Concepts of Death of Adolescents in the Philippines

This study was conducted by: Choa, G., Golloso, C.N., Guingona, B.M. & Moreno, J.M.

INTRODUCTION

It was found that mortality was generally higher in adolescents and young adults than in the older age groups in the Philippines (as cited in Redaniel, Lebanan-Dalida, & Gunnel, 2011).This emphasizes the idea that death matters are greatly significant for adolescents. Since the stage of adolescence is crucial, as they undergo a crisis wherein they try to figure out who and what they are depending on their personal and spiritual beliefs, principles and values, the experience of losing someone metaphorically or literally may be emotionally hard for a teenager (I. Noppe & L. Noppe, 2004).They develop fear towards death especially when they realize that death is something that is permanent and irrevocable (Lonetto, 1980; Silverman, 2000 as cited in Bradbury, 2005). To avoid the fear of dying, teenagers involve themselves with dangerous activities by thinking of their ideal death, seeking awareness through art and media or pursuing uncertainties to control their avoidance of death in misery (Kann et al.,2000 as cited in Noppe & Noppe, 2004).They are at higher risks for pursuing these uncertainties because of developments in their brain that increase the urge to engage in adventurous endeavors. (Kann et al.,2000 as cited in Noppe & Noppe, 2004).  

Based on previous research, there has been evidence that adolescents and adults tend to coherently talk about death spiritually (Harris and Gimenez, n.d.). According to Brent, Speece and Corr (as cited in I. Noppe & L. Noppe, 2004,p. 151), there are five primary notions about death: universality which means every human being must die; irreversibility which means when one dies, it can never be physically alive again; nonfunctionality which states that when one dies, all actions or activity engagements related to life dies with it; causality which is the possible reasons of death; and noncorporeal continuation which states that the dead transform into some sort after physically dying. These concepts, whether abstractly or subjectively viewed, may be partially based on what is seen or heard from media and what is read in different types of literature (Concepts of Death by Age Group, n.d.).

Death may seem a rather difficult topic to discuss especially in the Philippines, due to the very optimistic culture. Given this, knowing the notions of death from adolescents will further aid in the understanding of adolescent high-risk behaviors (such as suicide attempts).The study can also help counsellors in their practice, by assisting parents in dealing with the discussion of death with their children. Moreover, they will be able to help shape adolescents’ self-awareness and coping mechanisms, which will help give them a more in-depth comprehension of death (Weiruszowski, 2008), as well as provide the appropriate knowledge that may be of help in preparing them adapt to different types of loss (I. Noppe & L. Noppe, 2004).These can further spark interest among psychologists and other researchers to conduct studies regarding these matters and contribute to the growing literature on the study of death particularly in the Philippines. That is why for this research, the main question is “What are the concepts of death from adolescents in the Philippines?”

METHODS

The participants for this study were Filipino Adolescents, specifically between the ages of 12-18 from different private Catholic schools across Metro Manila. To gather data, the researchers conducted semi-structured individual interviews, as well as a focus group discussion. To analyze this, content analysis was used on the recordings and notes taken down by the researchers; lines from the text were coded, extracts were identified and then clusters of meaning were developed based on the similar experiences of the participants. To ensure validity of data, the Triangulation Method was used by merging information gathered from various other sources (Guion & McDonald, n.d.), as well as member checking or validation by the participants themselves.

RESULTS
Based on research, the concepts of death of adolescents were categorized as themes and are as follows:

