This study examined patterns of making meaning among 155 parents whose children died from a variety of violent and non-violent causes. Findings indicated 53% of violent loss survivors could not make sense of their loss, as compared to 32% of non-violent loss survivors. Overall, there was overlap in sense-making strategies across different causes…

This article describes an 8-week, curriculum-based traumatic death support group program that is offered at Bo's Place, a grief and bereavement center in Houston, Texas. The program was implemented in 2006 in an effort to help family members who had experienced a death in the family by suicide, murder, accident, or sudden medical problem. The…

The authors investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in Japanese bereaved family members using a questionnaire. Participants were bereaved as a result of suicide and homicide (n = 51 and 49, respectively), with natural death (n = 56) as a control; and their relationships to the deceased were parent-child (n = 79), conjugal (n =…

This article considers the stigmatized deaths in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978, in which more than 900 Americans died of mass murder and suicide, and how this led to the disenfranchisement of grief. It examines the rituals of exclusion by which bodies were handled and describes the experiences of Jonestown survivors. It then looks at the ways in…

This article offers suggestions for strengthening school-based grief support following an adolescent's death. Such interventions must be considered within the context of: (a) development during adolescence; (b) the role of peers in adolescent development; and (c) the fact that an adolescent peer's death is a non-normative life crisis in developed…

Examined belief in afterlife and bereavement recovery following death by suicide, homicide, accident, or natural causes. Bereaved persons (n=121) completed scales measuring belief in afterlife, impact of event, perceived recovery, spiritual well-being, emotional pain, and social support. Feeling of recovery following bereavement appeared enhanced…

Provides support for connection between grief reactions and traumatic life events. Discusses reactions to life traumas (alcoholism, abuse, disability, divorce, infertility) within context of grief framework. Applies literature pertaining to responses to suicide and murder to traumatic life events. Discusses and dissolves proposed differences…

This article considers the implications of suicide and violent deaths (including suicide, homicide, and accidents) for the development of interventions for parentally bereaved children. Analyses of data from the Family Bereavement Program find minimal differences in children's mental health problems, grief or risk and protective factors based on…

Reviews and critiques descriptive and research literature in group work for bereavement. Includes groups for loss of parent, child, sibling, spouse, or classmate resulting from illness, suicide, or violent death. Discusses additional issues, such as timing of help, related to bereavement. (Author/PVV)

Following massacre of 14 women at Ecole Polytechnique in 1989, compared content of 690 condolence messages written by public at 2 French universities in Quebec. Results showed that event did not trigger homogeneous social reaction but different reactions according to sex and university, suggesting that social investment factors play role in…

Many adults are uncomfortable addressing the complicated grief children experience. This guide features words and methods to help initiate discussion of these topics, as well as tools to help children understand and separate complicated grief into parts. The text is divided into four parts: complicated grief; breaking the silence; techniques; and…

A university professor describes the relationship he experienced with his daughter, and her relationship with the man who murdered her and then committed suicide. A special-education professor reacts by discussing prevention and intervention as the keys to survival. The father states that he plans to use this tragedy to help troubled youth. (MKA)

This book is designed to be a systematic guide that incorporates a thorough analysis of grief in a school. It details normal and abnormal grief reactions, factors affecting these grief responses, and the differences in death beliefs and responses of students at different ages and developmental stages. It can also act as a map or a step-by-step…

In the immediate aftermath of the Columbine school shootings, Principal Frank DeAngelis felt, in his own words, "the weight of the world on my shoulders." Five years later, he still struggles for answers--and still loves his job. In this article, the author presents excerpts of her interview with DeAngelis, a man whose face and voice have become…