Death in war matters. It matters to the individual, threatened with their own death, or the death of loved ones. It matters to groups and communities who have to find ways to manage death, to support the bereaved and to dispose of bodies amidst the confusion of conflict. It matters to the state, which has to find ways of coping with mass death that convey a sense of gratitude and respect for the sacrifice of both the victims of war, and those that mourn in their wake. This social and cultural history of Britain in the Second World War places death at the heart of our understanding of the British experience of conflict. Drawing on a range of material, Dying for the nation demonstrates just how much death matters in wartime and examines the experience, management and memory of death. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in the social and cultural history of Britain in the Second World War. -- .

Deliberately considering relevant theories put forward by earlier writers and examining them in the light of the research for this particular book, the author spent over 100 days attending funeral ceremonies and he attended 25 burial services. Chapters include: The Analysis of Ceremony and Rite The Day of Death Adjustment to Loss Income and Outlay The Causes of Death Property Inheritance Ancestors. First published in 1962.

One of the first books to be published in the UK on bereavement, this ground-breaking study presents the results of a survey of widows in London. Focussing on younger women whose husbands had died the book deals first with grief and mourning then examines the consequences of bereavement through the help of relatives and friends and the changes it brings about to the widow's family life. Throughout the book the consequences of widowhood are discussed with relevance to psychological theory and to national policy. Originally published in 1958.

How do we picture ourselves dying? A 'death with dignity', the darkened room, and a few murmured farewells? Or in the lights' flashing, siren wailing, chest-pumping maelstrom of the back of an ambulance hurtling towards an ER? Over the last decade, the two most robust vehicles of popular culture: film and television, have opted for the latter scenario. This book examines the hi-tech death of the twenty-first century as enacted in our hospitals and as portrayed on our TV screens.

Contents:
Preface. D. Lester, Introduction: The Study of Personal Documents. Part 1: Katie. Who is Katie? D. Lester, The Diary: The Last Month. Part 2: Commentaries. J. W. Pennebacker, L. D. Stone, What does Her Language Tell Us? A Linguistic Analysis of Katie's Diary. A. A. Leenaars, Katie: A Protocol Analysis of her Diary. R. Fournier, Heart and Soul: Katie's Yearning for Well-being Amidst Chaos and Confusion. J. Hollis, Not Waving but Drowning: A Jungian Perspective on Katie. D. Lester, The Ophelia Complex. T. E. Ellis, Thoughts of Katie: A Cognitive Perspective. S. S. Canetto, Why did You Kill Yourself? L. Firestone, The Treatment of Katie. Part 3: Conclusion. D. Lester, Final Thoughts: Did Writing a Diary Help or Halm Katie?

'Fascinating... life affirming' Times Literary Supplement 'Without exaggeration, an awe-inspiring achievement' Nigella Lawson Chosen as an Irish Times Book of the Year In this profoundly moving and remarkable book, journalist Hayley Campbell explores society's attitudes towards death, and the impact on those who work with it every day. 'If the reason we're outsourcing this burden is because it's too much for us,' she asks, 'how do they deal with it?' Would facing death directly make us fear it less? Inspired by her own childhood fascination with the subject, she meets embalmers and a former death row executioner, mass fatality investigators and a bereavement midwife. She talks to gravediggers who have already dug their own graves and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear. Through Campbell's incisive and candid interviews with people who see death every day, she asks: Does seeing death change you as a person? And are we all missing something vital by letting death remain hidden? 'Moving, funny, and liable to unexpectedly cause me to tear up' Neil Gaiman 'Essential, compassionate, honest' Audrey Niffenegger

George P. Smith's "Palliative Care and End-of-Life Decisions" completes a Bioethics-Health Care epistemology begun in 1989, which addresses the specific issue of managing palliative care at the end-stage of life. Smith argues forcefully that in order to palliate the whole person (encompassing physical and psychological states), an ethic of adjusted care requires recognition of a fundamental right to avoid cruel and unusual suffering from terminal illness. Specifically, this book urges wider consideration and use of terminal sedation as efficacious medical care and as a reasonable procedure in order to safeguard a 'right' to a dignified death. The principle of medical futility is seen as a proper construct for implementing this process.
The state legislative responses of California, Vermont, and Washington in enacting Death with Dignity legislation - allowing those with end-stage terminal illness to receive pharmacological assistance in ending their own lives - is held by Smith to be not only commendable, but the proper response for enlightened state action.

