Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Updated August 2008
Effects on families from the death of a family member
A longitudinal study of adolescent adjustment following
family transitions. (2005).
Ruschena, E., Prior, M., Sanson,
A., et al.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(4), 353-363.
Using longitudinal data from the Australian Temperament Project, this study examined the effects of family transitions - that is, parental separation, divorce, remarriage and death - on the lives of Australian children and adolescents. The study compared outcomes for young people experiencing transitions with a random comparison group whose parents remained together. Although significant differences between the groups were found in measures of parent-teen conflict and parent-child attachment, no significant differences were found in behavioural and emotional adjustment, or in academic outcomes or social competence. The study concluded that children demonstrate resilience in their experiences of family disruption.
Beyond the death of a child: social impacts and economic
costs of the death of a child. (2007).
Stebbins, J., & Batrouney,
T.
Canterbury, Vic: The Compassionate Friends Victoria.
This report presents findings from a qualitative and quantitative study on the effects of a child's death on a family's relationships and finance. It includes a literature review, and a survey of 103 bereaved families in Victoria and in depth interviews. As well as understanding the wider effects of bereavement during the first three years following a child's death, the report also provides recommendations on supportive policies and practices for services and work places, and comments on helpful behaviours by friends and family.
Bridging the gap: 15 years of service development and
delivery: A model for community-based child bereavement services in the
UK. (2007).
Nugus, D., & Stokes, J.
Grief
Matters, 10(2), 36-41.
This paper considerc what can be learned from 15 years of community-based service delivery that has supported over 50,000 bereaved children and young people in the UK. All family services are grounded in bereavement theory and influenced by ongoing research and evaluation. Despite the development of a national network of services for bereaved children in the UK, there is still a gap to be bridged between those children who receive direct services and the vast majorty of children without access to appropriate, timely and local support commensurate to their needs. (Journal abstract)
Children's reactions to perinatal death of a sibling: A
ten-year follow-up. (2005).
Murray, J.
In K. Kellehear,
et al, (eds). Harvesting hope: Across the lifespan: Book of
proceedings, 14th Annual TheMHS Conference, 5th AICAFMHA Conference, Gold
Coast, Queensland, 1 - 3 September 2004.(pp. 81-86).
Balmain, NSW: Mental Health
Services Conference Inc. of Australia and New Zealand.
While it has been recognised that bereavement grief can be significant in the development of children, there have been few studies that have actually provided longitudinal data concerning these possible effects. Between 1991 and 1993, 63 families who had experienced the death of a baby through stillbirth, neonatal death, or SIDS participated in a study of the effects of a program of selective intervention on the distress of families. Sixty-five surviving children were part of these families. These children are now young adults. This paper provides a brief report on the current perceptions of 35 of these young people concerning the death and their perceptions of its effects on themselves and their families. (Author abstract)
Down the track ...: Recently bereaved parents' experiences of
support. (2003).
O'Neill, C., Giljohann, A., & Ford, D.
Grief Matters, 6(3), 48-51.
The Sudden Infant Death Research Foundation (now called SIDS and Kids Victoria) was established in 1977 by a SIDS parent. Kaarene Fitzgerald, following the death of her eight-month-old son. Glenn. Since 1997, SIDS and Kids Victoria has offered services to the families of all Victorian children six years and younger who have died suddenly and unexpectedly from a range of causes perinatally, from SIDS, drowning, motor vehicle accidents, fire, fast-onset illnesses, homicide, poisoning, or in some other way. The service is provided by professional counsellors in partnership with trained parent supporters who are themselves bereaved. The regional service established in the Barwon region (based in Geelong. Victoria) in 1991 offers support services to bereaved families, whose children were 18 years or younger. This paper is based on an evaluation that has recently been undertaken of the expanded crisis intervention and bereavement support services offered by SIDS and Kids Victoria. It presents findings in four key areas - the issue of professionally trained counsellors who are themselves bereaved parents; active outreach: peer support: and, groups. 'Down the track' is a phrase which was used by all the participants in this evaluation to describe their own journey through grief and their need to look ahead, with the help of other parents who were 'further down the track' of continuing to live without their child. (Journal abstract)
Everyday learning about loss and grief. (2008).
