Working with the effects of traumatic bereavement by uxoricide (spouse killing) on young children's attachment behaviour

Abstract

This is a clinical description of the work of the Traumatic Stress Clinic, London with children where one parent kills the other, paying special attention to the disorder of attachment which occurs in a majority of the young children. It is suggested that this arises from the combination of the extreme trauma of witnessing the homicide, the frequent changes of carer, and the relative lack of therapeutic help.