Age as a Factor in Children's Grief Communication

Abstract

Grieving children are an understudied population in the communication field. Therefore, it was my intention to uncover the communication patterns in children experiencing grief in three different age groups: ages 4-7, 8-12 and 13-18. This paper looks at loss and bereavement, the importance of communication while grieving and the impact of child development on grief. After doing observations at Tu Nidito, in Tucson, Arizona, the results show that the youngest age group uses story telling more than the older age groups. The younger two age groups, 4-7 and 8-12, display the most avoidance; the 8-12 age group communicates the most sadness, and the children ages 13-18 communicates more guilt, anger and uncertainty than the other age groups. Many of these results show that grief is communicated differently depending on where children are in the development process.