Linke,
P.
Watson, ACT: Early Childhood Australia.
The ways in which parents and carers support young children in dealing with loss and grief can make a big difference to how they will cope with future loss. This book helps parents and carers to understand loss and grief, and provides ideas for helping children to cope. It covers: feelings that come with loss and grief; some losses that can cause young children grief; children's understanding; children's responses to loss; some changes you might see in response to loss; what parents and carers can do to help children cope; cultural differences; death of a pet; death of a person; children's questions; some ways to remember; helping a friend; take care of yourself.
Grieving together: The Dougy Center peer support group
model. (2007).
DeCristofaro, J., & Hoff, J. S.
Grief Matters, 10(2), 42-44.
This article describes the peer support group model for grieving children and families at The Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon. The first of its kind in the world, their four founding principles - grief is a natural a reaction to death, within each person is the capacity to heal, the intensity and duration of grief is unique to each individual, and caring and assistance help in the healing process - still informs their model today. Through the use of clinical examples, the article explores the power of play for grieving children and teens. The article also outlines the different forms of creative expression offered to participants and how each one helps to facilitate the grief process. (Journal abstract, edited)
Intimacy in couple relationships following the death of a
child. (2005).
Riches, G.
Grief Matters, 8(3), 54-57.
Intimacy appears to be a pre-requisite for open communication of painful experiences and challenging emotions. This paper reviews evidence of the links between a child's death, parental grief, and intimacy in surviving marital relationships. It suggests that whilst bereavement may exacerbate problems of communication between partners, leading to a failure in mutual support, marital breakdown is far from inevitable. Bereavement support needs therefore to focus on 'damaged' couple and family relationships as well as on individuals. Opportunities for partners to explore and appreciate differences in the ways each of them is grieving may contribute to enhanced marital intimacy. (Journal abstract)
Intimate relationships in bereavement. (2005).
Rosenblatt, P. C.
Grief Matters, 8(3), 50-53.
Bereavement usually occurs in the context of intimate
relationships. Bereavement can be shaped, made easy or made more
difficult by intimate relationships and can have effects, sometimes quite
profound, on those relationships. This article outlines key phenomena in
the relationships of parents grieving the death of a child, siblings
grieving the death of a parent, and couples in which one partner is
grieving the death of a parent. Intimates may provide wonderful
bereavement support, but often in their own neediness and processes of
dealing with difficulties, they are limited in the kinds of support they
can provide. So sometimes one may have to go outside the relationship for
support. However, in the long run, bereavement can strengthen an intimate
relationship. (Journal abstract)
Kids grieve too: Supporting bereaved children in a group
setting. (2007).
Charles, C.
Grief Matters, 10(2),
32-35.
During the mid 1990s, a group of parents bereaved as a result of the death of their partners commenced meeting in Melbourne at Outreach Grief Services, a bereavement agency auspiced by St. Vincent's Hospital. While they met, their children were cared for by a small group of volunteers. Over time, these volunteers recognised the needs of the children they were caring for and began to develop a program that allowed bereaved children to explore and express their grief following the death of a loved one. The group became known as Kids Grieve Too (KG2). Twelve years later, KG2 still meets the needs of bereaved children throughout Melbourne assisting over 100 children each year. This paper will explore the KG2 bereavement support group, its origins and the theory that underpins and informs the operation of the group, in order to understand what makes a bereavement support group for children like KG2 work. (Journal abstract, edited)
Parental bereavement and youth suicide: An assessment of the
literature. (2005).
Maple, M.
Australian Social Work,
58(2), 179-187.
Suicide among young people in Australia remains at unacceptably high levels. Government financial contribution to the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy in the late 1980s and 1990s has assisted in raising the profile of this issue. Although there has been a recent slight decline, young people continue to commit suicide. For each suicide death it is estimated that up to six people are directly affected. Yet, these 'suicide survivors' remain isolated in grief, with their experience rarely understood by those unaffected. A review of the literature suggests conflicting reports, with little detailed information gleaned directly from parents, about this experience. Often as frontline workers in suicide death, social workers are uniquely placed to appreciate the familial experience of suicide. This paper presents a review of the research literature that informs current knowledge of parental and family bereavement through suicide, highlights gaps in knowledge, and the relevance of social work practice with this group. (Journal abstract)
Resilience and bereaved children: Developing complex
approaches. (2006).
