Children and Grief When a Parent Dies [Hardcover]

Drawing upon extensive interviews and assessments of school-age children who have lost a parent to death, this book offers a richly textured portrait of the mourning process in children. The volume presents major findings from the Child Bereavement Study and places them in the context of previous research, shedding new light on both the wide range of normal variation in children's experience of grief and the factors that put bereaved children at risk. The book also compares parentally bereaved children with those who have suffered loss of a sibling to death, or of a parent through divorce, exploring similarities and differences in these experiences of loss. A concluding section explores the clinical implications of the findings and includes a review of intervention models and activities, as well as a screening instrument designed to help identify high-risk bereaved children.

Helping children cope with the loss of a parent is a complex challenge which touches the lives of everyone around them. This pioneering work, which never fails to give voice to bereaved children themselves, provides immeasurable help and sensitive guidance to those of us involved with facilitating family rituals and supporting children through the tasks of mourning and remembrance. --Sumner James Waring, Jr., Ph.d. (Hon), B.S., B..A., Affiliated Family Funeral and Cremation Arrangement Service

Seldom do books on bereavement integrate theory, research, and practical suggestions. Worden does this masterfully in his new book,Children and Grief. A report of his research on children who experienced the death of a parent is well-integrated with theory and the research of others, along with practical and helpful information that will be useful to clinicians and the public alike. This is must reading for anyone who cares for parentally bereft children. --Gerald P. Koocher, Ph.D., Chief of Psychology, Children's Hospital, Boston; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical Sl“.