Swedish and U.S. children's thinking about death: A qualitative study and cross-cultural comparison

Wenestam, Claes-Göran; Wass, Hannelore

doi:10.1080/07481188708252181

Cited by 32 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Fomentando assim um entendimento melhor acerca dos processos fisiológicos que dão sustentação à vida e como estes se relacionam com o advento da morte. Existe um grande número de estudos comprovando que o desenvolvimento de um entendimento biológico da morte se dá de maneira constante em diversas culturas (Brent et al, 1996;Wenestram & Wass, 1987), inclusive em crianças brasileiras (Nunes et al, 1998;Torres, 1979).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

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Mais ou menos morto: explorações sobre a formação do conceito de morte em crianças

Roazzi¹,

Dias²,

Roazzi³

2010

Psicol. Reflex. Crit.

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ResumoO objetivo da presente pesquisa é investigar quando concepções religioso-metafísicas e secular-biológicas surgem no desenvolvimento do conceito de morte. Foram entrevistadas noventa e duas crianças com idades entre 6-8 e 10-12 anos, estudantes de escolas públicas e privadas localizadas na cidade do Recife, Brasil. Foram apresentadas duas narrativas aos participantes descrevendo a morte de uma avó ou avô, para em seguida solicitar que julgassem se certos processos corporais e mentais deixavam ou não de funcionar após a morte. Os resultados indicam que crianças de ambos os grupos de idade apresentaram uma forte visão secular-biológica da morte. As crianças também fizeram distinções entre corpo e mente, emitindo justificativas de cunho secular-biológico para funções corporais e justificativas de cunho religiosometafísico para funções mentais. Palavras-chave: Conceito de morte; Secular-biológico; Religioso-metafísico. AbstractThe objective of the present project lies on investigating when religious/metaphysical and secular/biological conceptions emerge in the development of a concept of death. A total of 92 children of 6-8 and 10-12 years old, from public and private schools, all from the city of Recife in Brazil were interviewed. Participants were presented to two narratives depicting the death of a grandparent and were further asked to judge if certain bodily and metal functioning cease or not after death. Findings indicate that children from both group ages hold an overall strong secular-biological view of death. In addition, children made distinctions between body and mind, giving secular/biological explanations to body functioning and religious/metaphysical ones to mental functioning. Keywords: Concept of death; Secular-biological; Religious-metaphysical.O Conceito de Morte é uma representação, imagem ou idéia acerca do que vem a ser esse fenômeno. O desenvolvimento de tal conceito pode suscitar diversas interpretações por pessoas em diferentes contextos, fase de vida, cultura dominante ou religião. Em uma perspectiva secular-biológica, a morte é concebida como um ponto terminal, quando a máquina corporal para de trabalhar. Ao adotar este ponto de vista, acredita-se que a vida de qualquer pessoa acaba irreversivelmente e completamente com o advento da morte (Brent, Speece, Lin, Dong, & Yang, 1996; Harris & Gimenez, 2005). A segunda perspectiva exemplifica uma visão comum a inúmeras religiões no mundo, em que a morte é considerada uma metamorfose -o começo de outro tipo de vida que não obedece somente a processos biológicos. Neste ponto de vista, ela é vista como uma transição, não como um fim (Astuti & Harris, 2008;Bering, 2006; Harris & Gimenez, 2005). Este trabalho pretende conhecer como crianças conceituam a morte, e até que ponto elas consideram estas duas alternativas como compatíveis ou não.Partindo-se de uma visão teórica alicerçada em pressupostos do desenvolvimento cognitivo postulados pela teoria da teoria 1 , acredita-se que crianças ao explorar o mundo, são como pequenos cientistas, capazes d...

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Section: Discussionunclassified

“…Os estudos desenvolvidos nesta área apontam que crianças jovens adotam um ponto de vista secular-biológico, concebendo a morte como o fim da vida (Brent et al, 1996;Nunes, Carraro, De Jou, & Sperb, 1998;Torres, 1979;Wenestram & Wass, 1987). Já adolescentes e adultos incorporam elementos religiosos em sua concepção de morte (Brent et al, 1996).…”

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Mais ou menos morto: explorações sobre a formação do conceito de morte em crianças

Roazzi¹,

Dias²,

Roazzi³

2010

Psicol. Reflex. Crit.

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“…British children are likely to be influenced by exposure to media, such as books, cartoons, films, and computer games, where death is often portrayed as a result of violent events, rather than by direct exposure to ill, dying, or dead people (Mahon, 2011;Wenestram & Wass, 1987). In contrast, Pakistani Muslim children living in rural and deprived areas in Pakistan, who have limited access to Western media, are more likely to have a more realistic view that death usually results from illness or old age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

British and Pakistani children's understanding of death: Cultural and developmental influences

Panagiotaki

Nobes

Ashraf

et al. 2014

British J of Dev Psycho

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This study explored British and Pakistani 4-to 7-year-olds' (N = 188) understanding of death. The aim was to examine possible influences on the acquisition of the subcomponents of the death concept by investigating how they are understood by children of different ages and cultural and religious backgrounds. Three groups of children were compared: White British and British Muslim living in London, and Pakistani Muslim living in rural Pakistan. In line with previous research (Slaughter, 2005, Aust. Psychol., 40(3), 179), irreversibility of death was one of the first subcomponents to be acquired, while causality was the last. The two groups of British children shared many similarities in their understanding of inevitability, applicability, irreversibility, and cessation. Pakistani Muslim children understood irreversibility earlier than did children in both British groups. In all three cultural groups, children's responses demonstrated very limited understanding of causality. Our findings support the view that aspects of a mature understanding of death develop between the ages of 4 and 7 years and that the process of understanding death as a biological event is, to a great extent, universal. They also suggest that aspects of children's reasoning are influenced by culturally specific experiences, particularly those arising from living in rural versus urban settings.

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“…Moreover, studies that have included both children and young adolescents document a progressive increase in references to the afterlife (Brent, Speece, Lin, Dong, & Yang, 1996;Wenestram & Wass, 1987).…”

Section: Developmental Psychology and The Biology Of Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Mortality and the Life of the Ancestors in Rural Madagascar

2008

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Across two studies, a wide age range of participants was interviewed about the nature of death. All participants were living in rural Madagascar in a community where ancestral beliefs and practices are widespread. In Study 1, children (8-17 years) and adults (19-71 years) were asked whether bodily and mental processes continue after death. The death in question was presented in the context of a narrative that focused either on the corpse or on the ancestral practices associated with the afterlife. Participants aged 8 years and older claimed that death brings an end to most bodily and mental processes. Nevertheless, particularly in the context of the religious narrative, they claimed that certain mental processes continue even after death. This assertion of an afterlife was more evident among adults than children, especially with respect to cognitive processes, such as knowing and remembering. In Study 2, 5-and 7-year-olds were asked similar questions in connection with the death of a bird and a person. Seven-year-olds consistently claimed that bodily and mental processes cease at death, whereas 5-year-olds were unsystematic in their replies. Together, the two studies replicate and extend findings obtained with Western children showing that, in the course of development, different conceptions of death are elaborated-a biological conception in which death terminates living processes and a religious conception in which death marks the beginning of a new form of spiritual existence.

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Swedish and U.S. children's thinking about death: A qualitative study and cross-cultural comparison

Cited by 32 publications

References 22 publications

Mais ou menos morto: explorações sobre a formação do conceito de morte em crianças

Mais ou menos morto: explorações sobre a formação do conceito de morte em crianças

British and Pakistani children's understanding of death: Cultural and developmental influences

Understanding Mortality and the Life of the Ancestors in Rural Madagascar

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