“MY MOTHER DIDN’T DIE. SHE’S STILL ALIVE, BUT IN MY THOUGHTS”: GRIEF FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ORPHANED BY COVID-19

Abstract

This article presents and analyses the experiences of grief for Covid-19 lived by families assisted by the Paraíba que Acolhe cash transfer program, reported during anthropological fieldwork carried out between May 2023 and September 2024, with 53 children and adolescents orphaned by Covid-19, in 28 extended families. The results indicate that children, adolescents and their families are affected, in addition to parental loss, by prolonged grief. To understand this process, we used the consequences of suspended funeral rituals; individual medicalization in response to collective grief; the Bolsonaro government's nefarious management of the pandemic; and the exercise of memory, especially by children and adolescents, as a way of making physical absences present. Although social protection is a guideline of this public policy, there were no recorded intersectoral actions that included psychological and/or psychiatric care for direct beneficiaries and their families. In conclusion, we highlight the need for multi-sectoral care for grieving families, beyond financial provision.