Western attitudes toward death : from the Middle Ages to the present by 
The Importance of Being Innocent by
The Importance of Being Innocent addresses the current debate in Australia and internationally regarding the sexualisation of children, predation on them by pedophiles and the risks apparently posed to their 'innate innocence' by perceived problems and threats in contemporary society. Joanne Faulkner argues that, contrary to popular opinion, social issues have been sensationally expounded in moral panics about children who are often presented as alternatively obese, binge-drinking and drug-using, self-harming, neglected, abused, medicated and driven to anti-social behavior by TV and computers. This erudite and thought-provoking book instead suggests that modern western society has reacted to problems plaguing the adult world by fetishizing children as innocents, who must be protected from social realities. Taking a philosophical and sociological perspective, it outlines the various historical trends, emotional investments and social tensions that shape contemporary ideas about what childhood represents, and our responsibilities in regard to children.
Death and Dying by
This stimulating new book provides a sophisticated introduction to the key issues in the sociology of death and dying. In recent years, the social sciences have seen an upsurge of interest in death and dying. The fascination with death is reflected in popular media such as newspapers, television documentaries, films and soaps, and, moreover, in the multiplying range of professional roles associated with dying and death. Yet despite its ubiquitous significance, the majority of texts in the field have been written primarily for health professionals. This book breaks with that tradition. It provides a cutting edge, comprehensive discussion of the key topics in death and dying and in so doing demonstrates that the study of mortality is germane to all areas of sociology. The book is organised thematically, utilising empirical material from cross-national and cross-cultural perspectives. It carefully addresses questions about social attitudes to mortality, the social nature of death and dying, explanations for change and diversity in approaches, and traditional, modern and postmodern experiences of death. Death and Dying will appeal to students across the social sciences, as well as professionals whose work brings them into contact with dying or bereaved people.
Death in a Global Age by
Attitudes towards dying are informed by our social lives. This book explores death across different cultures, examining areas including grief and religion, life expectancy and representation. Introducing students to key debates in the field, this book shows how approaches to death are being radically reshaped in an increasingly globalized world.
Beyond the Body by
This text provides an approach to death, dying and bereavement, and the sociology of the body. The authors challenge existing theories that put the body at the centre of identity. They go beyond the body to highlight the persistence of self-identity even when the body itself has been disposed of or is missing. Chapters draw together a wide range of empirical data, including cross-cultural case studies and fieldwork to examine both the management of the corpse and the construction of the soul or spirit by focusing on the work of: undertakers; embalmers; coroners; clergy; clairvoyants; exorcists; and bereavement counsellors.
Representing Death in the News by
This new study maps and synthesizes existing research on the ways in which journalism deals with death. Folker Hanusch provides a historical overview of death in the news, looks at the conditions of production, content and reception, and also analyzes emerging trends in the representation of death online.
A Social History of Dying by
Our experiences of dying have been shaped by ancient ideas about death and social responsibility at the end of life. From Stone Age ideas about dying as otherworld journey to the contemporary Cosmopolitan Age of dying in nursing homes, Allan Kellehear takes the reader on a 2 million year journey of discovery that covers the major challenges we will all eventually face: anticipating, preparing, taming and timing for our eventual deaths. This book, first published in 2007, is a major review of the human and clinical sciences literature about human dying conduct. The historical approach of this book places our recent images of cancer dying and medical care in broader historical, epidemiological and global context. Professor Kellehear argues that we are witnessing a rise in shameful forms of dying. It is not cancer, heart disease or medical science that presents modern dying conduct with its greatest moral tests, but rather poverty, ageing and social exclusion.
Doing Research on Sensitive Topics by
This book is a comprehensive guide to the methodological, ethical and practical issues involved in undertaking research on sensitive topics. Raymond M Lee explores the reasons why social research may be politically or socially contentious: its relation to issues of social or political power; its capacity to encroach on people's lives; and its potentially problematic nature for the researcher. Issues examined include: the choice of methodologies for sensitive research; problems of estimating the size of hidden populations; questions of sampling, surveying and interviewing; and sensitivity in access and the handling of data. The book also discusses the political and ethical issues at stake in the relations between the researcher and the researched, and in the disclosure, dissemination and publication of research.
