Children's Understanding of Death

Karl S. Rosengren is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. His research focuses on cognitive and motor development.Peggy J. Miller is a Professor of Psychology and Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses onsocialization, specifically the process by which children come to orient themselves within systems of meaning. She is an expert on qualitative and ethnographic methods.Isabel T. Gutierrez is a Lecturer in the Humanities, Social Sciences, & Education Department at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, New Jersey. Her main interest is in socialization of meaning across cultures.Phillip J. Chow is a clinical graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His main research interests include the role of emotion and personality in depression.Stevie S. Schein is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her main focus of interest is in social development.Kathy N. Anderson was a research associate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Maureen A. Callanan is Professor of Psychology at University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research takes a sociocultural developmental approach, focusing on cognitive and language development in young children. Much of her work investigates how children's causal understanding emerges in the context of family conversations and activities.

• ABSTRACT vii  I. INTRODUCTION Peggy J. Miller, Karl S. Rosengren, and Isabel T. Gutiérrez 1  II. EUROPEAN AMERICANS IN CENTERVILLE: COMMUNITY AND FAMILY CONTEXTS Peggy J. Miller, Isabel T. Gutiérrez, Philip I. Chow, and Stevie S. Schein 19  III. AFFECTIVE DIMENSIONS OF DEATH: CHILDREN’S BOOKS, QUESTIONS, AND UNDERSTANDINGS Isabel T. Gutiérrez, Peggy J. Miller, Karl S. Rosengren, and Stevie S. Schein 43  IV. COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS OF DEATH IN CONTEXT Karl S. Rosengren, Isabel T. Gutiérrez, and Stevie S. Schein 62  V. COGNITIVE MODELS OF DEATH Karl S. Rosengren, Isabel T. Gutiérrez, and Stevie S. Schein 83  VI. MEXICAN AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE CENTERVILLE REGION: TEACHERS, CHILDREN, AND PARENTS Isabel T. Gutiérrez, Karl S. Rosengren, and Peggy J. Miller 97  VII. FINAL THOUGHTS Peggy J. Miller and Karl S. Rosengren 113  REFERENCES 125  APPENDIX A 134  APPENDIX B 138  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 141