Death studies
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Grounded theory methods were used to study the experiences of 8 bereaved fathers whose children received care in a home-based hospice program. In-depth, unstructured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded for themes and categories. Every aspect of fathers' lives was affected by their experiences, which were described in metaphoric terms as living in a dragon's shadow. ⋯ Battling occurred within the context of fathers' experiences with fathering and fatherhood and was characterized by 3 aspects: battling with uncertainty, battling with responsibility, and battling with everyday disruption. Fathers were assisted by supportive work environments and by supportive relationships with health care providers. Unsatisfactory relationships with medical personnel compounded fathers' battling with life in the dragon's shadow.
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The number of terminally ill prison inmates rises each year. Mental health professionals are uniquely prepared to provide therapy during the end-of-life process with their assessment, training, empathy, and communication skills. ⋯ Ethical issues that arose are discussed, including pain management and compassionate release. Creative solutions to these ethical dilemmas were implemented through consideration of the overt and underlying goals of the inmate, the necessary rules and protocols of the prison, and in conjunction with professional codes of ethics.
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The authors describe the integration of service learning into 2 upper-division general education death-related courses. An overview of these courses, 1 in sociology and 1 in political science, is followed by an explanation of the rationale and the specific ways in which service learning infused these educational offerings. The discussion then proceeds by outlining the preparation, action, reflection, and evaluation involved in making service learning an indispensable course feature. Feedback gathered from students, on-site supervisors, and the authors clearly indicates that this pedagogical strategy offers exciting potential for grounding death education in real life experiences.
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Sentence and strictness of instructions influence juries' willingness to convict. To see whether this result holds for suicide attempters, 240 undergraduates read jury instructions for a suicide attempt that varied sentence (jail term, fine, community service, or mandatory counseling) and instructions, voted guilty / not guilty, and rated their certainty and effectiveness. ⋯ Overall, respondents were neutral that convicting a suicide attempter would reduce future attempts. Consistent with terror management theory, present students were willing to punish regardless of whether they thought that the punishment was preventive.
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The article is a contribution to a cross-cultural theory of grief. It examines the relationship between individual/family continuing bonds with the dead and cultural narratives that legitimize political power. The dead are collective representations (Dirkheim) that mediate the larger culture to individuals and to smaller communities and that reinforce social solidarity and identity. ⋯ Bonds with the dead have a power in individual, family, or tribal life that can threaten the narrative that legitimizes the new political power holders. Ancestor rituals that support identity as a family or tribal member are surpressed and replaced by allegiance to collective representations of the new political order. Two historical examples are given: China under Chairman Mao and the Wahhabi reform in Arabic Islam.