Ancient Egyptian antiquities are dominated by art and artifacts depicting the Netherworld -- the alternate universe mummified bodies would enter at the end of their physical lives, where they would live on for eternity. In this dazzling book, photographs and exhaustive texts illustrate how the promise of a glorious rebirth pervaded the daily life of Egyptians, from commoners to the most powerful pharaohs.

The Quest for Immortality accompanies an exhibition of Egyptian funerary art by the same name, which dates from nearly two thousand years before the Christian era. Drawn from the collection of Cairo's Egyptian Museum, this major exhibition opens at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 2002 and travels throughout the United States over a five-year period before an extended tour in Europe. Objects such as coffins, tombs, masks, jewelry, papyri, sarcophagi, and monumental and small-scale sculpture reveal the reverence and awe with which this highly developed ancient culture considered the mystery of death. Fascinating essays explore Egyptian art history, customs, and worship, with specific focus on the Amduat, a book devoted to the pharaoh's twelve-hour journey to the afterlife. Additional writings detail the background of the collection and focus upon the role of art in ancient Egypt. Throughout, readers will experience the artistry of the ancient Egyptians as it comes to life in this magnificent book.

Death And Anti-Death, Volume 9: One Hundred Years After Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) is edited by Charles Tandy, Ph.D.: ISBN 978-1-934297-13-1 is the Hardback edition and ISBN 978-1-934297-14-8 is the Paperback edition. Volume 9, as indicated by the anthology's subtitle, is in honor of Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911). The chapters do not necessarily mention him (but some chapters do). The chapters (by professional philosophers and other professional scholars) are directed to issues related to death, life extension, and anti-death, broadly construed. Most of the contributions consist of scholarship unique to this volume. As was the case with all previous volumes in the Death And Anti-Death Series By Ria University Press, the anthology includes an Index as well as an Abstracts section that serves as an extended table of contents. (Volume 9 also includes a BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS section.) Volume 9 includes chapters by some of the world's leading living thinkers and doers. There are 13 chapters, as follows: ------CHAPTER ONE Contingency, Autonomy And Inanity: Cornelius Castoriadis On Human Mortality (by Giorgio Baruchello) pages 27-54; ------CHAPTER TWO Cryonics: Introduction And Technical Challenges (by Ben Best) pages 55-74; ------CHAPTER THREE Technological Revolutions: Ethics And Policy In The Dark (by Nick Bostrom) pages 75-108; ------CHAPTER FOUR Is Personalism Dead At Boston University? (by Thomas O. Buford) pages 109-136; ------CHAPTER FIVE Practical Lessons In Preparing For Cryonic Suspension: The Example Of Robert Ettinger, Patient 106 (by David Ettinger and Connie Ettinger) pages 137-146; ------CHAPTER SIX Bad Metaphysics Does Not Make For Good Science (by Gary L. Herstein) pages 147-164; ------CHAPTER SEVEN Open Theism (by J. R. Lucas) pages 165-174; ------CHAPTER EIGHT Fostering Death In A Culture Of Life: The Ambiguous Legacy Of The Marketing Of Cryonics (by David Pascal) pages 175-198; ------CHAPTER NINE Agony As Entrancement: Dying Out Of Too Much Life: Emil Cioran And The Metaphysical Experience Of Death (by Horia Patrascu) pages 199-226; ------CHAPTER TEN Options For Proactive Cryopreservation (by R. Michael Perry) pages 227-236; ------CHAPTER ELEVEN The Many Worlds Of Dilthey: A Modest Defense Of The Irreducibility Of Meaning (by Charles Taliaferro) pages 237-248; ------CHAPTER TWELVE John Rawls And The Death Of Scarcity: A "Force Of Nature" Original Position (by Charles Tandy) pages 249-280; ------CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Convergence Of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology And Information Technology - The Potential Unlimited Renewable Resource Generation For The Extension Of Sustainability (by Sinclair T. Wang) pages 281-328. ------The INDEX begins on page 329.

The central concern of this pioneering study is the high rate of child mortality worldwide and the prospects for its reduction. Taking as his major focus socioeconomic factors and their effect on children's survival, George Kent asks not only what technical interventions might be undertaken within meager health budgets, but also why are those budgets so inadequate? He examines the social and political roots of child mortality around the world and finds that the problem arises from widespread powerlessness in the populations of less developed countries. Thus, he argues, remedies should center on strategies of empowerment, designed in such a way that their benefits persist long after the intervention has ended.