The Culture of Death by
Western culture has always been obsessed with death, but now death has taken on a new, anonymous form. The twentieth century saw the mass production of corpses through war and the triumph of technology over the human body. The new millennium has opened with global terrorism and the suspension of human rights in far-flung prison camps.We live in an age of panic, when the fear of death at any time and in any place is present. And we live in an age of apathy towards both science and institutional politics, an age which has sanctioned the rise of techno-medical and political powers which can deny our control over our own bodies and lives and the lives of others. The Culture of Death explores this moment to analyze our exposure to death in modern culture.
Dead by
In his new book, DEAD, A Celebration of Mortality, Charles Saatchi confronts the inescapable subject of death, decay and mortality in a series of perversely entertaining essays written in his characteristically dry, sardonic and amusing style . The 52 essays span a wide variety of topics; the Russian mafia, snake eating spiders, Attila the Hun, The Wild West, being run over by your own dog , the most effective poisons, fatal curses, near- death experiences, premature burials, snuff movies and lethal sex.
Death in Classic and Contemporary Film by
Mortality is a recurrent theme in films across genres, periods, nations, and directors. This book brings together an accomplished set of authors with backgrounds in film analysis, psychology, and philosophy to examine how the knowledge of death, the fear of our mortality, and the ways people cope with mortality are represented in cinema.
Moral Boundaries by
In this work the author aims to provide an original response to the controversial questions surrounding women and caring. She demonstrates that feminist thinkers have failed to realize the political context which has shaped their debates about care. It is her belief that care cannot be a useful moral and political concept until its traditional and ideological associations as a women's morality are challenged.
There are many journals associated with death, dying and bereavement. Some are academic and some for practitioners. This does not represent an exhaustive list of journals on this topic:
The Hour of Our Death by
This remarkable book—the fruit of almost two decades of study—traces in compelling fashion the changes in Western attitudes toward death and dying from the earliest Christian times to the present day. A truly landmark study, The Hour of Our Death reveals a pattern of gradually developing evolutionary stages in our perceptions of life in relation to death, each stage representing a virtual redefinition of human nature. Starting at the very foundations of Western culture, the eminent historian Phillipe Ariès shows how, from Graeco-Roman times through the first ten centuries of the Common Era, death was too common to be frightening; each life was quietly subordinated to the community, which paid its respects and then moved on. Ariès identifies the first major shift in attitude with the turn of the eleventh century when a sense of individuality began to rise and with it, profound consequences: death no longer meant merely the weakening of community, but rather the destruction of self. Hence the growing fear of the afterlife, new conceptions of the Last Judgment, and the first attempts (by Masses and other rituals) to guarantee a better life in the next world. In the 1500s attention shifted from the demise of the self to that of the loved one (as family supplants community), and by the nineteenth century death comes to be viewed as simply a staging post toward reunion in the hereafter. Finally, Ariès shows why death has become such an unendurable truth in our own century—how it has been nearly banished from our daily lives—and points out what may be done to “re-tame” this secret terror. The richness of Ariès's source material and investigative work is breathtaking. While exploring everything from churches, religious rituals, and graveyards (with their often macabre headstones and monuments), to wills and testaments, love letters, literature, paintings, diaries, town plans, crime and sanitation reports, and grave robbing complaints, Aries ranges across Europe to Russia on the one hand and to England and America on the other. As he sorts out the tangled mysteries of our accumulated terrors and beliefs, we come to understand the history—indeed the pathology—of our intellectual and psychological tensions in the face of death.
