Table of ContentsTheoriesDevelopmental TheoriesIntervention OverviewEffective and Effective InterventionsFranklin, Harris, and Allen-Meares (2006) state that death is a universal experience. Every year, hundreds of thousands of children in the United States face the death of a parent, grandparent, or other loved one. Statistics from Abuhegazy (2017) indicate that approximately 1 in 20 children will experience the death of a parent before age 18 in the United States and that a third of American children spend the first 18 years with only one parent. This figure does not specify accounts of loss of other family members, such as siblings or in-laws. For school-age children, the death of a parent or guardian can be overwhelming. Fitzgerald (1992) stated that children who grieve the death of a parent or guardian may experience this grief for many years without the intensity of early bereavement. The child or adolescent will be in touch with grief when important events occur, such as winning a game, making the honor roll, and going on a first date. This process can continue into adulthood, reminding them of what they have lost as they approach big events such as graduation, marriage, the birth of babies and all the moments they would have wanted to share with the person who passed away. The theme of mourning is relevant because all families and all children are affected by loss. Children and adolescents experience a range of losses and unruly changes throughout their lives. Grief and loss occur in many forms and situations and do not exempt any group. Even in the event of death, children and adolescents are expected to perform optimally intellectually, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally at school. However, a reaction to a loss can affect a student's ability to succeed academically and behaviorally. Actions speak louder than words when it comes to children, as many changes in behavior are often signs of their grief. Schools are a crucial place for the development of children and adolescents. School social workers work specifically with students who have experienced numerous stressful events and are essential to improving the social-emotional well-being of these students. Quinn-Lee (2014) suggests that although bereavement is a family issue, it can affect the child while they are at school, especially since children spend most of their time at school. school. School social workers should be knowledgeable about crisis intervention, grief work, and treating post-traumatic stress. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe grief over loss can come from the death of a loved one, divorce or separation, or other disruptive changes, but the focus of this article is the paper is about the loss of a loved one. Different types of losses can cause grief in children and adolescents. Regardless of the type of loss, a persistent characteristic that accompanies every loss is grief. Theories Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory examines a child's development within the context of the relationships that form their environment. The theory explains how everything that happens in a child's environment can affect their growth and development. Bronfenbrenner defined different levels of the environment that shape a child's development, including the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, andthe macrosystem. Rasheed, Rasheed, and Marley (2011) state that the microsystem is the small, direct environment in which the child lives. The microsystem includes all direct relationships such as family or guardians, peers, neighborhood and their school. The way groups communicate with the child will influence the way the child grows. The next level is the mesosystem, which represents how different parts of the child's microsystem work together for the child's well-being. The main meso-level relationship for children is how parents interact with the school. The exosystem level includes other people and places with whom the child does not deal personally but who have a significant effect on him or her, such as extended family members, parents/guardians' workplace, neighborhood , etc. For example, if a child's parent loses their job it can have a negative impact on the child if the parents are unable to pay rent or buy groceries. The last level is the macrosystem. This level constitutes the most important and distant set of people from a child, but it nevertheless has a significant influence on the child. The macrosystem includes government, cultural values, economy, etc. These can also affect a child in a positive or negative way. Bronfenbrenner describes influences from multiple levels of the system that can affect how a child grieves. Death can affect all levels of a child's environment. The death of a parent or guardian directly affects the child's microsystem. The child loses the immediate relationship with this person, which then affects all other relationships in the microsystem. A disruption in the child's environment on most levels can affect the way the child grieves. For example, the now single parent could also be affected by the loss of their loved one and disrupt the micro and meso level of the child by not interacting with the child or not working with part of the microsystem of the child. The death of a parent or guardian can also affect the child's exosystem if, for example, the deceased parent was the primary income earner. This now negatively affects the child because a parent or guardian is not unable to pay rent or groceries. Death affecting all of these levels can cause more stress on the child's life, making it difficult to grieve because of all the other things currently happening in their environment. The goal of ecological systems theory is to strengthen the individual's and family's connections to support networks to improve functioning and attain resources. The social worker can use this theory to help connect the family to support networks to deal with any possible new stressors at each level. In addition to assisting support networks, the social worker can provide therapy to the grieving child and family. Family systems theory examines the family-level connotation of death, transactional processes of family adaptation over time, and variables of risk and resilience. The loss of a family member is a loss for the entire family, affecting all members, relationships, and the family as a functional unit. Walsh and McGoldrick (2013) shared, from a family system perspective, that grief is viewed in terms of transactional processes affected by prior loss experiences and involving those who die and their survivors in a shared multigenerational family life cycle. . Death can disrupt the functional balance of a family. Death