AIDS and the New Orphans: Coping with Death

By the year 2000, as many as 125,000 children under the age of 18 in the U.S. will have been orphaned by AIDS. Social services in major urban centers such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Washington will be further overwhelmed by these new clients and their unique problems. In this book, experts on AIDS, bereavement, and children draw together and analyze research and practice models that may be vital to individual and public policy solutions.

The first chapter sets the stage by examining how Western culture approaches death. Issues of spirituality and children are discussed next, and the following chapters deal with childhood bereavement among latency-age children and adolescents. The role of culture and ethnicity are examined in the Latino and Black communities. Also, the conflicts and problems that new guardians face as they attempt to build new and secure relationships with grieving youngsters are addressed. The book ends with an examination of four projects that are reaching children and families and gives recommendations to practitioners. This book is an invaluable examination of a problem of growing social concern for social, medical, and mental health professionals, public policy analysts, and the general public.