptive Phenomenological framework for analysis, themes emerged surrounding this phenomenon. Findings suggest that these individuals experience a multitude of future identity losses: loss of self in dream career, loss of self as parent, and the loss of the non-incarcerated self. Participants described their grief experience, noting feelings of sadness, guilt and shame, regret. They then described how they went on to cope, find meaning in their losses, and move forward with new future identities to strive for. Policy recommendations and interventions, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129361"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Gabrielle Drong"],"dc:subject":["bereavement","loss","grief","incarceration","identity","future"],"dc:title":["What is and what could have been: Future identity bereavement"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z"}