How do bereavement support groups meet the needs of orphaned children?

Is it possible to identify how bereavement support groups meet the needs of orphaned children? This study explores what the literature identifies as children’s basic needs, and how the death of a parent leaves some of these needs particularly unmet. It then examines common factors in group bereavement support interventions for orphans, as recently identified by Kentor and Kaplow (2020). Comparing these two sets of factors sheds light on how these support groups respond to needs for security, emotional regulation, identity, and so on. They aim to meet basic needs, but also specific needs linked to the difficulties of orphanhood. These hypotheses call for confirmatory field studies.