Analysis of Death and Dying Across the Life Course: [Course Code]

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LIFE COURSE APPROACHES TO HEALTH, WELLBEING & AGEING
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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Where people die?...........................................................................................................................4
The experience of dying..................................................................................................................4
The denial of death thesis................................................................................................................5
Criticisms of the denial of death thesis............................................................................................7
Variation and Change...................................................................................................................7
Misrepresentation of Professional Care.......................................................................................7
Official Surveillance of Death.....................................................................................................8
The Revival of Death Awareness....................................................................................................9
Bereavement and mourning- the social distribution of grief...........................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction:
The report consists of a deep discussion on death and dying. The report will cover the areas such
as reasons of death, medicines to be given, the comparison between death in earlier ages and in
the modern era, views of people in relation to the death of their loved ones, etc. Most of the
people are dying because of their age but it is not always true. People may die because of illness,
accident, etc. The report will include articles and books which consist of experiences of several
people about the topic. The report will also include a discussion on euthanasia.
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Where people die?
From the research it has been found that in the year 1960 and 1991 the total numbers of deaths in
case of males are 269172 and 279305 respectively, out of which 50% and 64.7% of the deaths
occurred in the hospitals, 2.4% and 4.1% in the other institutions, 42.1% and 25.7% of the
deaths occurred in the house of the deceased person, and 5.6% and 5.5% in the other places as in
the year 1960 and 1991 respectively, while in case of females it was 257096 and 293791 in the
year 1960 and 1991 resp., out of which 50% and 66.5% of the deaths occurred in the hospitals,
3.7% and 11% in the other institutions, 41.9% and 19.4% in the deceased home, and 4.3% and
3% of the deaths happened in the other places in the 1960 and 1991 year respectively. In case of
all, the total numbers of deaths in the year 1960 and 1991 were 526268 and 573096 respectively,
of which 50% and 65.7% of the deaths happened in hospitals, 3% and 7.7% in the other
institutions, 42% and 22.5% in the home of the deceased person itself, 5% and 4.2% in the other
private places.
From the above research, it has found that overall deaths in the year 1991 in hospitals have been
increased from the year 1960. There is a difference in the number of deaths between males and
females. It has been analyzed that women tend to marry the men who are older than them and
thus the number of widows has increased which lead to an increased number of deaths in other
institutional care as women enter the institutions because they are unable to take care of
themselves (Morin, et. al., 2015).
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The experience of dying
According to Kubler-Ross (1970), who is a psychiatrist who treats people suffering from cancer,
has written about her experiences in relation to dying. She has depicted the process of reaction
towards terminal illness in 5 stages. These are:
Denial: “No, not me, it can’t be true!”- Kubler-Ross has explained this stage with an example
in which there was a woman who didn’t believe the reports and insisted doctors confirm as if her
reports were being mixed up with someone else. She visited several hospitals hoping it is not true
(Bowen, 2018).
Anger: “Why Me?”- This is a stage in which the person expresses his/ her sorrows by
screaming on other people including relatives, doctors and even on God. It is like in order to
overcome one has to blame others for the disaster.
Bargaining: “is the middle stage”- This is the stage in which the person who is dying attempt
to finalize a deal with the destiny in which he/ she asks for a particular time period so that a
specified event occurs in front of them. It may include the birth of a baby, buying a new house,
etc.
Depression- This is the stage in which the person experiences discomfort, weakness, illness,
physical deterioration and other signs which cannot be recovered. The term depression refers to
the feeling of unworthiness and guilt. There are times in which depression occurs when feelings
and thoughts are filled with the loss of a person.
Acceptance: represents the end of the struggle- This is the last stage in which the person
accepts and overcome with the depression. The acceptance does not mean that the person is
happy it can also be referred to as feelings which are void (Segal, 2018).
The denial of death thesis
It is being said that likewise sexuality, death now has become a taboo subject. It has become a
widespread activity and people write about topics such as death, grief and dying. These days’
people find it more interesting to write about such topics and share the experiences of various
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people who have fought with their illness and lived their life happily. There are various factors
which include components of the thesis of death denial (Robbins, 2018). These components are
mentioned as
That it is the era and people living in the society in which deaths have been hidden in the various
institutions and hospitals.
That people these days do not feel comfortable while talking about deaths or moan about the
deceased. They find it difficult to visit someone and mourn for the person who has been died.
That it has created and produced loneliness and neglecting or abandonment in dying and
deprived people.
