Edited by Neil Thompson.
Palgrave
£15.99
ISBN 0 333 96328 8

Loss lies at the heart of much social work practice, and attachment theory and the traditional "stages model" of loss have had a profound impact on practitioners’ view of the grieving process. But should we rely so heavily on theories, which are beginning to be criticised for being reductive, narrow and culturally insensitive?

Loss and Grief is an edited collection that explores new approaches to working with loss and considers the influence of cultural expectations on the individual’s ability to grieve. It covers a range of possible losses, including those brought about by ill health, those created by racism and those caused by the forcible removal of Australian aboriginal children from their families. Disenfranchised grief - that which is unacknowledged or seen as unacceptable - is explored as a cultural phenomenon and is one of the book’s centralising themes.

This book is strongly written and well edited into a coherent structure. It draws together recent developments in thinking about bereavement and grief and widens the loss spectrum to include situations other than the traditional ones of disability and death. Anyone working with loss, which is to say everyone in social care, should read this book.

Rachel Wooller is an outreach worker, Alzheimer’s Society.