Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology

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Browsing Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology by Subject "Adolescent bereavement support"

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    Who will I be now? : the lived experience of adolescent sibling bereavement within the school context
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Schroeder, Lesley Ann; Vorster, Jan; Somhlaba, Nceba Z.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the needs of sibling-bereaved adolescents in high schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. A grounded theory approach was used to examine unexpected sibling bereavement with specific focus on participant perceptions and experiences regarding support provided by their high school. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with siblings who were in high school when their brother or sister died suddenly. An argument is developed for why high schools need insight into effective ways of supporting sibling-bereaved adolescents as they attempt to fit in and function at school. As this study was conducted in a multi-language environment, attention is given to the differing abilities of adolescents to articulate their bereavement experience. The effectiveness of focus groups with this population and the importance of providing psycho-education support during the interviewing process are emphasised. The scarcity of studies on adolescent bereavement in South Africa can be attributed to a combination of the emotional painfulness of the subject for adolescents and gatekeeping by school personnel and parents. Understandably, concerns about disclosure and fresh trauma/grief triggering may be given precedence over research. Themes grounded in the data uncovered a psychosocial journey involving disruption, transition and changed self. Bereaved siblings felt singled out as different from their peers when they return to school. Hence discreet acknowledgement and disclosure of the death is important to them. A key finding is that accomplishment plays a significant role in boosting the flagging morale of bereaved adolescents. Accomplishment aids their inviduation and stimulates them to regain interest in their own life goals. While individual teachers and other school personnel were considered helpful, there was an absence of a structured plan of support for bereaved adolescents in the schools examined. Attachment theory foregrounded an explanation of why the loss of a sibling during adolescence can have a lasting influence on the future of those left behind. Most adolescents in the study evidenced a desire for an on-going connection with their sibling who died while they simultaneously took on new roles to try and fill the void created by their death. Findings from this study are intended to provide richer insight into the complexity of adolescent sibling bereavement and may also serve to inform educational and health care interventions for bereaved learners in South Africa.