Attitudes and Beliefs about Death and Dying Held by Black South African University Students

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Using the Lester Attitude Towards Death Scale (LATDS), a study was conducted on a convenience sample of 179 Black South African university students to investigate their attitudes towards, and beliefs about, death and dying. It was found that overall the students held positive attitudes towards, death and dying. However, this was not influenced by any of the demographic variables tested. The implications of these findings on several topical death-related issues in South Africa are discussed.

Although the issues of death and dying have been widely written about in the past (e.g., see Boston & Trezise, 1987; Burnell & Burnell, 1989; Craig, 1989; Gordon, 1978; Howarth & …