Thoughts about Death and Dying in an African Sample

Abstract

The attitudes toward death and dying of 163 Xhosa-speaking respondents living in Transkei, South Africa were assessed by means of semi-structured interviews. Eight aspects of death were studied: personal death, death of others, the right to know about one's impending death, preferred length of life span, preferences for manner of dying, and place of death, euthanasia, and suicide. A number of critical factors in the formation of attitudes were related to the above: age, gender, belief in life after death, educational level, and exposure to death and dying. The findings concerning the salient aspects of death and dying were in many ways similar to those from previous studies in African as well as western societies. Age, gender, belief in life after death, and education influenced the number of respondents reporting certain attitudes in a number of cases.