Children's Understanding of Death: From Biological to Religious Conceptions

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
Figures and Table......Page 7
Contributors......Page 8
Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 10
1 Death, Ancestors, and the Living Dead:......Page 14
“They Don’t Know a Thing” – and It’s Better That Way......Page 16
“When You Are Still Little, When People Chat.....”......Page 17
“Like When You Go to a Funeral .....”......Page 18
“All Right Then, Let’s Have an Offering”......Page 22
Could Vezo Children Escape Knowing about the Ancestors?......Page 23
“I Cut Its Head Off”......Page 24
“They Were Dead but They Came out of the Ground”......Page 26
Conclusion – “I Don’t Know, I’ve Never Been Dead”......Page 29
References......Page 31
2 Death in Spain, Madagascar, and Beyond......Page 32
Children’s Acceptance of Conflicting Testimony......Page 33
Coexistence......Page 40
Dualism......Page 43
Conclusion......Page 51
References......Page 52
Traditional Death Awareness versus Modernity......Page 54
The Wish to Protect versus the Duty to Educate......Page 57
Mature Understanding versus Innocence......Page 60
Basic Research versus the Grief Context......Page 62
Biological Death versus the Bypassing of Biology......Page 63
Universality versus Death of Self......Page 67
Conclusion......Page 69
References......Page 70
4 Death in the Lives of Children......Page 74
Children’s Understanding of Death......Page 75
The Dying Child’s Experiences......Page 77
Palliative Care......Page 78
Symptom Management......Page 79
The Child’s Experiences......Page 80
Communication......Page 82
The Parents’ Experiences......Page 83
Components of Decision Making......Page 88
Children’s Roles in Decision Making at the End of Life......Page 92
Saying Good-bye......Page 94
Emotions......Page 96
Secondary Losses......Page 100
Funerals......Page 101
Bereavement Support......Page 102
Conclusion......Page 103
References......Page 104
The Taboo Topic......Page 111
Children’s Experience with Death......Page 114
Talking to Children about Death......Page 115
What Comes after Death?......Page 119
Death Education in the Classroom......Page 122
Conclusion......Page 125
References......Page 126
6 Responsible Believing......Page 129
Responsibility and Control......Page 130
The Voluntarism Argument......Page 131
The Limits of Evidentialism......Page 138
Educating Children to Believe Responsibly......Page 143
References......Page 145
7 Thoughts and Feelings......Page 146
Children Are Not Materialists......Page 147
William James, Materialism, and The Mind: Supporting the Children......Page 150
The New Atheists......Page 158
Was James Religious? Is Anybody?......Page 161
Modern Science......Page 164
References......Page 167
8 How the Law Constructs Its Understanding of Death......Page 169
The Finality of Death......Page 170
The Moment of Death......Page 177
Do the Dead Have an Interest in Their Reputations after Death?......Page 181
What Financial Obligations, if any, do the Dead Have to the Living?......Page 188
To What Extent are the Dead Able to Continue to Exert Control over the Living by Imposing Conditions on the Receipt of Prope......Page 193
References......Page 197
Index......Page 200