Hufton Emily
A&E Department, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK.
J Child Health Care. 2006 Sep;10(3):240-50. doi: 10.1177/1367493506066484.
This article discusses the spiritual lives of children who are facing severe illness or bereavement. Initially, it describes a children's story which had some impact on the author's spiritual views during childhood. The concept of children as spiritual beings is discussed and questions are raised as to why relatively little attention has been given to this as opposed to their religious affiliation. Asserting that children do have a spiritual dimension, the importance of addressing children's spirituality is considered. Discussion is given to ways of assessing and attending to children's spirituality, illustrated with case studies. It is identified that for carers, a degree of self-awareness is crucial in order to develop an open and flexible working definition of what spirituality is and means.
本文探讨了面临重病或丧亲之痛的儿童的精神生活。首先，它讲述了一个儿童故事，这个故事在作者童年时期对其精神观念产生了一定影响。文中讨论了儿童作为精神存在的概念，并提出疑问：为何相较于儿童的宗教信仰，人们对这方面的关注相对较少。文章断言儿童确实具有精神层面，并考虑了关注儿童精神性的重要性。文中通过案例研究说明了评估和关注儿童精神性的方法。研究发现，对于照顾者而言，一定程度的自我意识对于形成关于精神性是什么以及意味着什么的开放且灵活的工作定义至关重要。