There is a writer Aries who specifically writes about death has contrasted the "tamed death" of
early-mid times with the "forbidden death" in today's age. In early age, the people were prepared
and found it comfortable and were familiar with the topic as if they were prepared and knew that
it will eventually happen. The people of mid times experience less fear from death and they are
prepared for losing a person through death. There have been various paintings and depictions of
death for the various years. Medical technology provides a ray of hope to people and can
challenge nature by controlling the illness. With time doctors have been treated as priests. But
even medicines cannot save a life for always. People still are not comfortable to talk about death
and conduct open discussions.
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Criticisms of the denial of death thesis
The denial of the death thesis attracted a various number of criticisms. However, there are some
great writers that provided their views regarding the death repressions. According to their views
and opinions, the repression of death can be seen at the level of society. They believed in the
existence of the death repression but at the societal level. Not much significance has been given
to the death denial thesis by the clinicians and public as well. Contrary to this, the sociological
literature has been raising questions regarding the denial of the death thesis. There are several
challenges being faced by the people in the aging society regarding the healthcare and death of
old age people.
Variation and Change
The writers such as Gorer, Aries, and Elias focus on the societal aspects. The key issue here is
that society is rigid and not flexible. This leaves no room for the adoption of the changes and
variations. The evidence of the variations lies in the consideration of religious as well as ethnic
groups that belongs to the UK. Taking an instance of a Gujarati woman explaining why the
family members should be present with the person experiencing the time of death. The
significance of family members has been described during the time of death as an absence not
only affects the whole family but also leads to the thinking of the family members at the death
time. Not only a Gujarati woman, but any person can experience the after-effects of absence with
the person during his/her death time irrespective of the religion or caste (Thompson, et. al.,
2016). Participating by people in the religious rituals of death implies their emotional support
provided to the family. Denying the static nature of society, it can be said the development of the
hospice movement proves the flexibility of society. This movement focuses mainly on the
significance of undertaking communication in an open manner regarding death as well as
effective care of palliative.
Misrepresentation of Professional Care
It can be evident that there exists a fact that states the unwillingness of the people to connect
emotionally with the people experiencing the time of death or the death itself. However, the
contradiction of this fact can be realized by the contribution made by the hospice movement or
the hospices. Now the question arises here regarding the care provided by hospitals or other
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medical institutions. It has become questionable whether the hospitals and other medical
institutions provide care to the person dying without feelings and personal emotions. A report
has been prepared by considering the ratings of the friends and relatives of the person dying on
the basis of the quality of the care being received (Colclough, 2017). This report clearly shows
that the quality of care to the dying person has been enhanced rapidly as compared to the early
20th century or before. Only a minor number of people think that the quality of care from the
hospital doctors and nurses or community nurses or GPs is of the low level while the majority of
people find it excellent or good. Majority of people agreed to the fact that the hospital staffs
provide treatment with great understanding and kindness to the relatives and friends of the
person dying at the hospital. It can also be seen that only a little difference exists between the
quality of care provided by hospital doctors and GPs. However, it should also be noted that there
are many people who die in hospitals or medical institutions receive the majority of care at their
respective homes (Robbins, 2018). And the care at home is mostly serviced by near and dear
ones of the dying person such as family members, relatives or many times it can be friends also.
Official Surveillance of Death
This criticism shows that visibility can be achieved in death during modern times that was not
even existed in earlier times. The death visibility can be realized by the mortality statistics, death
certification or registration and others. However, one of the historical writers provided a
contradicting statement regarding death visibility. He used the significant factors such as funeral
rituals, private care, and sentiments for showing the concern towards the denial of death theses.
The writers of the medieval period such as Aries labeled death by stating that no such thing
named as official surveillance of death used to existed during the medieval period. He stated that
the concept of official surveillance of mortality is the development of modern situations or
modern times. The surveillance of population mortality by the government can be considered as
one of the significant perspectives of the modern advancements of medical science (Hausmair,
2017). In the early times, the only requirement for the death implied the presence of the priest in
order to undertake the last rituals. The modern advancements have made it necessary for the
certification of death from the legal point of view. The most significant condition of this
certification states the presence of at least one qualified medical practitioner. The medicalization
of death has become a necessity in order to complete the death process. A huge difference can be
seen in the completion of the death process in the early medieval and modern times. Earlier, the
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priest was considered as the dual role player which is what the doctor is regarded as in modern
times. The dual role can be implied from the legal as well as the medical context.
