Social representations of death in psychology students in hospital practices

Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the social representations (SR) of death in psychology students in their final year of their degree. It explored attitudes, information, and the field of representation. Methodology: This study employed a qualitative and processual approach. The study used word associations and semi-structured interviews with 19 young people from a private university in Bogotá (Colombia), who were beginning their professional practice in a hospital context. Results: The results show different understandings of death depending on the role it plays in life and what they have learned about it from different sources and experiences. However, death tends to be seen as a sad event that generates suffering even when it alleviates it, resulting in an ambivalent attitude towards it. In the results, SR of death are linked to the context and their professional role in coping with the discomfort and fulfilling their work. Conclusions: The results allow us to evidence SRs of death associated with emotional discomfort and at the same time with understandings of death as a natural and normative event. There is evidence of processes of objectification and anchoring of SRs of death in the students. In particular, it should be noted that entering the hospital context generated changes in the students, both in the characteristics attributed to death and in their way of understanding it.