ABSTRACT
In the context of ever-changing geo-political, social, and ecological landscapes, today's youth live in an increasingly volatile world which presents challenges when faced with death and non-death losses. Marginalized and oppressed populations also face social, economic, racial, and ecological disparities which further compounds their grief experience and can introduce significant disruptions in their development. This chapter will explore grief responses to death and non-death losses from a global perspective and will expand on the cross-cultural supports that have been shown to be more conducive to meeting the gamut of youth's unique needs during their grief trajectory. Unlike adults, who have more well-defined identities and support systems, youth are more susceptible to re-grieving a primary loss combined with the multitude of threats brought about by secondary losses. Attempting to protect youth from grief minimizes their experience and can contribute to their decline in functioning. Thwarting transparent communication of death and loss has been found to adversely affect youth's ability to recognize the loss, cope, and mourn effectively. We can give voice to youth grief, and more holistically support them, simply by including them in the discussion and validating their experience within the contemporary context of our volatile world.
