This chapter discusses how the individual’s lifestage development affects the response to death loss, and notes the circumstances under which grief may best provoke growth. Developmental biology as well as psychological and social contexts impact death understandings. The experience of loss and death at different times in childhood means understandings vary as a result of the physical and cognitive developments that have occurred. Age and development also affect the way one is perceived to grieve. The death of a young child often provokes parents to feel guilty for failing to protect her. Maturational losses occur in conjunction with rapid growth during this time. Maturational losses are also common for elementary school-aged children. The maturational losses of changing teen identities may be part of what makes adolescence so vulnerable a time to experience another’s death.