Percepciones sobre la muerte en la infancia temprana: estudio cualitativo

Abstract

The main objective of this research work is to explore the vision and previous knowledge that children at early ages have about death through a qualitative study. For the data collection we used an interview and drawings of the participants. The study involved 28 students aged 4-5 years. Among the most interesting results obtained, the children»s vision of death includes that the dead people are sad, asleep, all of them go to the heaven and the cemetery when they die and that can be cured or wake from the dead. This study is relevant for the developmental and educational field since it is a way to explore the perceptions and knowledge that children have at these ages about death. Our results also provide suggestions on how to deal with this issue in the most natural possible way to promote its acceptance, overcoming mourning and the elimination of myths.