3. Review of week 3 content
Community has a long held but nebulous role in the development
of children, it is often supervisory rather than supportive.
When Families in the community have limited resources, capacity
or opportunity they tend to become grouped and can reduce
community resilience to adversity
There is some evidence that when community capacity to support
families is limited, those families are more likely to disengage from
community.
Ecomaps can be used to articulate the relationship of an individual
or group to their social network, both individuals and other groups
or organisations, they can show us conflict or adverse social
connections, and also tensions in community support networks.
4. Module Introduction
This module explores what impacts on
children's resilience to adversity.
Any number of events or circumstances can
be negative for children, but not all lead to
adversity or disadvantage.
Need to take of self and others as we
examine issues of loss and grief, trauma and
displacement and isolation.
5. ‘Generally, most people associate loss with
encounters with death. However, grief as a response
to loss, permeates all facets of our lives as well as
those of our clients. We experience loss not only
through death, but also through changes that we
encounter through the rich tapestry of life”
Goldsworthy (2005) P.167
6. Grief and loss
Loss refers to the awareness of a Unexpected or Undesired Change or
pending change in our relationships with specific others and more generally.
Grief is the endomorphic (physical and emotional) and social response to
Loss
7. Considerations
The Change may or may not be permanent, or predicted.
The Loss may not be physical, the relationship may continue but
be changed from what it was.
Grief is an affective condition that can become problematic if not
resolved or is complicated by other factors or compounded by
further grief.
As with Loss, Grief can be anticipatory, and episodic-recurrent
Grief can arise without a directly associated experience of loss
There is some neuro-biological evidence that says that grief can
become habitual.
8. Children and Loss and Grief
Ainsworth and Bowlby postulated that until the around the age of 1, infants do not have the cognitive capacity to
interpret loss, but that from Age 1 loss of a significant primary carer could be a critically negative impact upon a
child’s future wellbeing.
There is a range of views on whether new-born infants distinguish between close parental (especially maternal)
carers and others and therefore sense loss.
Older children and adolescents can invest substantial energy in short term relationships which can accentuate the
experience of loss and associated grief.
Cultural and Societal attitudes toward loss and grief can be highly influential in how children respond to such
change.
Children may depending on their age and cognitive developmental processes accommodate or adjust to loss
differently.
Recurrent or Compounding loss is potentially hazardous because of how children process and grieve in such
situations.
9. Loss in Children's Lives
Death of a Parent/Carer, a Sibling or other close family
member including Pets
Death of friends and others in social network including
relatives
Parental Separation, Family Splitting
Removal and Placement in Care
Relocation to other communities
Siblings leaving home
Parental or significant other suffers disablement
Child suffers disablement.
Early romantic and sexual relationships
10. Grief in Children's Lives
Grief responses can be simple or ‘normal’ in social and cultural context.
Grief can be complicated by unusual contexts (trauma matters like violence, or cross
cultural dynamics) or responses (temporary placement)
Grief responses can be compounded by other losses
(relocation, family splitting etc)
Grief is a natural emotional adjustment that can create
“abnormal” behavior to cope with Loss or Change.
Grief can be recurrent – revisited in particular times or places
as life continues, but can manifest in challenges
11. Daniel Seigal and Tina Bryson
‘Name it to Tame it: Telling
Stories to Calm Big Emotions’
12. Summary
Children experience and respond to change as a form
of loss and grief as do adults.
Loss is a reaction to change that is unexpected or
undesired.
How children respond and when grief responses
manifest are informed by time, and to some extent
age as developmentally children have to “re-process”
losses.
Grief is a normal response that manifests in
abnormal behavior – in the context of normality
being socially conforming.
