Chapter
Suicide in the Family (IN: Helping Bereaved Children: a Handbook for Practitioners, edited by N B Webb Second Edition)
Elder S L~~Knowles D
In this chapter, the author reviews the responses to suicidal death in the family that have been relatively well documented. The author’s perspective is that, following a suicidal death, the reactions of important adults are extremely important as the child attempts to gain some understanding or meaning about the nature & consequences of death. This chapter describes the stories of loss of 3 young people (boys aged 15, 16, & 7 yrs) who experience family suicide in order to present some different meaning attributed to suicidal deaths by different survivors. Finally, the role of counseling intervention is considered. (11 refs)