Children and the Death of a President.

Abstract

Even to study and write about the reactions of individuals to an event such as the assassination of a President, is one of the reactions to that event. Studying, observing, and understanding a traumatic situation as one means of dealing with it, was, for instance, illustrated by Bettelheim in his description of his concentration camp experience. The contributors to this book were well aware of their own involvement. The preface begins with the statement, "This book on children's reactions to the death of the President was not born without pain. Its authors had to overcome their own shock and distress. . . ." Later the editors comment that, "Probably we ourselves in pursuing research in a time of crisis were partly motivated by a need to bring order out of chaos." Hopefully, such study can also meet a need for the community at large in furthering its understanding of the situation