Preface p. xxi Prologue "The Horse on the Dining-Room Table" p. xxvii Learning about Death, Dying and Bereavement p. 1 Education about Death, Dying, and Bereavement p. 2 A College Class on Death and Dying, and Death-Related Literature for Young Children p. 3 The Emergence of Death Education p. 4 Why Did You Become Involved in Death Education? p. 5 What Is Death Education Like? p. 7 Goals of Death Education p. 11 What Can We Learn about Life and Living by Studying Death, Dying, and Bereavement p. 14 Death p. 17 Changing Encounters with Death p. 18 The Death of an African Physician p. 19 Encountering Death in America Today p. 20 Death Rates p. 20 Average Life Expectancy p. 26 Causes of Death: Communicable versus Degenerative Diseases p. 28 Dying Trajectories p. 32 Location of Death p. 35 What Factors Helped to Bring about These New Mortality Patterns? p. 38 Changing Attitudes toward Death p. 44 The Death of an Amish Man p. 45 The Interplay of Death-Related Encounters and Attitudes p. 47 Death-Related Attitudes p. 48 Five Dominant Patterns in Western Attitudes toward Death p. 53 The Puritans of Seventeenth-Century New England p. 60 Death-Related Practices and the American Death System p. 66 September 11, 2001: Terrorism, Violence, and Death p. 67 The Death System in Every Society p. 68 The American Death System and the Events of September 11, 2001 p. 71 Human-Induced Death Brought about by Individuals p. 73 Socially Sanctioned Death p. 76 Death and Language p. 81 Death and the Media p. 85 Contemporary American Funeral Practices p. 88 Cultural Differences and Death p. 99 A Happy Funeral p. 100 What Can Be Said about Cultural Differences: Some Cautions and Opportunities p. 101 Encounters with Dying, Death, and Bereavement p. 104 Attitudes toward Death p. 114
Death-Related Practices p. 118 Dying p. 127 Coping with Dying p. 128 Matt and Josephina Ryan: Coping with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 129 Coping p. 130 Dying Trajectories and Awareness Contexts p. 134 Coping with Dying: A Stage-Based Approach p. 137 Coping with Dying: Task-Based Approaches p. 141 What Do We Now Know about Coping with Dying? p. 150 Coping with Dying: How Individuals Can Help p. 152 Individuals Who Helped Matt and Josephina Ryan Cope with Life-Threatening Illness and p. 153 Dying Caring for Persons Who Are Coping with Dying: Human and Professional Tasks p. 154 Dimensions of Care p. 155 Tasks as Guidelines for Helping p. 168 Effective Communication p. 171 Helping Helpers: Burnout and Self-Care p. 173 Hope p. 175 Coping with Dying: How Communities Can Help p. 179 Social Institutions That Helped Matt and Josephina Ryan Cope with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 180 Recognizing and Responding to the Needs of Persons Who Are Coping with Dying p. 181 Hospice Philosophy and Principles p. 184 Four Programs of Care for Persons Who Are Coping with Dying p. 187 Hospice Care and Palliative Care p. 199 An Institutional Recapitulation p. 201 Bereavement p. 205 Coping with Loss and Grief p. 206 Stella Bridgman: Experiencing Her Losses p. 207 Loss and Bereavement p. 208 Grief p. 210 What Makes a Difference in Bereavement and Grief? p. 215 Mourning: Interpretations and Outcomes p. 217 Grief, Mourning, and Gender p. 230 Grief, Mourning, and Families p. 232 Anticipatory Grief and Mourning p. 235 Traumatic Loss and Death p. 237 Complicated Grief Reactions p. 239 Coping with Loss and Grief: How Individuals Can Help p. 243 Stella Bridgman: Who Helps a Grieving Person? p. 244 Fundamental Needs of Bereaved Persons p. 245 Unhelpful Messages p. 245
