The impact of parental suicide on children and staff in residential care: A case study in the function of containment

Abstract

Summary A case study is presented of how a residential child care team handled the impact on a group of staff and children of the suicide of the mother of one of the children. A six-year-old boy with severe emotional disturbance was admitted to residential care after living with his schizophrenic mother in an overpowering symbiotic relationship for his first five years. After the child had been in care for two years, and after his mother had made earlier self-destructive attempts, she finally committed suicide. The boy's reaction and subsequent progress are recorded, and the impact of these events on the other children in the home and on the staff working with the children is described. The context of the case study is described in terms of the aims and working methods of therapeutic residential child care, and specifically in terms of the task of containment.