A DEATH-POSITIVE VIDEO GAME FOR DEATH EDUCATION OF ADOLESCENTS
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Published
May 21, 2019
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Abstract
Meaning is what makes stories compelling, and often what conveys meaning in our stories is death. However, even if death is ubiquitous in the media, we tend to adopt an attitude of emotional denial to it in our personal lives. Death seems to trigger a great deal of anxiety in adolescents. Considering that video games are a popular medium among teenagers, should we then use them as a tool in death education programs? Death is present in most video games as a mechanic or a narrative element. “A Mortician’s Tale” stands out from the crowd in as much as it’s a story-driven, death-positive video game that encourages players to deal with their death fears with the intent of reducing them.
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Column "Platforms/tools"
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References
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Noppe, I. C., & Noppe L. D. (1997). Evolving meanings of death during early, middle, and later adolescence. Death Studies, 21(3), 253-275. doi:10.1080/074811897201967
Noppe, L. D., & Noppe I. C. (1991). Dialectical themes in adolescent conceptions of death. Journal of Adolescent Research, 6(1), 28-42. doi:10.1177/074355489161003
Piaget, J. (1972). Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood. Human Development, 15(1), 1-12.
Rusch, D. C. (2009). Mechanisms of the soul: tackling the human condition in video games. Proceedings of the 2009 Digital Games Research Association DIGRA International Conference: Breaking News Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory, London, UK.
Speece, M. W., & Brent, S. B. (1984). Children’s understanding of death: a review of three components of a death concept. Development, 55(5), 1671-1686. doi: 10.2307/1129915
Testoni, I., & De Cataldo, L. (2014). Death education for adolescent suicide prevention between family and school: a review. Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies, XIX(2), 37-50.
Testoni, I., Tranquilli, R., Salghetti, M., Marini, L., & Legrenzi, A. (2005). L’educazione alla morte come momento di incontro psico-socio-culturale tra scuola, famiglia e territorio. Famiglia Interdisciplinarità Ricerca. 10(3), 312-322.
Toews, J., Martin, R., & Prosen, H. (1985). Death anxiety: the prelude to adolescence. Adolescent Psychiatry, 12, 134-144.
Warr, P. (2017, October 18). A Mortician’s Tale Review. PC Gamer. Retrieved from https://www.pcgamer.com/a-morticians-tale-review/
Wass, H. (2004). A perspective on the current state of death education. Death Studies, 28, 289-308. doi: 10.1080/07481180490432315
Ausbel, D. P., Montemayor, R., & Svajian, P. (1977). Theory and problems of adolescent development. New York, NY, USA: Grune & Stratton.
Balk, D. E. (2014). Dealing with dying, death and grief during adolescence. New York, NY, USA: Routledge.
Belman, J., & Flanagan, M. (2009). Designing games to foster empathy. Cognitive Technology, 14(2), 5-15.
Brent, S. B., Speece, M. W., Lin, C., Dong, Q., & Yang C. (1996). The development of the concept of death among Chinese and U.S. children 3-17 years of age: from binary to “fuzzy” concepts? Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying, 33, 67-83. doi:10.2190/27L7-G7Q1-DY5Q-J9F3
Dimaggio, G., Salvatore, G., Azzara, C., & Catania, D. (2003). Rewriting self-narratives: the therapeutic process. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 16(2), 155-181. doi:10.1080/10720530390117920
Doughty, C. (2014). Smoke gets in your eyes. New York, NY, USA: W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Durlak, J. A. (1994). Changing death attitudes through death education. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: research instrumentation, and application (pp. 243-260). NewYork, NY, USA: Taylor & Francis.
Durlak, J. A., & Reisenberg, L. A. (1991). The impact of death education. Death Studies, 15(1), 39-58. doi: 10.1080/07481189108252408
Evans, E., Hawton, K., & Rodham, K. (2005). In what ways are adolescents who engage in self-harm or experience thoughts of self-harm different in terms of help-seeking, communication and coping strategies? Journal of Adolescence, 28(4), 573-587. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.11.001
Fitzpatrick, I. (2017, November 6). Interview: a talk with A Mortician’s Tale game designer Gabby DaRienzo. Roguesportal. Retrieved from http://www.roguesportal.com/39468-2
Flanagan, M., & Nissenbaum, H. (2014). Values at Play. Cambridge, MA, USA: The MIT Press.
