Perception Of The Concept Of Death Among Children, Young And Older People And The Comparison Of These Perceptions: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Death is one of the most important concepts that make life meaningful and it is the inevitable end. From the moment we are born, we are one step closer to death with every passing second, and this creates the stage of consciousness that enables people to connect and make sense of life more tightly. Death, which means the definitive end of life, has been seen as an important event in all societies and in every period of life. The purpose of the current study is to determine and compare the perceptions of children, young people and older people about death through metaphors. The study is a qualitative research. A total of 192 people, 57 children, 63 young and 72 older people, determined on a voluntary basis constituted the sample of the study. A questionnaire form consisting of open-ended questions was used in the study. Descriptive analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the analysis of the data. It was tried to determine with which metaphors the participants would present their perceptions of death and the common characteristics of the metaphors that would emerge. In the evaluation of the data obtained, content analysis method was used in accordance with the qualitative research design. According to the research findings, 29 metaphors were produced by the children, 37 by the young people and 46 by the older people to express the concept of death. The children compared the concept of death most with old age, sadness, grave, accident, earth, sleep, ending, separation; the young people compared it most with beginning, extinction, exam, loneliness, longing, leaf, fear and the older people compared it most with migration, destiny, happiness, reunion, longing, salvation, bridge. The children predominantly expressed death with negative metaphors, the young people used lively metaphors drawn from life experiences while the older people often portrayed death with positive metaphors. The metaphors created by the children, young and older people were categorized into groups. The metaphors generated by individuals regarding the concept of death and the categories formed from these metaphors reveal how the concept of death is perceived..