ABSTRACT

For a long time, causal models have permeated the exploration of relationships among data, particularly in clinical fields where the goal is to seek solutions for relieving problems, such as in the study of sibling bereavement. Variables such as age, gender, suddenness of death, self-esteem, attendance at funerals, and family environment have been studied to determine those factors that most affect siblings’ grief, with the underlying purpose of reducing as much as possible the potentially deleterious effects of the loss experience. Outcome has been measured primarily in terms of behavior and emotional problems, although some studies refer to competencies and personal growth (Hogan & DeSantis, 1996). Each study has contributed

to understanding sibling bereavement, but findings have often been contradictory or inconclusive in identifying which variable is the most influential in predicting bereavement outcome among siblings. This is not surprising, however, because how siblings respond to the death of a brother or sister depends upon many factors, including the child’s social context, and all interact in unique ways for each bereaved child. If the social or contextual factors are overlooked, a process of pathologizing is reinforced, reductively locating a behavior within the individual child, rather than understanding it more holistically in terms of the interplay of a wide range of individual and sociological factors (Thompson et al., 2016).