Medici se houdings teenoor genadedood: 'n kruiskulturele ondersoek

English: The purpose of this study was to investigate medical practitioners from different race groups’ attitudes toward euthanasia. A biographical questionnaire and the Euthanasia Attitude Scale were administered to 217 medical practitioners in and around the cities of the Free State province. Six variables, namely race, gender, age, speciality, number of years in practice and religion were investigated. The data was analysed by means of factorial analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance and post hoc Scheffé tests. The most important finding of this study was that overall, medical practitioners are in favour of euthanasia. The results showed significant differences (p < .01) according to medical practitioners’ race, speciality and religion. The interaction between speciality and the amount of years in practice was also investigated and significant differences (p < .01) were found. Race, speciality and religion are thus strong determinants of medical practitioners’ attitudes toward euthanasia.