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Concepts of Death and Loss in Childhood and Adolescence

A Developmental Perspective

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Children and Disasters

Part of the book series: Issues in Clinical Child Psychology ((ICCP))

Abstract

Professionals who deal with children who have experienced a significant loss face the overwhelming task of understanding their concerns and helping them struggle with their feelings. Children’s mourning is directly related to developmental efforts to make sense of and attempts to master the concept and experience of death. Clinicians working with children on such issues need to define a framework of grieving that is specific to children and that incorporates an understanding of the levels of comprehension of death in children at various ages and stages of growth and development. Such a framework could be applied to children experiencing loss through the death of a loved one, as well as loss experienced in the traumatic effects of war, technical or natural disasters, or violence.

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Gudas, L.J. (1993). Concepts of Death and Loss in Childhood and Adolescence. In: Saylor, C.F. (eds) Children and Disasters. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4766-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4766-9_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3234-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4766-9

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