Race as a Factor in Teachers' Responses to Children's Grief

Abstract

A study of 605 elementary school personnel in metropolitan New Orleans, one third of them black, was designed to investigate how teachers respond to children in death-related situations. When black and nonblack teachers were compared, no differences were evident in attitudes toward death or belief in an afterlife. However, significant differences appeared in the responses they chose to children's grief. Possible reasons for the observed differences and guidelines for future research are offered.