Freud, S. (1917). Mourning and melancholia. The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, XIV, (1914-1916): On the history of the psychoanalytic movement, Papers on Metapsychology and Other Works. London, UK: The Hogart Press.
Freud, S. (1929/1961). Civilization and its discontents. New York, NY, USA: Norton.
Game Developers Conference (2018, April 4). A Mortician’s Tale: a different view on how games treat death. Gabby Darienzo. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEl0b_9BmE4
Gordon, A. K. (1986). The tattered cloak of immortality. In C. A. Corr. & J. N. McNeil (Eds.), Adolescence and death (pp. 16-31). New York, NY, USA: Springer.
Gosney, H., & Hawton, K. (2007). Inquest verdicts: youth suicides lost. Psychiatric Bulletin, 31(6), 203-205. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.105.007773
Granic, I., Lobel, A., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). The benefits of playing video games. American Psychologist, January, 66-78.
Grant, J. P. (2011, 29 July). Life after death. Kill Screen Daily. Retrieved from https://killscreen.com/articles/life-after-death/
Gray, K. (2017, 18 October). A game that finds comfort in the banality of death. Waypoint Vice. Retrieved from https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/evbgmk/a-game-that-finds-comfort-in-the-banality-of-death
Harrer, S. (2013). From losing to loss: exploring the expressive capacities of video games beyond death as failure. Culture Unbound, 5, 607-620.
Harris, J. (2017, October 27). Dev Q & A: A Mortician’s Tale challenges how games depict death. Gamasutra. Retrieved from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/308408/Dev_QA_A_Morticians_Tale_challenges_how_games_depict_death.php
Hoelter, J. W, & Hoelter, J. A. (1978). The relationship between fear and death and anxiety. Journal of Psychology, 99, 225-6.
Ka-Ying Hui, V., Harris Bond, M., & Sze Wing Ng, T. (2007). General Beliefs about the world as defense mechanism against death anxiety. Omega Journal of Death and Dying, 54(3), 199-214.
Kidwell, E. (2018, March 19). A Mortician’s Tale deconstructs how death should be designed. Gamasutra. Retrieved from https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/315660/A_Morticians_Tale_deconstructs_how_death_should_be_designed.php
Lazzaro, N. (2004). Why we play games: four keys to more emotion without story. Presented at Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, California.
Lester, D. (2003). Adolescent suicide from an international perspective. The American Behavioral Scientist, 46(9), 1157-1170. doi:10.1177/0002764202250659
Mascarenha Fonseca, L. & Testoni, I. (2011). The emergence of thanatology and current practice in death education. Omega Journal of Death and Dying. 64(2), 157-169. doi:10.2190/OM.64.2.d
Noppe, I. C. (2007). Life span issues and death education. In D. Balk (Ed.), Handbook of thanatology (pp.337-343). London, UK: Routledge.
Noppe, I. C., & Noppe L. D. (1997). Evolving meanings of death during early, middle, and later adolescence. Death Studies, 21(3), 253-275. doi:10.1080/074811897201967
Noppe, L. D., & Noppe I. C. (1991). Dialectical themes in adolescent conceptions of death. Journal of Adolescent Research, 6(1), 28-42. doi:10.1177/074355489161003
Piaget, J. (1972). Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood. Human Development, 15(1), 1-12.
Rusch, D. C. (2009). Mechanisms of the soul: tackling the human condition in video games. Proceedings of the 2009 Digital Games Research Association DIGRA International Conference: Breaking News Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory, London, UK.
Speece, M. W., & Brent, S. B. (1984). Children’s understanding of death: a review of three components of a death concept. Development, 55(5), 1671-1686. doi: 10.2307/1129915
Testoni, I., & De Cataldo, L. (2014). Death education for adolescent suicide prevention between family and school: a review. Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies, XIX(2), 37-50.
Testoni, I., Tranquilli, R., Salghetti, M., Marini, L., & Legrenzi, A. (2005). L’educazione alla morte come momento di incontro psico-socio-culturale tra scuola, famiglia e territorio. Famiglia Interdisciplinarità Ricerca. 10(3), 312-322.
Toews, J., Martin, R., & Prosen, H. (1985). Death anxiety: the prelude to adolescence. Adolescent Psychiatry, 12, 134-144.
Warr, P. (2017, October 18). A Mortician’s Tale Review. PC Gamer. Retrieved from https://www.pcgamer.com/a-morticians-tale-review/
Wass, H. (2004). A perspective on the current state of death education. Death Studies, 28, 289-308. doi: 10.1080/07481180490432315