This book would appeal to professionals and practitioners in the
field of bereavement care, particularly funeral practices. In the
presence of much that is so meaningless through grief, this book
provides a meaningful overview, perhaps with new insights and
perspectives, and is as such highly recommended.' - The
Compassionate Friends Newsletter UK 'Discusses research in the
field of art therapy, the forms of research available in the field,
and the ways in which definitions of research affect understanding
of the arts therapies and how they are practised. In his
introductory chapter, the author outlines the importance of
research into the arts therapies and explains that, while the rest
of the book focuses primarily on research into drama therapy , his
observations are applicable to other forms of art therapy. He
describes the characteristics of art therapy and how these affect
the types of research that can be carried out in the field... The
author addresses questions relating to research by practicing art
therapists, the investigative processes open to them, and the
necessary differences between the approaches they take and those of
traditional academic research. He proposes an art-based form of
research, which uses art as both the means of interpreting art and
of presenting that interpretation.' - ARTbibliographies Modern In
The Social Symbolism of Grief and Mourning Roger Grainger focuses
on the role of funerals in promoting the personal and social
adjustment of the bereaved. The work explores the significance of
many of the areas and stages connected with death, with chapters
covering such topics as: * attitudes towards death * our fear of
death and dying * ways in which we attempt to come to terms with
death * the rituals that surround these processes. By tying
together folklore and traditional beliefs with actual funeral
practices, both ancient and modern, the author has created a work
that examines the anthropological, psychological and superstitious
aspects of our relationship to death and dying. 'Grainger is
multi-talented, drawing on his expertise in drama, counselling,
acting, theology, sociology and anthropology... He has some
interesting things to say about the necessity of chaos, and how
this is ritualised in the Irish wake. Unlike many authors on
bereavement, Grainger takes seriously the ghost beliefs that are
widespread throughout history' - Bereavement Care 'The Social
Symbolism of Grief and Mourning is a complex study of death from
the perspectives of drama, psychology, anthropology, and working
pastoral practice. Roger Grainger ties his study to ancient and
current funeral practices, and examines the beliefs about death
implicit in our social behaviour; but more importantly, he had
understood and can communicate, the absurd quality of death and its
religious nature. By its very nature, death is paradoxical: it
cannot be contained by words or rites, but that is just what we
seek to do, must do, to make sense of it. In doing this, we make
sense of life. The important bearing on changing funeral practices,
but more pressingly on the way we speak and preach (if we do) about
death.' - Church Times 'Roger Grainger's book is a refreshingly new
approach to a wide range of theory and practice regarding attitudes
towards death, dying and the dead. Most of the material cited was
collected presumably for his PhD in the 1970s and the only major
criticism relates to the absence of contributions of contemporary
philosophers and commentators such as Foucault, Levinas, Primo Levi
and Elias. However, this is more than compensated for by a fresh
look at the work of some of the late nineteenth-century and early
twentieth-century anthropologists as well as eastern works, such as
the Tibetan Book Of The Dead ... Grainger cites sources which
deplore the current state of British funerals and promotes the
charter of the National Funeral College. In concluding the book
with a chapter entitled The Rite of Passage, he conveys, with good
supporting evidence, the importance of sustaining these rites in
order to support bereaved people in what can be seen as a mythical
experience which is also practical and rooted in reality. I
recommend this book not least because of its exhaustive research
which provides an excellent resource for any further study in this
area.' - Progress in Palliative Care
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