What fan culture and mourning can teach us about grief

By Susan Cadell, Professor, Social Work, University of Waterloo
Stephanie Levac, Research Coordinator, School of Social Work, University of Waterloo

When a celebrity dies, there is often an outpouring of grief from their fans. This sense of grief can often be even stronger when the person dies young. In October 2024, there was an outpouring of grief from fans when former One Direction singer Liam Payne died.

Grief is the reaction to any kind of loss. It is most often associated with bereavement (the death of a person) and mourning (the expression of grief when someone dies). However, it can be difficult to talk about grief at any age as we live in a death-…

Read complete article

~	ASIO boss warns of ‘realistic possibility’ foreign government could attempt to kill a dissident in Australia

~	Child begging in the Sahel reflects precarious circumstances of region facing multiple crises

~	South Africa: Government is failing millions of people trapped in informal settlements and impacted by the climate crisis – new report

~	US: ICE Abuses in Los Angeles Set Stage for Other Cities

~	View from The Hill: fractured Liberals drown net zero and themselves in a torrent of verbiage

~	Tanzania: Killings, Crackdown Follow Disputed Elections

~	Jane Austen’s world ran on gossip – and she revelled in it

~	World News in Brief: Self-sufficiency call for healthcare funding, Australia treaty with Indigenous Peoples, Haiti women at risk

~	RBA keeps interest rates on hold, leaving borrowers looking further ahead for relief

~	Politics with Michelle Grattan: Niki Savva and David Solomon on The Dismissal