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Background: The influence of grief and bereavement on the lives of people with intellectual disabilities is currently receiving much interest. Many of the long-standing rituals associated with bereavement are still practised in Ireland, probably more than in many other Western countries. The present authors were interested in studying the experience of bereavement for people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland, and in making international comparisons. Method: This mixed method study was carried out using two questionnaires. The first was used to study national service and organisational approaches to bereavement. The second questionnaire (based on Murray et al. 2000 ) was used to study a staff group working in Ireland, assessing staff knowledge and understanding of the grieving process. The results were compared with a UK staff group who were assessed using the same questionnaire (Murray et al. 2000 ). Results: Staff and service attitudes were found to be very positive in supporting people with intellectual disabilities who have been bereaved. There is considerable understanding of the needs of bereaved individuals, and there is a high level of support in the participation in grief rituals. When compared with a UK staff group, Irish staffs were more inclined to encourage individuals to take part in bereavement rituals, though they had less actual experience in supporting bereaved people. Only one service had written bereavement guidelines. Conclusions: There appears to be cultural differences in the experience of bereavement for people with intellectual disabilities. This is important in the context of staff training and policy development in grief and bereavement.

This article discusses British documentary films from 1930 to 1945. British documentary films are represented as the country's contribution to cinema. Documentary films during this period addresses the need to bring different social classes into one nation and of the need for the government to regulate social life. Working class as victim is less prominent in documentary films compared to working class as working hero. Example of documentary films where the working class is the hero are "Coalface" and "Industrial Britain."