Ambiguous loss

Loss is an inescapable part of human existence, but we know that vulnerable or marginalised groups of children experience higher rates of loss and bereavement than the general population. Children who are cared for in placements outside of the family home are also more likely to experience ambiguous...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nina Vaswani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CELCIS 2018-09-01
Series:Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850104054273802240
author Nina Vaswani
author_facet Nina Vaswani
author_sort Nina Vaswani
collection DOAJ
description Loss is an inescapable part of human existence, but we know that vulnerable or marginalised groups of children experience higher rates of loss and bereavement than the general population. Children who are cared for in placements outside of the family home are also more likely to experience ambiguous loss, which is when a loss remains unclear and without closure. Ambiguous losses can be 'physical' e.g. an absent parent, or 'psychological' e.g. a parent who is emotionally unavailable due to substance misuse. Ambiguous loss is less often recognised than bereavement and often goes unsupported, thereby leading to an increased risk of prolonged distress, poor outcomes and disenfranchised grief. It is therefore important that childcare workers are aware of the presence and impact of ambiguous loss in the lives of children that they work with. This paper will describe these concepts and consider the implications for residential childcare practice.
format Article
id doaj-art-5af0eb85fea0448ba5edbf0a521702b7
institution DOAJ
issn 2976-9353
language English
publishDate 2018-09-01
publisher CELCIS
record_format Article
series Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
spelling doaj-art-5af0eb85fea0448ba5edbf0a521702b72025-08-20T02:39:24ZengCELCISScottish Journal of Residential Child Care2976-93532018-09-011739910610.17868/strath.00065843Ambiguous lossNina VaswaniLoss is an inescapable part of human existence, but we know that vulnerable or marginalised groups of children experience higher rates of loss and bereavement than the general population. Children who are cared for in placements outside of the family home are also more likely to experience ambiguous loss, which is when a loss remains unclear and without closure. Ambiguous losses can be 'physical' e.g. an absent parent, or 'psychological' e.g. a parent who is emotionally unavailable due to substance misuse. Ambiguous loss is less often recognised than bereavement and often goes unsupported, thereby leading to an increased risk of prolonged distress, poor outcomes and disenfranchised grief. It is therefore important that childcare workers are aware of the presence and impact of ambiguous loss in the lives of children that they work with. This paper will describe these concepts and consider the implications for residential childcare practice.lossambiguous lossgriefdisenfranchised griefresidential care
spellingShingle Nina Vaswani
Ambiguous loss
Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
loss
ambiguous loss
grief
disenfranchised grief
residential care
title Ambiguous loss
title_full Ambiguous loss
title_fullStr Ambiguous loss
title_full_unstemmed Ambiguous loss
title_short Ambiguous loss
title_sort ambiguous loss
topic loss
ambiguous loss
grief
disenfranchised grief
residential care
work_keys_str_mv AT ninavaswani ambiguousloss