Content analysis of a predominately African-American near-death experience collection: Evaluating the ritual healing theory.

Analysis of 28 near-death experience (NDE) narratives from a predominantly African-American sample in northeastern North Carolina found a lower incidence of core NDE features than in a prior sample of International Association for Near-Death Studies members, but similar to rates in British and American samples. No significant differences in feature frequency appeared between crisis and non-crisis accounts. Content analysis revealed different frequencies of NDE type and more negative emotion than earlier studies. Accounts included elements linked to shamanism and illuminated how NDEs shape folk religious belief. Findings supported hypotheses from the ritual healing theory.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Twenty-eight near-death experience (NDE) narratives were selected from 1,832 anomalous experience accounts collected from predomi nately African-American respondents in northeastern North Carolina. Analysis of this sample allowed testing hypotheses regarding NDEs and the ritual healing theory. The North Carolina sample revealed a lower incidence of NDE core features than Bruce Greyson found in a sample of International Association for Near-Death Studies (LANDS) members, but equivalent to that found by Mark Fox in a British sample and by Kenneth Ring in an American sample. As Fox reported, comparison of crisis to non-crisis accounts revealed no significant differences in frequency of NDE features. Although no narrative features in the sample stories indicated ethnicity, content analysis revealed different frequen cies of NDE type and greater incidence of negative emotion than previous researchers found. Accounts portrayed elements associated with shamanism and shed light on the process by which NDEs shape folk religious belief. All in all, hypotheses derived from the ritual healing theory were supported.