Transcript Death, Society, and Human Experience

Death, Society, and
Human Experience
9th Edition
Robert Kastenbaum
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
•Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
•Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, or any images;
•Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Chapter Three:
The Death System
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
•Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
•Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, or any images;
•Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
A World Without Death:
A Thought Experiment
•
•
•
•
Suppose death is no longer inevitable
Disease and aging have been conquered
Air and water pollution have been reduced
Make a list of predicted changes which
would occur
• In society in general
• In your life specifically
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
A World Without Death:
General Consequences
•
Overcrowding would lead to infringements
on privacy, mobility, and individual liberties
• Space would be precious
•
Stringent and/or selective birth control
• Who would be allowed to reproduce?
•
New laws would be needed
• Inheritance and estates
• Dealing with infants with birth defects
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
A World Without Death:
General Consequences
•
Society would be conservative
• Slow to change old ways
•
Major economic changes
• Insurance and funeral industries would change
• Medical industry changes
•
Moral beliefs and priorities
• Changes in views of marriage and divorce
•
What is life without death?
• No ending, no Heaven or Hell, no Nirvana
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
A World Without Death:
Personal Consequences
•
We would plan and organize our lives differently
• How can one plan ahead for so many years?
•
Free of the fear of death
• Increased risk-taking
•
Personal relationships would extend indefinitely
• Grow old right along with your parents and grandparents
•
Purpose and meaning of life would change
• How to fill all that time?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Components of the Death System
•
People
• Directly connected, such as funeral directors,
florists, health care professionals, clergy
• Indirectly, such as the clerk who sells butchered
meats or the scientist creating military weapons
•
Places
• Hospitals, funeral homes, cemeteries
• Historical battlefields, assassination sites
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Components of the Death System
•
Times
• 9-11-01 and Memorial Day (U.S.), Days of the
Dead (Mexico)
•
Objects
• Obviously associated, such as a hearse, death
certificate, coffin, noose, gallows, electric chair
• Unintended to be, but has come to be
associated, such as automobiles, cigarettes,
over-the-counter drugs
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Components of the Death System
•
Symbols
• Wearing black (U.S. culture)
• Special music, usually slow, solemn organ
music
• Euphemisms: passed on, expired, went to their
reward
• Dysphemisms: OD’d, croaked, bit the dust
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Functions of the Death System
•
Warnings and Predictions
• Alerts to global, societal, and personal threats
• So many warnings it is hard to choose which
ones to pay attention to
• Preventing Death
• Such as medically, militarily, against natural
disasters
• Often selective, following society’s general
patterns of discrimination and unequal
opportunity
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Functions of the Death System
•
Caring for the Dying
• In some cases working for cure, and in others
for comfort
• Much debate over when to move from treatment
orientation to care orientation
• Disposing of the Dead
• From home or hospital to ritual (funeral) to
grave
• Preferences change with generations and
cultures
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Functions of the Death System
•
Social Consolidation After Death
• Meet the challenges faced by individuals and
society due to the loss of a member
• May be strong right after the loss but then
dissipate over time
•
Making Sense of Death
• Offering comforting words or a way to reason or
understand death
• Often superficial, limited to clichés
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Functions of the Death System
•
Killing
• Example: Capital punishment
• Banned in some states
• Other states still allow hanging or firing squad
• Example: Killing animals
• Food industries, including pet foods
• Fashion industries
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Functions of the Death System
•
Kastenbaum highlights two forms of killing
• War as a function of society
• Natural and expected or preventable?
• Deadly species
• Examples: militaries, toxic waste dumps
• Sacrifice
• Most common: sacrificing children
• Common theme: Give the gods vibrant lives
and they will award continued life to society
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Challenge to Death System:
Tsunami of 2004
•
•
•
•
•
200,000 to 300,000 killed; more than 1
million survivors
No general warning system was in place
The tsunami could not have been prevented
Very few people were dying or injured;
energies focused on disposing of the dead
Little social consolidation
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Challenge to Death System:
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
•
“Most predicted natural disaster in history”
• Weather forecasters concerned a month before
it hit
•
•
•
•
More than 1,000 deaths
80% of New Orleans under water
Situation in Superdome was intolerable
Much debate over the breakdown of the
prevention and help systems
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Challenge to Death System:
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
•
Issues:
• Frame of reference – everyday or emergency?
• Turf issues – Who is in charge here?
• Community and place can make the critical difference in
emergency situations
•
Warnings were clear; Prevention lacking
• Delay in care for dying and disposing of dead
• Little social consolidation; Intense criticism and
debate followed
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
How Our Death System is Changing
•
Three key issues highlighted the need for a
change in attitude toward death
• World Wars I & II highlighted violent death
• Many survivors were suffering mentally over the
inability to grieve openly
• Medical breakthroughs helped keep more
people alive but under extreme suffering,
despair, and isolation
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
How Our Death System is Changing
•
Death Education, Research, and Counseling
• Promoted by anthropologists, clergy, nurses,
physicians, psychologists, sociologists, and
social workers
• Mission: to bring concern for the human
encounter with mortality into the awareness of
caregivers, educators, and researchers within
existing disciplines
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
How Our Death System is Changing:
Life Expectancy
•
•
•
•
•
•
Region with Life Expectancy at Birth
Africa, 54 years old
Asia, 67 years old
Europe, 74 years old
Latin America, 71 years old
North America, 77 years old
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Leading Causes of Death
In the U.S. in Order
•
•
•
•
•
1) Heart disease
2) Cancer
3) Cerebrovascular
Accidents (strokes)
4) Chronic
Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease
(COPD)
5) Accidents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
6) Diabetes Mellitus
7) Pneumonia, Flu
8) Alzheimer’s Disease
9) Kidney Disease
10) Septicemia (blood
poisoning)
11) Suicide
12) Liver Disease
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Causes of Death in the Future?
•
Quick-spreading infectious diseases and
viruses
• Examples: AIDS, Ebola virus, West Nile virus,
SARS
•
Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness
• Microorganisms are developing resistance
•
Bioterrorism
• Particularly Anthrax and Smallpox
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Glossary: New Terms (1)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Age-Standardized
Death Rate
Capital Punishment
Cardiovascular
Resuscitation (CPR)
Cerebrovascular
Accident (CVA)
Cohort
Disease (COPD)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease
(COPD)
Crude Death Rate
(CDR)
Death System
Excessive Death Rate
Life Expectancy
Longevity
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
Glossary: New Terms (2)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Microbial Agents
Morbidity
Mortality
Mortality rate
Pathologists
Radioactive Iodide
Thanatology
Tsunami
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007