The 'Lived Experience ' of a Bereaved Child

Abstract

This study aims to understand the lived experiences of the bereaved child. A child expresses his/her grief differently from an adult due to their immature cognitive development, language abilities and developmental stages. The Dual Processing Model of Coping with Bereavement was used as a conceptual framework to understand the grieving experiences of a child, together with the use of classic developmental theories in understanding the child and his/her needs. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with young adult females who had experienced maternal death between ages seven to fourteen years. The results from this study provide valuable inputs for future public education on death and dying to social workers and members of the public in Singapore.