Sociological Analysis of Life Course with Emphasis on Ageing

This essay provides a sociological analysis of the life course, with a particular emphasis on ageing and the societal taboo surrounding death and dying. It explores the reasons behind the reluctance to discuss death, especially in cultures like America, and the historical perspectives on death, including the evolution of attitudes. The essay discusses the advantages of openly discussing death, such as improving the quality of life for both the dying and their loved ones, and suggests ways to improve end-of-life experiences through planning and communication. It also examines the impact of death-denying cultures and highlights the importance of palliative care and effective death plans to change behaviors and attitudes towards death, ultimately aiming to make it a more accepted and less frightening aspect of life. The essay concludes by emphasizing the role of communication and planning in improving the quality of life and making informed decisions about medical care and treatment.

Sociological Analysis of the
Life Course with Particular
Emphasis upon Ageing

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Death and dying are taboo subject...................................................................................................1
The taboo of death.......................................................................................................................1
Why is death taboo......................................................................................................................2
Ways of improving end of life.....................................................................................................3
History of attitudes toward death.................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Sociology of the life course is a theoretical paradigm which is designed for understanding
human lives in an effective manner (Hunt, 2016). This present study is going to discuss about
death as why some people do not prefer to talk about it and consider it as taboo topic. It will
show several reasons by which people of some countries like America have death dying culture
and do not prefer to talk about it openly. It will also discuss some advantages of talk about death
in an open manner as it can improve overall quality of life of people. Further, it will show some
strategies and ways by which people can improve their quality of life by talking about death and
changing behaviour of people towards death and dying.
Death and dying are taboo subject
The taboo of death
Before understanding about death or dying as if it is a taboo topic or not it is important to
understand what is taboo and why some topics comes under this. So, in the context of taboo it
can be said that it refers activities and behaviours that are prohibited or forbidden. There are
some topics on which people feel hesitation to talk about because they are unacceptable by
society. In addition, it can also be said that taboos are grounded in mortality but it can also be
said that there are some topics which are taboo or prohibited in some cultures and are acceptable
in another culture. So, overall it can be said that it is all about related to mentality or
acceptability of culture (Howarth and Jupp, 2016). There are some topics on which people feel
hesitation to talk about and such topics include: sex, persona issues, opinion, death, persona
relationship issues and others.
In the context of death or dying it can be said that Victorian were obsessed with death. In
the UK, men are expected to live to 84 and women to 86. One of the main factor or reason as
why people do consider this topic as taboo topic is tendency among doctors as they see it failure
when all their efforts are dedicated to prolonging life. In detailed manner it can be said that many
people believe that doctors are god for them and their responsibility is to improve health of
people and take them out from danger but when people die then they feel that they become fail.
It lowers their morale so, people are less likely to talk about death and see it as a natural life span
stage. It is also found that among 3 people around 1 had discussed about death with their partners
while making a will or about their funeral wishes. Other factor which were founded in survey
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that discussion about death frightens them and they feel closer towards death. Any people have
fear of living their children so that is why they do not discuss about it.
Reasons for changing behaviours and talking about death
Nowadays, people think that there is nothing wrong for talking about death and they have
explored some reasons as why people need to talk about it and should be accepted this topic.
They also said that this topic should be removed from taboo topic. Some people believe that by
making this topic acceptable and ending silence about this topic can decrease its terror or fear
and it can also improve the quality of life of dying patients. Some people compared it with birth
and said as people prepare about a new baby and plan accordingly because it is a natural process
and life span stage. It is not in our hand to control birth and death. While planning about baby,
people think it is going to happen one day with all of us and it is part of our daily life so, as like
this people need to prepare for their death and keep in mind that one day everyone will die. It is
also said people cannot predict about their death but they can have a good death if society stop
whispering and start talking about it in an effective and natural manner (Caulfield, Day and
Phillips, 2020). Some doctors also said that for that death is not a taboo subject and it is healthy
topic because it is a natural process of living.
Advantages of accepting death topic: As era is changing and with the changing era,
people are also getting changed and their mentality also differ than people of ancient era.