Vigor Mortis: The End of the Death Taboo by 
The Private Worlds of Dying Children by
"The death of a child," writes Myra Bluebond-Langner, "poignantly underlines the impact of social and cultural factors on the way that we die and the way that we permit others to die." In a moving drama constructed from her observations of leukemic children, aged three to nine, in a hospital ward, she shows how the children come to know they are dying, how and why they attempt to conceal this knowledge from their parents and the medical staff, and how these adults in turn try to conceal from the children their awareness of the child's impending death.
Purity and Danger by
In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. The book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate - from religion to social theory. But perhaps its most important role is to offer each reader a new explanation of why people behave in the way they do. With a specially commissioned introduction by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work thirty-five years on, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge and question well into the new millennium.
Death and Dying by
This book draws together a range of both classic and newly commissioned pieces on the multidisciplinary study of death and dying. Organized into five parts, the book begins with a general exploration of the meaning of death, before moving on to consider caring at the end-of-life. Further readings explore the moral and ethical dilemmas in the context of death and dying. The fourth part of the book examines the issue of grief and ritual after death, while the final part considers some of the issues that arise when researching in the field of death and dying. By drawing together information, reflection and experience this authoritative text will broaden your understanding of the subject area. The book will be a core text for students in nursing, medicine, social work, counselling and health and social care. It will also be essential reading for all professionals and carers who come into contact with death and bereavement. Death and Dying: A Reader is the Set Book for the Open University course Death and Dying (K260).
Making Sense of Death, Dying and Bereavement by
This anthology offers a unique collection of personal accounts of death, dying and bereavement. It examines representations of death, dying and bereavement in fiction, poetry, the media and the Internet, as well as exploring visual representations of death and dying. Included are: - visual representations of the changing meaning of death within societies - examples of the ways in which the Web is being used to give and receive support when people are dying or when they have been bereaved - the moral, ethical and emotional issues involved in caring for people at the end-of-life - lay and professional personal accounts of miscarriage and the death of family members including children, siblings and parents; suicide and assisted suicide, the role of humour after someone dies, intimacy at the end-of-life and the impact of autopsy - reflections from survivors and people who have been bereaved following traumatic and mass death and disaster. This highly distinctive book will be key reading for professionals, students and those involved in the care of dying and bereaved people.
The Loneliness of the Dying by
Originally published in 1985, this is a short meditation by a great old man on people relating to other people who are dying, and the need for all of us to open up.
Communicating with Children When a Parent Is at the End of Life by
When a parent is nearing the end of life, children can feel like their world has been turned upside down, and they are often scared and confused about what is happening. Sensitive and clear communication with children is vital to help them understand and cope with their parent's illness.This accessible book demonstrates how to support children through effective and sensitive communication, covering types of communication, language, information sharing, and overcoming common barriers. Developing confidence and skills such as talking, listening, giving children a voice and breaking bad news is also covered. The author outlines the concept of a 'communication continuum' which can be used to assess how much a child knows or understands about their parent's illness and how much they would like to know. The book contains a wealth of practical strategies and ideas, as well as case vignettes, practice tips and reflective exercises.This is an essential resource for anyone working with or supporting a child whose parent is at the end of life, including palliative care workers, nurses, social workers, teachers and counsellors.
Death, Memory and Material Culture by
· How do the living maintain ongoing relationships with the dead in Western societies? · How have the residual belongings of the dead been used to evoke memories? · Why has the body and its material environment remained so important in memory-making? Objects, images, practices, and places remind us of the deaths of others and of our own mortality. At the time of death, embodied persons disappear from view, their relationships with others come under threat and their influence may cease. Emotionally, socially, politically, much is at stake at the time of death. In this context, memories and memory-making can be highly charged, and often provide the dead with a social presence amongst the living. Memories of the dead are a bulwark against the terror of forgetting, as well as an inescapable outcome of a life's ending. Objects in attics, gardens, museums, streets and cemeteries can tell us much about the processes of remembering. This unusual and absorbing book develops perspectives in anthropology and cultural history to reveal the importance of material objects in experiences of grief, mourning and memorializing. Far from being ?invisible', the authors show how past generations, dead friends and lovers remain manifest ? through well-worn garments, letters, photographs, flowers, residual drops of perfume, funerary sculpture. Tracing the rituals, gestures and materials that have been used to shape and preserve memories of personal loss, Hallam and Hockey show how material culture provides the deceased with a powerful presence within the here and now.
