KHARON

Thanatology Review

Electronic Journal

Content

Volume 13

Number 4 · 2009

Original article


DR. CSABA SIMKÓ
DR. CSABA SIMKÓ

osztályvezető főorvos

simkocsa@gmail.com

How can we help our child accept the unacceptable?

Information for teachers and parents to help children with the process of mourning

Abstract · The author’s article aims to help primarily parents and educators in understanding the mourning reactions of children and to provide practical advice to support them in this difficult phase of life. After presenting the general characteristics of child mourning, the author discusses (by age periods) the typical characteristics of the child’s thinking, emotional display and behavior during mourning, detailing the topics of hospital visits, attendance at the funeral, cemetery visits, remarriage and spiritual processing. Following the specific periods of age, it presents behavioral changes and phenomena that may indicate the need for specialists in tabular format. In a separate chapter the author discusses the role of teachers and their possible contributions in the supporting process of mourning. The article is useful to those who are involved in the care of the dying or in the consolation of the mourners.

 RÉKA ESZTER CSEREPES
RÉKA ESZTER CSEREPES

pszichológus

cserepes.reka@gmail.com

 GYŐZŐ PÉK
GYŐZŐ PÉK

Dr. habil. egyetemi docens, PhD, tanszékvezető

Family status: widow. A psychological assessment of the changes brought about by the loss of a husband, with special regard to gender role modification

Abstract · In our study we examine how the death of the husband affects the life of women, especially their psychological well-being. Based on the available literature, we try to identify the typical features of the psychological state of women thus affected, especially their attitude to and fulfilment of various gender roles in the aftermath of their bereavement. We discuss topics such as the general transformation of women's roles, the still existing, but gradually fading traditional gender norms that defined widows' lives; as well as women's attitude to widowhood, comparing the psychological characteristics of widowed women to widowed men, married women, and to the attitudes of widows with different gender role expectations.