Nowadays people say and believe that death is not a taboo topic and they encourage people to
accept it in a positive manner. For encouraging people they have explored some advantages as
why all of us require talking about it openly. One of the main advantage of accepting death is it
can help people in living life more fully and with joy. People also feel valued and understand the
importance of life when they accept it in an effective manner (Advantages of Talking about
Death, 2020). People who have suffered and experienced serious illness have understood that
how beautiful life is and when they understand that people cannot control their death then they
start to live their life more peacefully and happily. It boosts their confidence and makes them
able to accept all situations and fight against them in an effective and positive manner.
Why is death taboo
There are some reasons which can help people in understanding as why people in some
cultures do not accept this topic and consider it as a taboo topic. It is stated that this topic is
historical portrays. People of come cultures believe that death is a dangerous topic and it is
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disturbing a subject that 1 should not only avoid contact with dead but also stop talking about it
or even thinking about it. American society is considered death denying culture as people of
America do not prefer to talk about it and consider it as an inevitable reality. This culture affects
their behaviour or way of reaction with their loved one’s physical decline. It affects people and
their life. People who live in death denying culture are less likely to understand about importance
as well as value of hospice care. It is also believed that patients and their family members are
only one who is eligible for hospice after they have been diagnosed with terminal illness. In
America, hospitalization and patient rate is more than other countries because people have fear
about it because they know that they live in death denying culture where people do not have
positive behaviours towards this (America’s Death Denying Culture, 2018). Because of this fear
and fear of unacceptable in society as like other normal person, people of some cultures chose to
continue with hospitalization, appointments and invasive procedure even after being diagnosed
with incurable terminal illness. This behaviour shows that such culture have negative impacts on
the overall life of people as they forget to enjoy their life. On the other hand, people, where death
is not a taboo topic are more likely to enjoy their life and each stage of life in an effective and
positive manner because they have accepted that death is a natural part of life and they also see
patients with respect.
Ways of improving end of life
It is found that death is a natural part of people’s life as like birth and from above study
several advantages have been discussed. All advantages encourage people to accept this topic
and removing it from taboo topics. One of the main reasons is to enjoy life in an effective
manner. There are some ways by which people can enjoy their life and can make their culture
death acceptable not death denying culture. One of the best and effective ways of accepting it as
a natural part and improving end of life is making death plans (Holmes and et.al., 2018). It is
believed that older people have their own personal effective death plans then they would be less
likely to afraid of facing their death. Writing and preparing death plans can make family
members prepare towards uncertain death and also towards losing their loved ones. Palliative
care also plays an important role in reducing fear of death, improving quality of life and
improving end of life. This care involves addressing intellectual, physical as well as emotional
needs to facilitate patients’ autonomy. It also leads to good death and people can experience
good quality of life when they accept this topic (Aspects of Death Need to Know about, 2019).
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Other best ways is communication. By focusing on communication in an effective manner,
people of nowadays can change behaviours and attitudes towards death. It is not only good for
patients who are suffering from illness, disease but also for their close relatives and people in
accepting it and moving ahead. It is found that some people become depressed because of their
loved ones demise. They cannot accept this truth but it affects their life only. They become
depress and they also end their life by living it in an ineffective manner. An effective death plan
can also help people in managing finance, acquiring property, managing property, gifts and other
things. So along with ways of improving quality of life and ending of life, effectiveness can also
be understood.
They often think about their loved ones who is n more and then it affects their and
surrounded people’s life. So, overall it can be said that an effective death plan is the key of
changing attitude of people towards death and not considering this topic as taboo topic (Murray
and et.al., 2017). By doing so, people can improve their life and can make decision about
medical care as well as treatment.
History of attitudes toward death
Ageing is an important fact which is mostly ignored by people or people do not wish to
talk about it. People age and become older with time and eventually it leads to death of the
individual. But talking about death or dying is considered as a taboo. The attitude of people
towards death or dying has evolved and transformed with time. Different kinds of research on
this subject has helped in understanding that historical attitude of western culture has passed
though four major parts that are: Tamed Death, One’s Own Death, Thy Death, and Forbidden
Death. First period is combination of Tamed Death and One’s Own Death, and second period is
combination of Thy Death, and Forbidden Death. In both the periods, attitude and behaviour of
people have changed in variety of ways (Aramesh, 2016). All the four parts of death have
evolved with time and has resulted in change of attitude and behaviour of people.