Disenfranchised Grief p. 248 Some Constructive Suggestions for Helping p. 250 Pet Loss p. 251 Helping Bereaved Persons with Tasks in Mourning p. 254 Programs Designed to Facilitate One-to-One Intervention to Help the Bereaved p. 258 Facilitating Uncomplicated Grief: Grief Counseling p. 259 Coping with Loss and Grief: How Communities Can Help p. 268 Stella Bridgman: Social Support for a Bereaved Person p. 269 Life Crises and Ritual p. 270 Funeral Ritual in Contemporary American Society p. 272 Tasks Associated with Funeral Ritual p. 273 Cemeteries and Memorialization p. 281 Other Societal Programs to Help the Bereaved p. 283 Developmental Perspectives p. 297 Children p. 299 One Child and Death p. 300 Children, Developmental Tasks, and Death p. 301 Encounters with Death during Childhood p. 302 The Development of Death-Related Concepts in Childhood p. 308 The Development of Death-Related Attitudes in Childhood p. 314 Children Who Are Coping with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 316 Children Who Are Coping with Bereavement and Grief p. 320 Helping Children Cope with Death, Dying, and Bereavement p. 324 Adolescents p. 339 One Month at Central High School p. 340 The Definition and Interpretation of Adolescence p. 341 Developmental Tasks in Early, Middle, and Late Adolescence p. 343 Encounters with Death during Adolescence p. 344 Death-Related Attitudes during Adolescence p. 350 Adolescents Who Are Coping with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 354 Adolescents Who Are Coping with Bereavement and Grief p. 357 Adolescents, Suicide, and Homicide p. 360 Helping Adolescents Cope with Death and Bereavement p. 367 Adults p. 373 A Christmas Letter, 1998 p. 374 Adults, Developmental Tasks, and Death p. 376 Encounters with Death during Adulthood p. 378 Attitudes toward Death among Adults p. 383 Adults Who Are Coping with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 385 Adults Who Are Coping with Bereavement and Grief p. 387 The Elderly p. 401
Lives Crowned by Love p. 403 The Elderly, Developmental Tasks, and Death p. 404 Encounters with Death among the Elderly p. 405 Attitudes toward Death among the Elderly p. 408 Elders Who Are Coping with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying p. 410 Elders Who Are Coping with Bereavement and Grief p. 414 Suicide among the Elderly p. 419 Legal, Conceptual, and Moral Issues p. 423 Legal Issues p. 424 Donor Husband, Donor Father p. 425 American Society and Its Laws p. 426 Legal Issues before Death p. 427 Legal Issues at Death p. 431 Legal Issues after Death p. 438 Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior p. 457 Three Completed Suicides p. 458 What Is Suicide? p. 462 Some Common Patterns in Suicidal Behavior p. 463 Explanations of Suicide p. 466 Suicide: An Act with Many Determinants and Levels of Meaning p. 472 The Impact of Suicide p. 472 Suicide Intervention p. 475 Rational Suicide p. 479 Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Intentionally Ending a Human Life p. 484 A Case of Assisted Suicide p. 485 Situating the Issues p. 486 Deciding to End a Human Life: Who Acts? p. 488 Deciding to End a Human Life: What Is Intended? p. 490 Deciding to End a Human Life: Moral Arguments p. 494 Deciding to End a Human Life: Some Religious Perspectives p. 498 Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Social Policy p. 503 Prospects for the Future p. 510 The Meaning and Place of Death in Life p. 513 Gotami and the Buddha p. 514 Questions Raised by Death and Some Preliminary Responses p. 514 Death: A Door or a Wall? p. 515 Alternative Images of an Afterlife p. 516 Near-Death Experiences p. 524 The Place of Death in Human Life p. 527 New Challenges and Opportunities p. 531 HIV Infection and AIDS p. 532
A Family Coping with AIDS p. 533 An Introduction to AIDS p. 534 An Introduction to HIV p. 535 Coping with HIV Infection and AIDS p. 544 Epilogue "Calendar Date Gives Mom Reason to Contemplate Life" Elizabeth Vega-Fowlerp. 562 Selected Literature for Children: Annotated D0escriptions p. 564 Selected Literature for Adolescents: Annotated Descriptions p. 574 References p. 579 Name Index p. 632 Subject Index p. 644 Photo Credits p. 655 Table of Contents provided by Blackwell's Book Services and R.R. Bowker. Used with permission.