Case Study of Grieving

Introduction

In 2001, a study found that as many as 92 per cent of young people in the UK will experience bereavement of what they defined as a 'close' or 'significant' relationship (including pets) before the age of 16 (L Harrison and R Harrington, 'Adolescents' bereavement experiences. Prevalence, association with depressive symptoms, and use of services.' Journal of Adolescence 24(2): 159-169). Research suggests that between 4 and 7 per cent will lose a parent.
Both bereavement and youth can be times of major transition and significant disruption to the general flow of social life and personal emotions. Young people experiencing bereavement may therefore be doubly vulnerable. This literature review asks whether there are particular issues at stake when we consider bereavement in the context of the lives of young people.
The literature reveals two main perspectives in response to this question:

• psychological – in which bereavement may be understood as posing particular difficulties in relation to the 'normal' development of adolescence, and
• sociological – in which bereavement may be understood as creating particular vulnerabilities in the context of the relatively powerless and institutionalised phase of life termed 'youth'.

A further consideration is that not all bereavements will constitute a 'loss' and not all consequences will be negative. At times, it may be more appropriate to consider bereavement in terms of 'change' rather than 'loss'.