Grief, Mourning and Death Ritual by
"a must for any specialist and advanced practitioner's bookshelf." Journal of Interpersonal Care This book focuses on what happens after a death has taken place. Drawing on social theory and anthropology, contributors examine responses to death as they occur within the unique set of cultural, social and historical circumstances which characterizes post-war society. The book does not just document and make sense of contemporary practices but also critically reviews the ways grief, mourning and death ritual have been approached by academics and practitioners in the field. It does this by combining substantial reviews with shorter illustrative examples of grief, mourning and death ritual as they are manifest in specific settings and with defined groups. These illustrative examples include personal and institutional responses to death at different points in the life cycle, and responses to different sorts of death - the death of children and death in disasters for example. The examples include commentaries on bereavement work and on changes in both the funeral industry and memorialization practices. Grief, Mourning and Death Ritual is aimed at advanced students in sociology, anthropology and psychology with an interest in death, dying and mortality. It is also directly relevant to those concerned with loss and how to respond to it. The book is therefore suitable for use on courses in nursing, palliative care, social work and counselling.
The Matter of Death by
This collection opens up spaces where lives end, bodies are disposed of and memories generated: hospitals, hospices, care homes, coroners' courts, funeral premises, cemeteries, roadsides, the spirit world. Using material culture studies it illuminates the ways human beings make meaningful the challenges of death, dying and bereavement.
Theorizing Childhood by
Students MUST purchase this book
Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood by 
Death, Society, and Human Experience by 
The Study of Dying by
What is it really like to die? Though our understanding about the biology of dying is complex and incomplete, greater complexity and diversity can be found in the study of what human beings encounter socially, psychologically and spiritually during the experience. Contributors from disciplines as diverse as social and behavioural studies, medicine, demography, history, philosophy, art, literature, popular culture and religion examine the process of dying through the lens of both animal and human studies. Despite common fears to the contrary, dying is not simply an awful journey of illness and decline; cultural influences, social circumstances, personal choice and the search for meaning are all crucial in shaping personal experiences. This intriguing volume will be of interest to clinicians, professionals, academics and students of death, dying and end-of-life care, and anyone curious about the human confrontation with mortality.
Death, Dying and Bereavement in a Changing World by
This title takes a comprehensive approach, exploring the physical, social, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of death, dying, and bereavement.Through personal stories from real people, Death, Dying, and Bereavement provides readers with a context for understanding their changing encounters with such difficult concepts.
Deathscapes by
Death is at once a universal and everyday, but also an extraordinary experience in the lives of those affected. Death and bereavement are thereby intensified at (and frequently contained within) certain sites and regulated spaces, such as the hospital, the cemetery and the mortuary. However, death also affects and unfolds in many other spaces: the home, public spaces and places of worship, sites of accident, tragedy and violence. Such spaces, or Deathscapes, are intensely private and personal places, while often simultaneously being shared, collective, sites of experience and remembrance; each place mediated through the intersections of emotion, body, belief, culture, society and the state. Bringing together geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, cultural studies academics and historians among others, this book focuses on the relationships between space/place and death/ bereavement in 'western' societies. Addressing three broad themes: the place of death; the place of final disposition; and spaces of remembrance and representation, the chapters reflect a variety of scales ranging from the mapping of bereavement on the individual or in private domestic space, through to sites of accident, battle, burial, cremation and remembrance in public space. The book also examines social and cultural changes in death and bereavement practices, including personalisation and secularisation. Other social trends are addressed by chapters on green and garden burial, negotiating emotion in public/ private space, remembrance of violence and disaster, and virtual space. A meshing of material and 'more-than-representational' approaches consider the nature, culture, economy and politics of Deathscapes - what are in effect some of the most significant places in human society.