Following an introductory chapter which describes overall patterns of children's mortality, the author examines the individual and household factors which contribute to the problem and the programmatic responses associated with these factors. Subsequent chapters explore child survival in relation to larger societal issues, discussing in turn food, poverty, war, repression, and population as they affect child mortality. Kent then turns his attention to strategies for child survival that are sensitive to these social factors. Separate chapters address alternative designs of social systems, the idea of viewing children as a form of human capital, the problem of motivating the politically powerful to support child-survival work, rethinking the meaning of national development, and the challenge of planning for children's survival in concrete, site-specific situations. Finally, Kent discusses the potential of national and international law and institutions for improving children's prospects. An ideal supplemental text for courses in economic development and political economy, this book is also essential reading for policymakers and relief organization managers concerned with the widespread problem of child mortality.

This is the first large-scale study of suicide in a population of institutionalized older adults. From their findings, the authors identify the most "at risk" groups and highlight the major factors contributing to suicide in older adults in institutions. The study described in this work employed a sample survey design. More than 1000 administrators of long-term care facilities in the United States were randomly selected and surveyed about their staff and facilities, and the incidence and type of suicidal behaviors which occurred among residents in 1984 and 1985. Results of the study confirmed that suicidal behavior occurred in approximately 20 percent of the facilities who responded. High risk groups of residents included white males and the "old-old" (75 years and older). The survey reveals that certain environmental factors such as the size of the facility, staff turnover rate, per diem cost, and auspices (public, private, and religious) were related to the occurrence and outcome of suicidal behavior. Suggestions for suicide prevention, based on these findings, are also presented. The book is divided into three parts. Part One examines various types of long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and adult homes. Part Two highlights design, methodology, and findings from the national study of suicide in long-term care facilities. Case profiles of suicidal residents are included to provide a more personal account of suicide behavior, and to illustrate important factors in the older individual's decision to end her/his life. Case profiles of four institutions are also included to highlight environmental factors related to suicidalbehavior. Part Three focuses on suicide prevention. Suggestions on the treatment of depression in the elderly, suicide prevention techniques, and the ethics of suicide are discussed in detail. This book makes valuable reading for professionals involved in the care of the elderly.

A social tragedy is a collective representation of injustice. Baker demonstrates how social tragedies facilitate moral action and discusses a series of contemporary case studies - the death of Princess Diana, Zinedine Zidane's 2006 World Cup scandal, KONY 2012 - to examine their social and political effects.

Originally published between 1920-70, the "History of Civilization" was published at a formative time within the social sciences, and during a period of decisive historical discovery. The aim of the general editor, C.K. Ogden, was to summarize the most up to date findings and theories of historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists. This reprinted material is available as a set or in the following groupings: "Prehistory and Historical Ethnography" set of 12 (0-415-15611-4, u800); "Greek Civilization" set of 7 (0-415-15612-2, u450); "Roman Civilization" set of 6 (0-415-15613-0, u400); "Eastern Civilizations" set of 10 (0-415-15614-9, u650); "Judaeo-Christian Civilization" set of 4 (0-415-15615-7, u250); "European Civilization" set of 11 (0-415-15616-5, u700).

A macabre, spectacular and thought-provoking survey of human remains used in decorative, commemorative or devotional contexts across the world today, from the author of Heavenly Bodies and The Empire of Death. Memento Mori takes the reader on a ghoulish but beautiful tour of some of the world's more unusual sacred sites and traditions, in which human remains are displayed for the benefit of the living. From burial caves in Indonesia festooned with bones, to skulls smoking cigarettes, wearing beanie hats and sunglasses, and decorated with garlands of flowers in South America, Paul Koudounaris ventures beyond the grave to find messages of hope and salvation. His glorious colour photographs and informed commentaries reveal that in many places, the realms of the living and the dead are nowhere near so distinct as contemporary Western society would have us believe.

