Facilitating communication about death between mothers and adolescent sons using fictional children's literature

Most children will experience the death of a loved one in their lifetime and will need to develop healthy grieving patterns. Communication between parents and children is a key ingredient in facilitating this development. Current opinions about bibliotherapy, using a book to assist in healing, suggest that books provide understanding about grief and death and open channels of communication. Although the use of bibliotherapy is gaining popularity, little research exists about its efficacy. Utilizing the book The Bridge to Terabithia, this study evaluated the facilitation of communication about death between 19 dyads of mother and adolescent sons. Their answers and comments illustrate the effectiveness of bibliotherapy in opening channels of communication about death. The results of this study support the efficacy of bibliotherapy.

Name thesis:degree_name

EdS

Grantor dc:publisher

Brigham Young University - Provo

Author dc:creator

• Leavy, Deon G.

• bibliotherapy
• children
• communication
• death
• grief
• mothers
• sons
• Counseling Psychology
• Special Education and Teaching

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/802

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-1801