| Course | MSW 533 Death, Dying, and Bereavement |
|---|---|
| Week | 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post |
| Length | About 370 words |
| Format | Discussion post with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 533 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: Initial Post
Kept Home From a Grandfather's Funeral at Nine: One Incident From My Family, the Rule I Took From It and Where That Rule Now Points When a Hospice Family Asks Whether Their Children Should Come
The Incident
When I was nine, my grandfather died in the hospital after a stroke. My parents decided my younger brother and I would stay with a neighbor during the funeral. We were told Grandpa had "gone to sleep." I did not see the body, the service or the burial. I learned the word "died" from a cousin a week later.
The Rule I Took From It
For years, I believed children should be included in death rituals whenever possible, and that softened words like "gone to sleep" do harm. The rule came from feeling shut out, and from lying awake afraid of sleep for months afterward.
I still think the rule is mostly right: children usually cope better with honest words and some part in the rituals. What I did not see until this year is that the rule came from one child's experience of exclusion, and other children may have different needs on the same day.
Where the Rule Points in Practice
At my hospice placement, a parent asked last week whether the couple's children, 6 and 11, should come to the funeral. My rule pushed me toward "yes, of course." But the rule was built from one child's experience, mine. The reading suggests grief is shaped by how a family copes over time, moving between attending to the loss and attending to ordinary life (Stroebe & Schut, 1999). Some children will want the service; some will want ordinary routine that day. The useful question is not my rule but what each child wants after being told plainly what will happen there.
What I Will Do Differently
I will tell parents what children often find helpful: plain words like "died," a description of what they will see, a trusted adult beside them and permission to leave. I will not tell them my rule.
For Replies
What incident in your own family produced a rule you now carry into practice? Where might it mislead you?
References
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046
What the MSW 533 Week 1 assignment asks for
The opening entry is smaller and more specific than most first-week posts. Name one thing that actually happened in your family around a death: children kept from the casket, a softened word in place of died, a body at home overnight, an unexpected funeral custom. Then state the rule you took from it, in a sentence. Show where that rule points in practice, especially where it could mislead you with a client whose situation differs from yours. Use one reading to test the rule rather than listing several. Avoid a statement of your beliefs about death in general. Replies should ask a classmate where their rule might mislead them, which keeps the thread practical.
Inside the MSW 533 Week 1 example
The incident section describes a grandfather's death after a stroke, a day at the neighbor's during the funeral and the phrase gone to sleep, corrected by a cousin a week later. The rule section states the writer's belief that children should be included and told plainly, and the fear of sleep it grew from. The practice section brings in a hospice parent asking about children of 6 and 11 and uses Stroebe and Schut (1999) to argue that some children will want the service and others routine. The next section lists what the writer will tell parents: plain words, what they will see, an adult beside them and permission to leave. The closing question asks classmates for their own family rule.
Reading the MSW 533 Week 1 grading rubric
Credit starts with specificity. A post that offers a worldview about death, or several incidents, earns less than one that names one event and the rule it produced. Faculty then look for the rule tested against a practice situation, especially one where it could mislead. Using a reading to test the rule, rather than listing readings, earns marks. Saying what the writer will do differently shows the reflection reached practice. A post may say something a classmate finds cold if it is honest and respectful. Sources need APA entries. Replies are graded on asking a classmate where their rule might fail, not on sympathy alone.
MSW 533 Week 1 help: mistakes that cost points
The entry that earns least writes about the meaning of death in general and never names an incident. Another common slip is describing the incident at length and stopping there, without the rule or its use. Some posts treat their family's way as the right way and recommend it to clients. Others list readings without testing anything. If the incident you choose is not a death, perhaps a pet's death or a divorce, the same structure works: the event, the rule, where it points and where it could mislead. An entry built this way for your story will end with one thing you will do differently with families.
Get a MSW-533 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Paste in the discussion question your section published, along with the reply requirement and any word limit, and an example built to it comes back inside 24 to 48 hours at no charge. It arrives with a different incident in it than yours, which is the point: what transfers is the shape, not the material.
More MSW 533 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 533 Week 2: Loss History Paper
- MSW 533 Week 3: Grief Theory Analysis
- MSW 533 Week 4: Hospice Benefit Brief
- MSW 533 Week 5: Survivor Benefits Write-up
- MSW 533 Week 6: Complicated Grief Case Study
- MSW 533 Week 7: Bereavement Support Plan
- MSW 533 Week 8: Worker Grief Reflection
- MSW 535 Week 1: Discussion Post
- MSW 532 Week 1: Who the Client Is Post
- MSW 531 Week 1: Nursing Home Belief in Numbers
- MSW 529 Week 1: Closing Summary Routine Post
MSW 533 Week 1 questions, answered
Does the Week 1 entry have to be about a death in my own family?
In most sections it has to be something you were present for or were kept away from, which is not always a family death. A neighbor, a patient met in another job, a pet handled a particular way by the adults around you all work. What the assignment usually wants is an event with adult behavior around it that you can describe accurately and then examine.
How much theory belongs in a first-week entry?
Enough that two or three assigned readings do real work, and no more. This week grades the personal account and the professional turn, while a survey of grief models arrives in Week 3 and gets marked properly there. A first entry spending half its length defining terms usually loses on application and gains nothing on knowledge.
Is it acceptable to say something a classmate might find cold?
Yes, and it is often the stronger entry. Writers who report that nobody in their family cried, or that a death was mostly a relief, give the section something to think with. What gets graded is accuracy and the professional consequence drawn from it, not whether the writer sounds appropriately moved by the material.
Where can I find a free MSW 533 Week 1 sample paper?
The complete MSW 533 Week 1 discussion post on being kept from a grandfather's funeral appears below in full; notes beside it trace the rule the incident produced.
Where could the writer's rule mislead in the MSW 533 Week 1 sample?
In assuming every child should attend a funeral, when some children want ordinary routine that day, so the post recommends asking each child after explaining what will happen.