The Concept of Death in Midwestern Children and Youth

Abstract

Views of causes, images, and finality of death of 598 children, ages 5 to 18 years, were obtained by structured interview at church schools and clinic. The "why" of death was most affected by socioeconomic status; death as due to violence was seen most often by clinic children. The idea of what happens to the body after death was rarely terrifying, but more realism was tolerated for pets than for self. By ages 13 to 16, 20% still thought that when dead they would be cognizant, 60% envisioned spiritual continuation, and 20% saw death as total cessation. Those with frequent thoughts of suicide most often denied death as final.Increasing age and religious training extended children's view of the significance of life beyond simple existence, but only one of 598 considered its import to be biosocial immortality.Inquiry into the child's concept of death is infrequent and has been attributed to our own fears and denial. The classical work on the child's attitudes toward death is still the study by Schilder and Wechsler in 1934 based on interviews of 76 chil¬ dren institutionalized at Bellevue for problems ranging from behavior dis¬ orders to mental retardation to schiz¬ ophrenia.' Since that time, as Wolf¬ enstein and Kliman-have stated, there have been little35 systematic data on the concept of death in chil¬ dren raised in our contemporary so¬ ciety. The socially oriented investiga¬ tions by Anthony6 in England and Nagy7 in Hungary, both done in the 1930s, show significant cultural con¬ trasts.Knowledge of the child's concept of death is meaningful in many areas. It is, first of all, of immediate appli¬ cation, as shown by recent investiga¬ tions," to the supportive care of the dying child. Second, accidents, the

The meaning of death for children and adolescents: A phenomenographic study of drawings

“…More recent studies with American children (Gartley & Bernasconi, 1967;Kane, 1979;Koocher, 1973;McIntire, Angle, & Struempler, 1972; Townley 8c Thornburg, 1980) do not corroborate Nagy's findings with a Hungarian sample that children personif) death. This could be due to historical, cultural, or ideological differences between the two countries.…”

Transcending death during early adulthood: Symbolic immortality, death anxiety, and purpose in life

“…As the sense of symbolic immortality is related psychobiologically to our existential death anxiety, symbolic immortality should be associated negatively with death anxiety. As meaning in life often has been defined as the experience of death transcendence (Frankl, 1969;Koestenbaum, 1964;Marcel, 1962), it should correlate positively with the sense of symbolic immortality and negatively with death anxiety. The specific developmental "era" of early adulthood (18 to 40 years of age) is the focus of the present study, in accordance with Lifton's theoretical assumption and empirical observation that the sense of symbolic immortality evolves throughout the life cycle.…”

Examining suicide from a life span perspective

“…Furthermore, there is evidence that suicidal children have less well-developed concepts of death than other children their age, which are especially evident in a crisis situation (38,52). Investigators have found that many suicidal children are likely to view death as a transient and pleasant state (53). It is not unusual for suicidal children, who have lost loved ones, to view death as a vehicle for a happy reunion.…”