Volunteers (n=203) obtained through Compassionate Friends newsletters completed questionnaires consisting of Purpose in Life Test, Grief Experience Inventory, and questions on meaning. Findings indicated that lower purpose in life for bereaved parents was related to less time since death, loss by suicide, loss of only child, and loss of more than…

Discusses perceptions of the bereaved that make support groups necessary and the process by which such groups work. Notes that bereavement support groups first produce sense of community with other bereaved persons, then allow group members to begin to concern themselves again with issues other than bereavement. (Author/NB)

Describes the Compassionate Friends self-help group as an effective intervention in the severe bereavement after the death of a child. The decision to attend the group, to affiliate, to transform oneself into a helper within the group form the framework of the description. (Author/NRB)

Describes peer support program for women in prison for the death of a child. Explains how group has helped participants reduce their isolation, mourn their loss, identify their responsibility in the death, and change destructive patterns of feelings and behavior. Follow-up of women who have been paroled is discussed which indicated their positive…

Describes the role of the counselor in self-help groups for the bereaved. Based on experience with the Compassionate Friends, a group of bereaved parents, the counselors' most useful role appears to be that of an intermediary, resource person, and facilitator of group processes and organization. (Author/JAC)