Delivers the collective wisdom of foremost scholars and practitioners in the death and dying movement from its inception to the present. Written by luminaries who have shaped the field, this capstone book distills the collective wisdom of foremost scholars and practitioners who together have nearly a millennium of experience in the death and dying movement. The book bears witness to the evolution of the movement and presents the insights of its pioneers, eyewitnesses, and major contributors past and present. Its chapters address contemporary intellectual, institutional, and practice developments in thanatology: hospice and palliative care; funeral practice; death education; and caring of the dying, suicidal, bereaved, and traumatized. With a breadth and depth found in no other text on death, dying, and bereavement, the book disseminates the thinking of prominent authors William Worden, David Clark, Tony Walter, Robert Neimeyer, Charles Corr, Phyllis Silverman, Betty Davies, Therese A. Rando, Colin Murray Parkes, Kenneth Doka, Allan Kellehear, Sandra Bertman, Stephen Connor, Linda Goldman, Mary Vachon, and others. Their chapters discuss the most significant facets of early development, review important current work, and assess major challenges and hopes for the future in the areas of their expertise. A substantial chronology of important milestones in the contemporary movement introduces the book, frames the chapters to follow, and provides guidance for further, in-depth reading. The book first focuses on the interdisciplinary intellectual achievements that have formed the foundation of the field of thanatology. The section on institutional innovations encompasses contributions in hospice and palliative care of the dying and their families; funeral service; and death education. The section on practices addresses approaches to counseling and providing support for individuals, families, and communities on issues related to dying, bereavement, suicide, trauma, disaster, and caregiving. An Afterword identifies challenges and looks toward future developments that promise to sustain, further enrich, and strengthen the movement. KEY FEATURES: Distills the wisdom of pioneers in and major contributors to the contemporary death, dying, and bereavement movement Includes living witness accounts of the movement's evolution and important milestones Presents the best contemporary thinking in thanatology Describes contemporary institutional developments in hospice and palliative care, funeral practice, and death education Illuminates best practices in care of the dying, suicidal, bereaved, and traumatized

Textbook for Death & Dying courses in psych, soc, soc work, nursing, development, and counseling depts.

This collection shows what happens when facing the inevitable and sometimes expected death of a parent, and how such an ordinary part of life as parental death might connect with the children left behind. In many ways, individual deaths are extraordinary and leave a unique legacy – a kind of haunting. The authors' accounts seek to make sense of death through witnessing its enactment and recording its detail. All the authors are experienced researchers in the field of death studies, and their collective expertise encompasses ethnography, psychology, sociology and anthropology. The individual descriptions of death and grief capture the everyday practicalities of managing death and dying, including, for example, the difficulties of caring responsibilities and the realities of dealing with strained family relationships. These accounts show the raw detail of death; they are deeply personal observations framed within critical theories. As established scholars and practitioners that have researched and worked in end-of-life and bereavement care, the authors in this anthology offer a unique perspective on how identity is shaped by a close bereavement. The book employs a strong editorial narrative that blends memoir with theoretical engagement, and will be of interest to death studies scholars, as well as practitioners involved in end-of-life care and bereavement care and anyone who has experienced the death of a parent.

`This second edition, which has also been edited by Samson Katz, utilizes around half of the original text, of which a significant portions has been revised and updated. The remainder comprises new material reflecting both the changes in attitudes generally towards death and dying, and also designed to meet the needs of students undertaking the revised curriculum of the K260. This book will stimulate thinking and challenge the personal views of both academics and those in practice. ...[A] valuable tool for both those new to the area of palliative and cancer care and those experienced professionals searching for a new angle on several key topics in relation to ethical issues occurring in this speciality... [A]n excellent balance of theoretical contents and moving prose... [T]his book is directed towards all professionals working in health and social care. ...This book is a must for pre-registration students wishing to gain greater understanding of the psychosocial issues faced by those with a terminal illness and their significant others' - Nurse Education Today The fully revised and updated edition of this bestselling collection combines academic research with professional and personal reflections. Death, Dying and Bereavement addresses both the practical and the more metaphysical aspects of death. Topics such as new methods of pain relief, guidelines for breaking bad news, and current attitudes to euthanasia are considered, while the mystery of death and its wider implications are also explored. A highly distinctive interdisciplinary approach is adopted, including perspectives from literature, theology, sociology and psychology. There are wide-ranging contributions from those who come into professional contact with death and bereavement - doctors, nurses, social workers and councellors. In addition there are more intimate personal accounts from carers and from bereaved people. Death, Dying and Bereavement is the Course Reader for The Open University course Death and Dying, which is offered as part of The Open University Dilpoma in Health and Social Welfare. Praise for the First Edition: `The book does give a broad overview of many of the issues around death, dying and bereavement. It raises the reader's awareness and encourages deeper investigation at every level. It is easy to reda and therefore accessible to a wide audience' - Changes `Provides a richly woven tapestry of personal, professional and literary accounts of death, dying and bereavement' - Health Psychology Update `Offers a unique collection of fascinating information, research, stories, poems and personal reflections. It is unusual to experience such a diversity of writings in one book' - Nursing Times `It brings together the knowledge and skills from a multi-occupational group and thereby offers and opportunity, to whoever reads it, to enable better experiences for those who are dying and bereaved' - Journal of Interprofessional Care `For those trying to help the dying and bereaved, this volume will inspire and move you as much as it will inform and guide your work' - Bereavement Care `Provides a unique overview, and in many areas, penetrating insights into various aspects of death, dying and bereavement. One of it's major strengths is that it brings together a wide and varied discourse on death across cultures and through time' - British Journal of Sociology

What is happening emotionally when we grieve for a loved one? Is there a ‘right’ way to grieve? What effect does grief have on how we see ourselves? The Psychology of Grief is a humane and intelligent account that highlights the wide range of responses we have to losing a loved one and explores how psychologists have sought to explain this experience. From Freud’s pioneering psychoanalysis to discredited ideas that we must pass through ‘stages’ of grief, the book examines the social and cultural norms that frame or limit our understanding of the grieving process, as well as looking at the language we use to describe it. Everyone, at some point in their lives, experiences bereavement and The Psychology of Grief will help readers understand both their own and others’ feelings of grief that accompany it.

Given the relationship between trauma, loss, and interpersonal bonds, the editors have assembled a noteworthy list of contributions discussing trauma associated with close relationships (divorce, infertility, widowhood). Certainly, trauma is closely associated with loss. This edited volume offers the perspective of over twenty leading scholars in the study of trauma and loss. Each chapter offers extensive coverage of contemporary issues (terror management, rational suicide, spirituality, stigmatization). Relationship issues within these topics are also explored.

In this extensively updated and revised edition, Dr. Kastenbaum continues to examine and expand upon issues of dying and the ways in which we shape and reshape our conceptions of death. New to the Third Edition are chapters on how we construct death; Death in adolescence and adulthood including discussion on suicide, physician assisted death and Regret Theory and Denial; new approaches to the role of death anxiety, Terror Management Theory, and Edge Theory, and much more. A major contribution to the literature -- this book is must reading for professionals and students of psychology, thanatology, gerontology, social work, and those working in hospice care.