Adolescent Encounters With Death, Bereavement, and Coping

Capturing from the start that 'Childhood is, and always has been, a vulnerable time,' we have a rich in gathering of contributed pieces that bring us into the raw, fragile arena of children traumatized by life events and behaviors..." --Illness, Crisis, and Loss

Balk and Corr again have edited a book that will set the direction of the field for yet another decade....Caregivers can count on this book...for insight and intervention."

--From the Foreword by Kenneth J. Doka, PhD
Professor, The Graduate School, The College of New Rochelle
Author, Counseling Individuals With Life-Threatening Illness

Over a decade has passed since the publication of Balk and Corr's groundbreaking Handbook of Adolescent Death and Bereavement. This new book, Adolescent Encounters With Death, Bereavement, and Coping, analyzes the challenges faced by adolescents coping with death, dying, and bereavement, and examines the new, unique circumstances and advances that have transpired over the last decade.

These include:

• Grief and coping with HIV/AIDS
• Adolescents, humor, and death
• Technology and the Internet: coping with loss in the digital world
• Bereavement over the deaths of celebrities

The book also explores critical, imaginative conceptual frameworks and models that have emerged on the scene, including:

• The dual process model for understanding loss
• Ideas about assumptive worlds
• Debates about the benefit and harm of grief counseling
• New research on recovery and resilience following bereavement

Written from the interdisciplinary perspectives of expert sociologists, psychologists, educators, social workers, nurses, and anthropologists, this book offers a breadth and depth of insight into the complex nature of adolescent bereavement. Nurses, counselors, social workers, and educators will find this book to be an invaluable resource when they try to understand and help adolescents coping with death-related issues.

David E. Balk, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York where he directs Graduate Studies in Thanatology.

Charles A. Corr, PhD, CT, is Professor emeritus, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.