Maternal grief in situations of police violence

psychoanalytic contributions

Abstract

Brazilian police were once considered the most lethal and often target marginalized young black men (Araújo, 2015). The mothers of these individuals lose their children early in an abrupt and violent manner. To many mothers, the loss of a child is the biggest one in the world, which makes it relevant to ask: How does the loss of a child to police violence affect maternal mourning? Few studies have been found on the topic, despite its prevalence and the permanent negative impacts on the lives of these mothers (Gomes, 2019). Through a non-systematic literature review on the theme of grief and violent loss, and based on publicized testimonials of mothers who have lost their children to police violence, we focused on how psychoanalysis has an important role in listening to these women, who can trace different paths of psychic work. As a result, we concluded that the loss of a child has a traumatic issue, and the narcissistic nature of the mother-child relationship, abruptly broken by death, stands out. This study offers some contributions to the understanding of this suffering and to the listening of these women, who, as many call themselves, “mothers without a name”.