First published in 1996. This new book gives voice to an emerging consensus among bereavement scholars that our understanding of the grief process needs to be expanded. The dominant 20th century model holds that the function of grief and mourning is to cut bonds with the deceased, thereby freeing the survivor to reinvest in new relationships in the present. Pathological grief has been defined in terms of holding on to the deceased. Close examination reveals that this model is based more on the cultural values of modernity than on any substantial data of what people actually do. Presenting data from several populations, 22 authors - among the most respected in their fields - demonstrate that the health resolution of grief enables one to maintain a continuing bond with the deceased. Despite cultural disapproval and lack of validation by professionals, survivors find places for the dead in their on-going lives and even in their communities. Such bonds are not denial: the deceased can provide resources for enriched functioning in the present. Chapters examine widows and widowers, bereaved children, parents and siblings, and a population previously excluded from bereavement research: adoptees and their birth parents. Bereavement in Japanese culture is also discussed, as are meanings and implications of this new model of grief. Opening new areas of research and scholarly dialogue, this work provides the basis for significant developments in clinical practice in the field.

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Give Sorrow Words gives an overview of children 's attitudes toward death and considers the moral and ethical issues raised by treatments for life-threatening illnesses in children. In this new edition, available for the first time in the United States, Dorothy Judd draws on her increasing experiences with dying children and their parents to refine and clarify her work as presented in the earlier edition. This book helps readers to make sense out of the irreconcilable tension of embracing death as a part of life and accepting the death of a child. Through her work with Robert, a young boy dying of acute myeloblastic leukemia, Judd helps readers to see anew the need to reconcile the two tensions and to make the necessary decisions for medical care.

Contents:
Part 1: Contexts and Perspectives; Death and Politics: A Psychosocial Perspective; Living Our Dying and Our Grieving: Historical and Cultural Attitudes. Part 2: Data; Death Anxiety; The Dying Process; Institutional Dying: A Convergence of Cultural Values, Technology and Social Organisation; Care of the Dying: The Hospice Approach; Legal Perspectives on Planning for Death. Part 3: Issues and Challenges; AIDS: The Second Decade; Suicide; Rights and the Dying; The Definition of Death: Problems for Public Policy. Part 4: Conclusion; Some Closing Reflections; Resources.

Between Poverty and the Pyre examines the history of the experience of widowhood across different cultures. It brings together a collection of essays by historians, anthropologists and philologists. The book shows how difficult it is to define the 'typical' widow, as the experiences of these women have differed so widely, not simply because of their different time periods and locations, but also becuase of their varying legal and religious status and economic conditions.
The study is diverse with subjects ranging from:
*Hindu wives who followed their husbands to the pyre
*widows who were burned as witches
*and widows who had to become prostitutes to stay alive.
The book also explores Jesus's interest in widows and the experience of some well-known widows, such as Mohammed's first wife.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203036980

Suicide has long posed problems for philosophy. Philosophers, such Albert Camus, have situated in the center of the debate about metaphysics and the meaning of life. Hegel understood death to be the raison d'etre of philosophical project. And scores of other since them have treated suicide as central to the West's understanding of itself. In "Contemplating Suicide," Gavin Fairbairn takes a fresh and philosophical look at suicide. He examines the nomenclature of suicide, and how the language of suicide affects our understanding and denigration of "suicidal bodies."
Fairbairn offers cogent reasons for abandoning the mindless use of terms such as "attempted suicide" and "parasuicide," and introduces a number of terms including "cosmic roulette," which he uses to describe a family of human acts in which people gamble with their lives.
By elaborating a richer model of suicidal self harm than most philosophers and most practitioners of caring professions currently inhabit, Fairbairn has contributed to the development of understanding in this area. Among other things a richer model and vocabulary may reduce the likelihood that those who come into contact with suicidal self harm, will believe that familiarity with the physical facts of the matter - the actions of the suicider and the presence or absence of a corpse - is always sufficient to justify a definite conclusion about the nature of the self harming act.

This stimulating and thought-provoking book is focused on the various spaces, places and material culture with which people come into contact when dealing with death. It covers the disciplinary perspectives of anthropology, history, sociology and theology and its scope, ranges across the spaces in hospitals where death occurs, to the spaces in which bodies are viewed after death; considers the political nature of memorialising activities, and the therapeutic value of visiting places of death, for example after suicide. The chapters provide rich and current data from a large number of recent UK-based and international projects that examine various forms of death, dying and bereavement, providing insight into the different ways in which dying and bereaved people interact with the environment around them, and 'the matter' of death