Attitudes Toward Euthanasia for Patients Who Suffer From Physical or Mental Illness

Abstract

This study examined whether attitudes toward euthanasia vary with type of illness and with the source of the desire to end the patient's life. The study used a 3 (illness type: cancer, schizophrenia, depression) × 2 (euthanasia type: patient-initiated, family-initiated) between-groups experimental design. An online questionnaire was administered to 324 employees and students from a Australian public university following random assignment of participants to one of the six vignette-based conditions. Attitudes toward euthanasia were more positive for patients with a physical illness than a mental illness. For a patient with cancer or depression, but not schizophrenia, approval was greater for patient-, than, family-, initiated euthanasia. Relationships between illness type and attitudes were mediated by perceptions of patient autonomy and illness controllability. Findings have implications for debate, practices, and legislation regarding euthanasia.

El derecho a morir dignamente: una oportunidad para el impulso ético del Trabajo Social

“…El término eutanasia acumula una gran variedad de términos: eutanasia pasiva, sedación terminal o suicidio asistido. Autores/as como Levin et al (2018) (Bilsen et al, 2014). El concepto de suicidio asistido, sin embargo está estrechamente ligado a la eutanasia pasiva, y se describe como el acto de facilitar la muerte de la persona (Barroso y Grau, 2012), por ejemplo, mediante la prescripción médica de una inyección letal para que la persona se la administre por su cuenta.…”

Survey of Mental Health Care Providers’ Perspectives on the Everyday Ethics of Medical-Aid-in-Dying for People with a Mental Illness

“…This stigma continues today, and may contribute to people's suffering and vulnerability. There is some empirical evidence, based on an Australian survey, that suggests that lower public support for MAID MD-SUMC, as compared to MAID for physical disorders, is due to perceptions that people with mental disorders have less autonomy -and at the same time are more in control of their own condition -than people with physical disorders (Levin et al, 2018).…”

Attitudes toward Passive Euthanasia among Students from Selected Constituents of the University of Zagreb

“…Tu individualnu karakteristiku držimo jednom od temeljnih ljudskih vrijednosti te ju kao takvu treba uključiti u raspravu o prekidu života. Nekoliko istraživanja (Cohen i dr., 2006;Levin, Bradley i Duffy, 2018;Sharp, 2017; Stolz i dr., 2015; Vijayalakshmi, Nagarajaiah i Suresh, 2017) potvrdilo je da su manje religiozni pojedinci skloni zauzimanju pozitivnih stavova o eutanaziji, a vrijedi i obratno -religiozniji pojedinci skloniji su zauzimanju negativnih stavova o eutanaziji. Prema Jorisu Gielenu, Stefu van den Brandenu i Bertu Broeckaertu (2009) u pozadini tih rezultata stoji središnja ideja (misao) mnogih religija, a to je ona o poštovanju života.…”

“…Zbog izrazito malog doprinosa lokusa kontrole »sudbina« (β = 0,10) i lokusa kontrole »ja« (β = 0,07) osvrnut ćemo se na nalaze trećeg modela regresijske analize, koji također tumači gotovo dvije trećine (63,7%) ukupne varijance SSPE-a. Specifičnost je tog modela u tome što uključuje tri prediktora koji se izravno odnose na religioznost, a takvi nalazi potvrđuju one iz ranijih istraživanja (Cohen i dr., 2006;Cifrić i Nikodem, 2005;Levin, Bradley i Duffy, 2018;Ross i Kaplan, 1993;Sharp, 2017;Stolz i dr., 2015;Vijayalakshmi, Nagarajaiah i Suresh, 2017), u kojima su se različite dimenzije religioznosti pokazale kao prediktor negativnih stavova o eutanaziji zbog toga što je u religijskim vjerovanjima ukorijenjena ideja o svetosti ljudskog života, odnosno vjerovanje da je jedino bog taj koji ima moć stvaranja i oduzimanja života. Možemo zaključiti da se najjači prediktor stavova studenata o pasivnoj eutanaziji (klerikalizam) odnosi na religioznost u javnoj, dok se dva slabija prediktora (stupanj religijskog uvjerenja i lokus kontrole »bog«) odnose na religioznost u privatnoj sferi djelovanja.…”

“…Ključnim se prediktorom stavova studenata o pasivnoj eutanaziji pokazala njihova religioznost, koja je izražena dvodimenzionalno -u javnoj sferi, stupnjem njihovih klerikalnih političkih stavova, a u privatnoj sferi stupnjem njihova osobnog religijskog uvjerenja i pripisivanjem pojedinih događaja u njihovu životu eksternalnom utjecaju, odnosno mišljenjem da tim događajima upravlja bog. Takvi nalazi ne iznenađuju, budući da su ranija istraživanja upravo religioznost detektirala kao najsnažniji prediktor odobravanja i ozakonjenja praksi eutanazije (Cohen i dr., 2006;Cifrić i Nikodem, 2005;Levin, Bradley i Duffy, 2018;Ross i Kaplan, 1993;Sharp, 2017;Stolz i dr., 2015;Vijayalakshmi, Nagarajaiah i Suresh, 2017).…”