The Death of a Parent in Childhood: A Family Account

Abstract

The death of a parent in childhood is discussed in relation to a family of three sisters who experienced the death of their mother. Qualitative analysis of interviews revealed a number of themes characterizing this family's experience. Two main themes are discussed in this article: the experience of grief and the role of communication. Grief was viewed as an individual process that followed a different path for each respondent. Communication is identified as having central importance in the sisters' ability to reconstruct and reach a satisfactory resolution of their early loss. Memories and construction of the bereavement experience are considered as the filters through which these people experienced their world.

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