Documents of Life 2 by
Documents of Life was originally published in 1983 and became a classic text, providing both a persuasive argument for a particular approach and a manifesto for social research. As a critique of anti-humanist methodology in the social sciences, it championed the use of life stories and other personal documents in research which are now widely used today. This book is a substantially revised and expanded version which takes on recent developments. Providing numerous illustrations from a range of life documents, the book traces the history of the method, examines ways of 'doing life story' research, and discusses the many political and ethical issues raised by such research. The whole book has been substantially re-written and updated, and there are four wholly new chapters. These look at the wider emergence of an auto/biographical society; writing and narrative; memory and truth; and humanism. Whilst the original book argued for more life stories in social research, this book senses a major celebration and proliferation of the method over the past twenty years. At the same time. in the wake of postmodernism, feminist and queer writings, the writing of a life can never again be a simple exercise in 'telling it like it is'. Plummer's new book confronts these new concerns head on, whilst restating his strong commitment to the methodologies of humanism. Passionate and unashamedly partisan, this is no ordinary 'methods text'. Even more than its predecessor, it sees the research process as social, moral, and political at every stage. Like the earlier book, Documents of Life 2 is written in an easy and engaging style which should make it equally accessible to first year undergraduates and much more advanced graduate scholars across a range of social science disciplines.
Young People's Experiences of Loss and Bereavement by
"This intellectually stimulating book demonstrates the authors are well-read and possess elegant synthesizing skills. ... I found the authors to be wise and insightful and their presentation of ideas complex and balanced." Omega: Journal of Death and Dying "What it does extremely well, and, indeed, uniquely is provide a wide and deep exploration of the extensive, often bewildering and conflicting, literature about the experiences of young people, loss and bereavement, drawing from it useful conclusions as well as identifying gaps in the research, and pointing to possible ways forward." BereavementCare What is the significance of death in contemporary society? How do young people come to terms with loss and bereavement? Evidence shows that bereavement is an issue that touches the lives of the majority of young people, and yet it is often left to the province of specialists. This timely book provides the first in-depth, interdisciplinary overview of our knowledge and theorizing of bereavement and young people including the voices of young people, as well as major statistical studies of cohorts of young people followed over many years. Taking a broad sweep across a great range of relevant literatures, this book breaks new ground in spanning theoretical issues and empirical research to examine critically what we know about this important - but often neglected - issue. It also features in-depth original case studies of young people who have experienced bereavement and uses these as a basis for exploring how loss and bereavement impact upon young people's lives. Young People's Experiences of Loss and Bereavement provides essential reading on issues of loss, change and bereavement for students, researchers and professionals across a wide range of health and social care disciplines, especially those involving family and youth work.
Constructing Death by
A basic motivation for social and cultural life is the problem of death. By analysing the experiences of dying and bereaved people, as well as institutional responses to death, Clive Seale shows its importance for understanding the place of embodiment in social life. He draws on a comprehensive review of sociological, anthropological and historical studies, including his own research, to demonstrate the great variability that exists in human social constructions for managing mortality. Far from living in a 'death denying' society, dying and bereaved people in contemporary culture are often able to assert membership of an imagined community, through the narrative reconstruction of personal biography, drawing on a variety of cultural scripts emanating from medicine, psychology, the media and other sources. These insights are used to argue that the maintenance of the human social bond in the face of death is a continual resurrective practice, permeating everyday life.
