Traumatic Loss: Understanding the Grieving Experience of Families of Missing Persons

Abstract

This paper describes the background to a research project on the grieving experience of families and friends of missing persons. The introduction provides a brief historical overview of the experience of the early settlers in Australia through to the present day where it is shown to be a universal problem. The literature associated with the emotional impact on families experience when a person goes missing is limited. It is acknowledged that this attitude is changing and the project seeks to 'listen to the stories' of these families in order to provide appropriate care and support.