Parents' experiences of the professional response to sudden, unexpected child death: narrative approaches in telling the story

This case study charts my progress through doctoral research which focuses on parents' experience of the professional response, following sudden, unexpected child death. Within the United Kingdom, all such deaths are subject to a Rapid Response aimed at ensuring that no crime has been committed. However, for those deaths which are random tragedies, the potential effects of the investigation can be traumatic. In 2004, three miscarriages of justice involving mothers wrongly imprisoned for murdering their children resulted in the 2004 Kennedy Report, which recommended that professionals be sensitized to the emotions of parents in order to reduce future miscarriages of justice. However, despite this, parents' voices remain largely absent from research and training. My doctoral study aims at bridging this knowledge gap and thereby increasing understanding between parents and professionals. The impetus for my research lay in personal experience following the sudden, unexpected death of my own son, Joe, in 2005. In this case study, I chronicle the development of this experience into a research design, while highlighting the pitfalls and positives of working with such an ethically and culturally sensitive topic. I will conclude by making a few recommendations for students involved with similarly emotive and complex research.