THEMES	DEFINITIONS	SAMPLE QUOTES
Death is an event that brings out emotions	Death is seen as something that initiates different emotions and feelings to people such as sadness, fear, sympathy, doubtfulness, joyfulness, hopefulness and the like.	“it’s hard. Like, knowing that something that close to you, you’ve spent a lot of time with it and stuff, a lot of memories with that dog..it’s hard knowing that you can’t live without it anymore because it’s not there. So life’s different.”                                                 “that was really sad, actually. Cause we were all pretty close to him. Like me and my cousins, uncles and aunts, we were close to him. So every time we go to his house, we’d be there and yeah, knowing na, yun nga he’s not there na, it’s different.”
Death has a purpose	It is something that happens for a             reason. An event/phenomena that results to changes in different life settings such as school, work, family, career etc.	“it affected me in a way that, like one of the cornerstones of the whole family was gone na. I had to be there for my whole family… So I had to be there for my younger cousins and they were obviously closer to my lolo than I was because they were younger so they’re more attached. I had to be there for them. Not just when he died, but until like now”                                                 “Death is not really sad, it’s a part of life that it should serve as a lesson for other people. And it gives other people na sasabihin ung tao to spend more time and live life to the fullest because you don’t know when death will come.”
Death is a spiritual or religious belief	Various notions on death and the afterlife is shaped and influenced by an individual’s religion or spiritual belief.	A: “After death...the people who die spend time with God, Jesus”                                                 “They go to heaven when they’re saved. They go to Christ and live again. When they go to hell, they do not receive salvation and they experience eternal suffering. In heaven they spend time with God, they worship God and enjoy the gospel”                                                   “Because in my faith, we believe that Jesus Christ died to pay for our sins so we believe that you have a place to go to to pay for your own sins“
Death happens to everyone	Every person dies and no one is invulnerable towards it.	“I knew people could die, like pass away and stuff but didn’t know that dogs could die.”                         C: ...“din, kasi lahat naman ng pinagdadaan un. Temporary lang naman kasi ang life.”
Death can come naturally or unnaturally	Death may be due to natural causes like illnesses and old age or by unnatural causes such as accidents, suicides and killing crimes	“Maraming ways. The worst one would be dying of old age, sick ridden and then the ideal one is dying of old age healthy and strong. But of course, there are other ways that I imagined to come. One would be a car accident or fire being burned in the house or wherever, drowning and other things as of expected age” “tinry   ko ngang magpakamatay e”
Death is what others say it is	The beliefs of individuals towards death is individuals is based from what other people tell them or what the media tells/shows them	C: “Nung namatay lolo ko, sabi ng pinsan ko, ano parang ginagawa pa rin niya ung normal na ginagawa niya nung buhay pa siya. Before siya, like ginagawa pa        rin niya ung normal routines niya. Natutulog pa rin siya for ilang weeks, un, kasi nakakakita siya. So feeling ko ganun muna bago          siya pumunta (sa heaven)”
Death is the end of sufferings and/or problems	Death is what marks the end of problems as those who die are believed to be relieved from any sort of pain or negative experiences and/or feelings.	D: “Kasama nila si God tapos walang problems.”

The researchers were able to identify several themes regarding the concepts of death among Filipino adolescents. Most of them are related to ideas brought about by external influences such as religion and external entities while some are related to the general idea of death being universal and an end to worldly concepts such as life and sufferings. These were defined and were further supported by data extracts from the interviews and focus group discussion conducted for the study.

 CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS.

Based on results, the study shows that adolescents in the Philippines see death as something universal. Everyone in the world would experience death sooner or later. Furthermore, adolescents understand that death is inevitable. Adolescents in the Philippines understand that death is part of the cycle of life, and in addition they see death as an emotional experience.The idea of death in the Philippines is greatly influenced by their emotional experience in losing someone, religion and individuals who are around. Emotional experience leads to the  understanding on how an individual may cope in the experience of losing some. In addition, religion and culture plays a big role in the understanding of death since most individuals in the Philippines are Catholics and observe most beliefs and practices in their cultures. Thus, the concept of death among these individuals is something that leads one to heaven, hell, and someone after death. For future researches on this topic, it would be advisable to compose a more focused an in-depth concepts of death of adolescents in the Philippines. Moreover, it would also be better if there would be more reference on the notions of death of individuals here in the Philippines instead of references coming from different parts of the world. Lastly, the study would be more in-depth if one could focus on other internal and external factors that affect the notions of death of children in the Philippines.

REFERENCES

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