FUNERAL RITUALS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF A CHILD IN TAIWAN

This study explores the practices of 25 Taiwanese families following t he death of a child from cancer. Detailed description of the families' post-death practices was obtained through semistructured interviews w ith at least one family member. Through content analysis of the data, 10 categories were identified. These were: caring for the body, funera l arrangements, mourning clothes, ashes, spirit tablets, child's belon gings, child's room, visits to the grave or the temple, dreams, and ta lking about the dead child. The findings show that although the ritual s performed following the death of a child are simpler than those trad itionally performed for an adult, they are still an important part of the families' lives during the post-death period.