The suicide of a schoolmate. Collective processes of trauma processing

Abstract

This article aims to understand the processing of young students in the face of the suicide of a schoolmate. The traumatic effects of the death of a generational pair on student groups need to be interpreted from the changes in sensibilities, bonds, values ​​and conceptions about existence. The results of a qualitative study carried out in two secondary schools in peripheral urban areas of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, are presented. The analysis of the testimonies allows us to characterize the impact of suicide on the social dynamics and relationships within the school community, where survivors develop a series of strategies for the collective elaboration of grief: they create spaces for dialogue and conversation to share their feelings and experiences, strengthen bonds of mutual support, establish networks of solidarity with significant adults, carry out tributes and ceremonies to honor the memory of their classmate, develop narratives and collective meanings about the lived experience and commit to taking care of each other to prevent this event from happening again in the peer group.