The Revival of Death Awareness
One of the key criticisms of the denial of the death theses implies as the revival of death
awareness. This states the changing behavior and attitude of the society towards the concept of
death and death experience. It is true that the concept of revival of death awareness is the result
of the development of the hospice movement which shows the interconnectivity of both the
concepts. It can be seen that the trend of counselling expertise has been increasing rapidly for the
people who are dying as well as the people who lost their loved ones (Pollock, & Seymour,
2018). The revivalist movement was developed by Tony Walter in 1994 in the contrast of the
traditional and modern sets of attitudes towards the concept of death. The revivalist movement
gave birth to the revivalist set of attitudes. The meaning behind the revivalist set is the reviving
of the past traditions that mainly focuses on the meaning of death along with the significance of
values related to the community and family as well. For Walter, the death is of three types named
traditional, modern and revivalist (Borgstrom, & Walter, 2015). The traditional death is
concerned with the passage of the soul while modern death implies the end of the body. In the
context of a revivalist set of attitudes, death is just a psychological process. Walter had clearly
distinguished among the three sets of attitudes towards death.
Bereavement and mourning- the social distribution of grief
In order to understand the psychology and meaning of grieving, various theorists have discussed
the models for the process. This process is somewhat the same as the stages proposed by the
Kubler-Ross. The various stages of the grieving process are Averill (1968) identifies factors such
as despair, shock, and recovery from the stages of grief (Poole, et. al., 2016). Kubler- Ross
(1969) depicts that after death it is not the grief which occurs, but to the people's adjustments
who contemplate their own death. Parkes (1972) has identified and analyzed the grief as pining,
numbness, recovery, and depression as the stages that are related to the loss of a loved one.
According to Parkes, grief occurs in three components such as preoccupation of the mind in
order to search the person who has been dead, painful repetitive collection of the experiences and
moments shared with the person died, the final stage is to make the attempt in order to fit into the
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assumptive world or make modifications in the world accordingly to the assumptions. Worden
(1982) explains the “mental health practitioner” which depicts in relation to the tasks of
mourning instead of phases or stages. He explained four tasks which are to accept the fact of
losing a person, work in order to go through the pain of grief, to become emotionally strong and
accept the reality and move on in the life, and adjusting into the environment where the deceased
is not there. Rando (1993) have proposed six processes for grief which are recognizing the loss,
reaction to the loss and separation, recollection of the memories and moments with the deceased,
relinquishment of the old and memorable attachments, making readjustments and reinvesting.
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Conclusion
The modern society has transformed into the society that believes in the concept of denial of
death. The above discussion shows the evidence in support as well as against the fact of denial of
the death society. In the medieval period, the degree of hiding the death of population or the dead
bodies was high. Changing time and advancements have affected the privacy of deaths of the
population and made it more visible. The mourning rituals have been decayed and the main
cause of such situation states the reduction in the organized religions and religious groups. The
revivalist movement requires the active participation of counselors, hospices and all the other
people who support death awareness.
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References
 Borgstrom, E., & Walter, T. 2015. Choice and compassion at the end of life: a critical
analysis of recent English policy discourse. Social Science & Medicine, 136, 99-105.
 Bowen, M. 2018. Family reaction to death. In Death and Chronic Illness in the Family
(pp. 33-50). Routledge.
 Colclough, Y. Y. 2017. Native American death taboo: implications for health care
providers. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, 34(6), 584-591.
 Hausmair, B. 2017. Topographies of the afterlife: Reconsidering infant burials in
medieval mortuary space. Journal of Social Archaeology, 17(2), 210-236.
 Morin, L., & Aubry, R. 2015. Where do older people die? A nationwide study in France
(1990-2010). Medicine palliative, 14(3), 179-190.
 Pollock, K., & Seymour, J. 2018. Reappraising ‘the good death’for populations in the age
of ageing. Age and ageing, 47(3), 328-330.
 Poole, J., Ward, J., DeLuca, E., Shildrick, M., Abbey, S., Mauthner, O., & Ross, H. 2016.
Grief and loss for patients before and after a heart transplant. Heart & Lung: The Journal
of Acute and Critical Care, 45(3), 193-198.
 Robbins, B. D. 2018. Confronting the cadaver: The denial of death in modern medicine.
In The Medicalized Body and Anesthetic Culture (pp. 19-43). Palgrave Macmillan, New
York.
 Robbins, B. D. 2018. Confronting the cadaver: The denial of death in modern medicine.
In The Medicalized Body and Anesthetic Culture (pp. 19-43). Palgrave Macmillan, New
York.
 Segal, H. 2018. Fear of death—notes on the analysis of an old man. In Is It Too Late?
(pp. 65-73). Routledge.
 Thompson, N., Allan, J., Carverhill, P. A., Cox, G. R., Davies, B., Doka, K., & Small, N.
2016. The case for a sociology of dying, death, and bereavement. Death studies, 40(3),
172-181.
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