What Do Preschool Children in India Understand About Death?: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Most people avoid talking about death with children even when required, as they are unsure at what age children start understanding the concept of death. Although this question has been researched in the west, it has not been answered in the Indian context. Therefore, this study was conducted in India with 25 children (14 females, 11 males; 3–5 years), using play and joint story construction method, along with semistructured interviews. Results indicated that majority of the children understood that everyone has to die, including significant people like their own parents (i.e., universality) and also, many children understood that death is final (i.e., irreversibility). However, only few children understood that all cognitive/behavioral functions cease at death (i.e., nonfunctionality). In conclusion, only a small proportion of preschoolers seems to have had a mature concept of death.