Experiencing of death at a pre-school child

Diplomsko delo obravnava tematiko doživljanja smrti pri predšolskem otroku. Ukvarjali smo se predvsem z miselnostjo o smrti. Tema, ki smo ji izpostavljeni skorajda dnevno, vključno z našimi najmlajšimi, je danes problem širšega družbenega okvirja, saj je odnos do umiranja, smrti in žalovanja še dandanes prikrit. Večina ljudi se poskuša misli na smrt izogniti. Če temu dodamo še strah, tesnobo in zmedenost odraslih ob teh težkih situacijah, je prezrtost predšolskih otrok še toliko večja. Predšolski otroci so za odrasle še vedno »mali ljudje«, ki smrti ne razumejo. Z diplomskim delom želimo dokazati to zmoto odraslih in predstaviti doživljanje smrti z otroške plati. Diplomsko delo združuje teoretični in empirični del. V teoretičnem delu opredeljujemo splošni pomen besed smrt, umiranje in izgubo ter religiozni pogled na smrt. Posebno pozornost smo namenili tudi procesu žalovanja in doživljanju smrti pri predšolskem otrokom, o izgubah in o pogovoru o smrti s predšolskim otrokom. V okviru empiričnega dela je prikazana raziskava o vlogi staršev pri seznanitvi predšolskega otroka s pomenom besede smrt in o doživljanju izgube otroku bližnje osebe. Ugotovili smo, da v pogovoru s predšolskim otrokom o smrti obstajajo razlike med religiozno usmerjenimi in nereligiozno usmerjenimi družinami. Potrebne informacije smo pridobili z deskriptivno metodo, anketnim vprašalnikom, ki smo ga razdelili med starše vrtca Laško. Rezultati so obdelani s programom SPSS in izraženi v absolutnih in odstotnih frekvencah ter preglednično prikazani.This diploma work discusses death experience among preschool children. We mainly focused on their mind set. We and our youngest are dealing with the »death« theme almost daily but it is becoming a worldwide problem within our society because the relation of people to dying, death and mourning is still hidden. Most people are trying to avoid the thought of death. If we add fear, anxiety and confusion when it comes to stressful situations children are easily overlooked. Preschool children are still considered as »small« people who do not understand the concept of death. With this diploma work we are trying to prove that adults are mistaken and introduce death experience from the children point of view. Diploma work consists of theoretical and empirical part. In the theoretical part we explain the general meaning of words death, dying and loss as well as introduce religious point of view. We mainly focus on the process of mourning and experiencing death among pre-schoolers, the loss and conversation about death. In the empirical part we analyse the results of a research about parents’ role when it comes to informing pre-schoolers with the meaning of the word death and how pre-schoolers experience death of a beloved person. We found out that there are some differences among those children who come from religious families and those who don`t. We got all the information needed with the descriptive method, a questioner that was divided among all parents in kindergarten Laško. Results were analysed with SPSS programme and expressed with absolute and percentage frequencies as well as table displayed