Ribbens McCarthy, J.
Grief Matters, 9
(3), 58-61.
We sometimes hear it said that 'children are resilient', but is this a helpful statement in relation to bereaved young people? The notion of resilience can be controversial, and presumes that the death of someone close is indeed a potential source of significant adversity in the lives of bereaved children. The conceptual issues and empirical evidence are complex, requiring us to develop sophisticated understandings that attend to a constellation of socially structured inequalities as well as individual and social characteristics, understood in relation to contexts and processes over time. (Journal abstract)
Summary report: Beyond the death
of a child: Social impacts and economic costs of the death of a
child. (2007).
Stebbins, J., & Batrouney, T.
Canterbury, Vic: The Compassionate Friends Victoria, and
Online.
This summary report includes selected sections and summaries of chapters from the full report, 'Beyond the death of a child: social impacts and economics costs of the death of a child.' The full report presents findings from a qualitative and quantitative study on the effects of a child's death on a family's relationships and finance. It includes a literature review, and a survey of 103 bereaved families in Victoria and in depth interviews. As well as understanding the wider effects of bereavement during the first three years following a child's death, the report also provides recommendations on supportive policies and practices for services and work places, and comments on helpful behaviours by friends and family.
The SIDS care-workers study: Perceptions of the
experience of Maori SIDS families. (2004).
McCreanor, T.,
Leach, D. T., & Abel, S.
Social Policy Journal of New
Zealand, (23), 154-166, and Online.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) continues as a significant cause of death of infants, particularly among Maori. While much attention has been focused through biomedical research on causation, little attention has been paid to the social and contextual issues surrounding these tragedies and their consequences among families. This paper reports on a qualitative scoping study with members of New Zealand's National Maori SIDS Prevention Unit, drawing upon their cumulative knowledge and expertise to shed light on the fraught interfaces between families and institutions that follow SIDS. A thematic analysis presents the main issues, and the discussion considers their significance for the grieving of the bereaved parents, and the social practices of service institutions that deal with SIDS. (Journal abstract, edited)
Treasure Babies Programme: Supporting 'best practice' in
perinatal crisis bereavement care in hospitals. (2004).
Giljohann,
B. A., & Mulvey, N.
Grief Matters, 7(2), 34-38.
When a newborn child dies parents grieve, but our community tends to disenfranchise or dismiss their grief. Following miscarriage and stillbirth two frequent sources of additional distress for parents are the lack of acknowledgement of the existence of their baby and the lack of recognition of their grief. This article draws on the report of the evaluation of a programme piloted with five Victorian metropolitan and rural hospitals. The Treasured Babies Programme (TBP), an initiative of an advisory group of bereaved parents at SIDS and Kids Victoria, aims to acknowledge and honour the life and death of newborn babies who have died, regardless of their gestational age, and to support bereaved parents in a practical and tangible way. This is done by providing sets of beautiful tiny hand-made clothes to health professionals, such as midwives, counsellors, and funeral directors, so that the babies can be dressed and held by their parents and dressed for burial. The meetings of volunteers who produce the TBP items function as an activity-based support group, and bereaved parents and others can be greatly, supported by this programme. The programme also includes regular meetings of health professionals involved in perinatal bereavement. (Journal abstract)
Young children's understanding of death. (2005).
Slaughter, V.
Australian Psychologist, 40(3),
179-186.
There is a long history of research on children's understanding of death. This article briefly reviews psychoanalytic and Piagetian literature on children's death concepts, then focuses on recent research in developmental psychology that examines children's understanding of death in the context of their developing folk theory of biology. This new research demonstrates that children first conceptualise death as a biological event around age 5 or 6 years, at the same time that they begin to construct a biological model of how the human body functions to maintain 'life'. This detailed new account of children's developing biological knowledge has implications for practitioners who may be called on to communicate about death with young children. (Journal abstract)