Never Too Young to Know by
In spite of society's wish to protect and insulate children from death, the experience of loss is unavoidable and there is surprisingly little guidance on how to help children cope with grief and bereavement. Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children's Lives is the first book to bringtogether diverse fields of study, offering a practical as well as multifaceted theoretical approach to how children cope with death. Using stories of children's own experiences supported by data from a large research study, Silverman explains the wide range of effects of loss upon children and thechallenges they face as they grieve. Silverman presents grief as a normal part of the life cycle, which results not only in pain and sadness but also in change and growth. She further explains that children can and do cope effectively with loss and the changes it brings as long as they are taught tounderstand that death is a part of life and that they will be included appropriately in the family drama. Never Too Young To Know: Death in Children's Lives is divided into three parts. The first section includes an overview and theoretical framework that examines the social, historical, developmental, and familial forces that frame and focus children's lives as they experience loss. The second sectionoffers a detailed analysis of how children experience mourning different types of death including the death of siblings, parents, and friends, and death due to illness, suicide, accidents, and violence. The final section includes an accessible guide to helping children cope with grief, emphasizingthe importance and the necessity of social support as children learn to adapt to their new lives. Never Too Young To Know: Death in Children's Lives is not only ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students learning about children but it is also useful for courses on death and dying and the family. It is also an invaluable book for mental health practitioners, clergy, schoolteachers,nurses, pediatricians, as well as the general reader interested in learning how to deal with death in children's lives.
Illness as a Metaphor; AIDS and its Metaphors by 
Children's Understanding of Death by
In order to understand how adults deal with children's questions about death, we must examine how children understand death, as well as the broader society's conceptions of death, the tensions between biological and supernatural views of death and theories on how children should be taught about death. This collection of essays comprehensively examines children's ideas about death, both biological and religious. Written by specialists from developmental psychology, pediatrics, philosophy, anthropology and legal studies, it offers a truly interdisciplinary approach to the topic. The volume examines different conceptions of death and their impact on children's cognitive and emotional development and will be useful for courses in developmental psychology, clinical psychology and certain education courses, as well as philosophy classes - especially in ethics and epistemology. This collection will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners in psychology, medical workers and educators - both parents and teachers.
The Revival of Death by
Talking about death is now fashionable, but how should we talk? Who should we listen to - priests, doctors, cousellors, or ourselves? Has psychology replaced religion in telling us how to die? This provocative book takes a sociological look at the revival of interest in death, focusing on the hospice movement and bereavement counselling. It will be required reading for anyone interested in the sociology of death and caring for the dying, the dead or bereaved.
Granpa by
Adorable Granpa gamely nurses his granddaughter’s dolls, eats her pretend strawberry-flavored ice cream, takes her tobogganing in the snow, and falls in step with her imaginary plans to captain a ship to Africa--like all good grandfathers should. Winner of the Kate Maschler Award, this poignant tale of friendship and loss is one children will long remember.
The Fault in Our Stars by
The multi-million #1 bestseller, now a major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once." Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. ** A thought-provoking love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Paper Towns and - with David Levithan - Will Grayson, Will Grayson. ** John Green has over 2.6 million Twitter followers, and over 2.1 million subscribers to Vlogbrothers, the YouTube channel he created with his brother, Hank. ** 'Electric . . . Filled with staccato bursts of humor and tragedy' - Jodi Picoult ** 'A novel of life and death and the people caught in between, The Fault in Our Stars is John Green at his best. You laugh, you cry, and then you come back for more' - Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
Goodbye Mog by
Mog was tired. She was dead tired...Mog thought, 'I want to sleep for ever.' And so she did. But a little bit of her stayed awake to see what would happen next. Mog keeps watch over the upset Thomas family, who miss her terribly, and she wonders how they will ever manage without her. Nothing happens for some time...then suddenly, one day, Mog sees a little kitten in the house. The kitten is frightened of everything - noise, newspapers, bags and being picked up. Mog thinks the kitten is very stupid. But then Mog realises that the nervous kitten doesn't know how to play and just needs 'a little bit of help'. And so, Mog pushes the surprised kitten into Debbie's lap, where it finds it actually likes being tickled and stroked. The new family pet is settled in at last. But Debbie says she will always remember Mog. 'So I should hope,' thinks Mog. And she flies up and up and up right into the sun.
I Miss You: A First Look at Death by 