Tamed Death: In this part death has been assumed as an integral part of daily life. In this part
death is seen as a part in which a dying person laying on their death bed are well aware of their
death and are prepared for it. People accept death of their beloved ones as a part and demand of
time and prepare themselves emotionally so that they can control their emotional burst and
impatience calmly. In this family members and friends are mentally prepared for death of their
close one lying on their deathbed. In this historical part death is not considered as a taboo but in
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fact a part of body. But this period ended in 12th century where death was considered as an
important part of society and of their rituals.
One’s Own Death: This period started in 12th century an was known as middle ages. In this
period death was considered as personalized. It can also be said that at this age death became
more personal. Due to this deathbed meaning changed from witnessing death to witnessing the
moments before judgment in which dying person behaviour implied their downfall. The main
characteristic of death was attitude of people towards death. From the beginning of 6th century it
was started to be considered as a Taboo (Howarth and Jupp, eds., 2016).
Thy Death: this period began in early 18th century in this century perception and acceptance of
death changed. Instead of accepting death as apart of body, it was replaced with fear and
witnessing death with mourning for the dead. It was not considered as a normal part of huma life.
It is completely opposite of Tamed death because in this family members and friends do not
witness death of close one on deathbed but in fact, they mourn by showing loads of emotions and
intolerance of the death of loved one.
Forbidden Death: this was the latest period that began in late 19th and early 20th centuries in
which western attitude towards death changed. This was a period in which death was considered
as a taboo. In this period Hospitals, health-care technologies increased because of which typical
picture of death transformed drastically (Howarth and Jupp, eds., 2016). Perception of expected
death changed to unwanted and fought against death. In this period, one tends to avoid death and
fought with it death until the last minutes. It is one of the main taboos to talk and think of death.
In fact, it is tried to ignore or eliminate death from the picture of normal and daily life.
So, from this its analysis it can be clearly said that aging is a process that has evolved and
changed with time. Initially death was not considered as a taboo but as a part of like. But with
time and change in culture, this perception of people towards death started changed. Today
increasing facilities and technologies for treatment has increased expectance of life and made
death and dying as taboo subjects in contemporary society. With evolving time period,
perception of people towards death has also changed like: at the time of Tamed Death it was
considered as a part of daily life, at the time of One’s Own Death it was considered as personal,
at the time of Thy Death it was not consider as a part of normal life and in modern time of
Forbidden death it is considered as a taboo subject.
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion it has been summarized that death is a natural part of a life
which should be accepted by all cultures and people of society. It has discussed some reasons as
people of some cultures do not accept this topic, do not talk about it openly and why it is
considered as a taboo topic. It has explored some advantages of accepting this topic and not
considering death as taboo topic. Some advantages which this study has discussed include: it
improves quality of life of people, makes people able to enjoy their life in an effective and
positive manner, valuing life and accepting deaths a natural part of life. Further, this study has
also discussed some ways by which people can change behaviours of people towards death and
can make them aware bout it as it is a natural part as like birth. It has discussed effectiveness of
death planning as it helps people in accepting death and enjoying their life well.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aramesh, K., 2016. History of attitudes toward death: a comparative study between persian and
western cultures. Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine. 9.
Caulfield, J., Day, M. and Phillips, B. J., 2020. Death in advertising: the last taboo?. International
Journal of Advertising, pp.1-23.
E-portfolio, A.K.S., 2019. How does the Gibbs Reflective model integrate with Evidence based
practice in veterinary medicine?.
Holmes, S. and et.al., 2018. Exploring the experience of supporting a loved one through a
medically assisted death in Canada. Canadian Family Physician, 64(9), pp.e387-e393.
Howarth, G. and Jupp, P.C. eds., 2016. The changing face of death: Historical accounts of death
and disposal. Springer.
Hunt, S. J., 2016. The life course: A sociological introduction. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Murray, S. A. and et.al., 2017. Palliative care from diagnosis to death. Bmj, 356.
ONLINE
Advantages of Talking about Death. 2020. Online Available through: <
https://www.artofdyingwell.org/talking-about-death/talking-death/breaking-the-taboo/>
America’s Death Denying Culture. 2018. Online Available through: <
https://brightonhospice.com/death-denying-culture/>
Aspects of Death Need to Know about. 2019. Online Available through: <
https://www.quotacy.com/7-aspects-of-planning-your-death-to-think-about/>
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