involvesmultiple losses in many relationships, functional roles and family unit. Rasheed, Rasheed, and Marley (2011) stated in systems integration and development theory that death is considered a horizontal stressor for families. These stressors reflect life cycle transitions. The death of a parent or loved one can be a very stressful event for children. Although children need support, the opposite may occur due to change in family systems and roles. Many people who care for children struggle with their own grief. The caregiver must also deal with the stress of being a single parent, sole caregiver, and coping with their loss. This may mean less time, attention and support for the children from the remaining parent or guardian. In some cases, children may never be able to grieve appropriately because of all the new changes happening within the family. Developmental Theories John Bowlby provides a reason for the human tendency to develop secure attachments. It views attachment as a mutual relationship that occurs due to long-term interactions, starting in early childhood. Bowlby suggests that grief is a typical response to separation. John Bowlby initiated psychoanalytic research into the nature of early attachment relationships and loss. Scott (2007) stated that Bowlby was one of the first to research childhood bereavement. Bowlby's attachment theory is one of several approaches that has served as the basis for grief counseling. In his research with young children and their mothers, Bowlby studied the impact of separation and situations that caused fear or anxiety. He determined that fear is caused by darkness, sudden movements or separation. Bowlby examined young children's reaction to temporary or permanent loss and noted the expressions of sadness, anxiety, and grief that accompany such loss. Some research suggests that there may be a link between attachment and the response to grief. Bowlby describes stages of separation for infants comparable to those of mourning. Attachment behaviors are natural behaviors that aim to maintain contact with another individual. The goal of attachment behavior is to maintain the bond with your loved one. Death is a break in the child's attachment to his or her parent/guardian. This is recognized and usually results in a grieving process. Stroebe, Stroebe, and Schut (2018) explain Bowlby's four-stage grieving process, which includes numbness, longing, despair, and reorganization. Numbness is the phase in which one feels that the loss is not real. During this time, there is a sign of physical distress where many people shut down emotionally. The nostalgia phase shows an awareness of the void left in life by loss. Despair is when acceptance of change occurs. One feels hopelessness, despair, as well as anger and questions during this stage. Finally, reorganization is the moment when life begins to restore itself. How can we expect a child or adolescent to go through these stages and reach the reorganization stage without the support of someone like the school social worker? Without the guidance or support of the social worker, the child could become sucked into numbness and desire. Children develop different cognitive skills throughout their lives. As they grow, their cognitive abilities develop and become more advanced. Piaget hasstudied four stages of development. They are sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational. A child's understanding of death develops as they grow and their cognitive abilities develop. A young child may have difficulty understanding death because their cognition is still evolving. Slaughter (2005) stated that pre-operational and hands-on operations receive the most attention in children's bereavement. In the preoperative stage, children rely on the knowledge acquired through their physical means in the sensorimotor stage. Children in the preoperational stage may have less understanding of death than children in the concrete operational stage. Children in the preoperative stage do not have the cognitive capacity to understand that death is irreversible and universal. According to Slaughter (2005), children believe that death is temporary and associate death with concrete things, such as the dead having their eyes closed. When the child moves to the concrete operational stage, he understands that the dead are gone. Fitzgerald (1992) states that at each stage of development, children experience death differently. However, Pulaski (1980) reported that because object permanence can be observed in young children, children can be expected to notice when someone is missing. Death needs to be addressed because young children may notice this change in their lives. Children may not understand the difference, but they know something is different. As stated previously, children believe that death is temporary and children who notice a change only see it as temporary. It is believed that the children were in the pre-operative Piaget stage at this time. During the preoperative stage, children believe in centering. This explains why children can only consider one facet of death at a time. In the first stage of understanding death, children realize that it has happened, but are unable to understand that it is not reversible. Children in the concrete and formal operational stages of operations may understand death better as they grow older. An example of this change is that children will transform their specific, concrete thinking into more abstract thinking. Talking to a child about death depends on their cognitive development and understanding of death. Pulaski (1980) shared concrete operations in school-aged children, and school-aged children have a better understanding of causality, are less egocentric, and have a better understanding of time than in previous stages. Some aspects of grief are almost universal. However, the grieving process can vary depending on one's culture. The counseling and social work profession has begun to recognize the importance of an individual's cultural perspective. Today, bereaved people are viewed as unique individuals whose grieving process is modified by many cultural factors. Additionally, knowing the rules and roles of one's culture, such as ethnicity and geographic location, can be a powerful force in shaping thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during a time of grief. Every society has traditions and rituals that structure the experience of grief. It is essential for the social worker to identify the client's unique cultural influences and consider their influence on the grieving process instead of starting from stereotypes. the child, others target the parents or both, some intervene through group therapy, bereavement programs, support groups and behavior groups..