psyc 208 family & community, legalities, funeral industry, & mass media - lecture 5 review

Euphemism

Common word or phrase intended to soften the harshness of a literal meaning

Example of Euphemism For Death

Passed Away

Why can euphemisms be bad?

1. Can be confusing when expressing death (e.g to children)

2. Disliked by loved ones in clinical contexts; they want the details surrounding a death

How to help a dying person

Offer your presence

Role of family members in death & loss

Major source of support

2 things good social support can reduce the likelihood of?

1. Complicated grief

2. PTSD after a traumatic death

Death & loss can ... family relationships?

Impair

How does death of a family member impact the family unit?

Can be disruptive & upsetting

Pre existing factors that determine how disruptive the death of a family member is to a family

Quality of communication, presence or lack of conflicts, degree of dysfunction, death of a sibling etc.

Ways death can be disruptive to family functioning

- Fights over the will/inheritance

- Differences in grief trajectories among family members

- Fights over who was closest to the deceased

- Disputing an idealized image of the deceased

- Avoiding talking about the death

- Feeling unable to talk about a death at holidays & gatherings

- Overprotective behaviour of parents towards surviving children

- Lack of involvement or detachment

The void hypothesis

When a family member dies a void is created in the family structure; requires time to create a new homeostasis/natural state

When is the void closed/resolved

Once the family reorganizes & figures out their new social roles

Relationship between intense grief & detachment from family

Survey of families of those who died by suicide & accidental deaths; more intense grief associated with greater detachment from family

Relationship between emotional/expressive support & grief & detachment

Survey of families of those who died by suicide & accidental deaths; more emotional/expressive support mitigated/lessened grief & detachment

Divorce myth

False belief that bereaved parents are at higher risk of divorce

How the death of a child affects relationships

Strains them; most relationships survive & are strengthened in the long run

Longitudinal study of bereaved parents in Netherlands

Bereaved parents had a higher rate of divorce

Family conflicts or disagreements

Complicates or worsens the grieving process

Pre existing dysfunction in families

Lower well being & greater likelihood of complicated grief after a loss

Factors that mitigate grief symptoms in families

Cohesion, affection, & good communication

Transgenerational/intergenerational grief

Pass the pain or trauma of a loss on to younger generations

Ways transgenerational/intergenerational grief is passed on

- Family secrets

- Avoidance of discussing the loss

- Unresolved grief from earlier losses, that resurface later in life

Conditions that increase vulnerability to transgenerational/intergenerational grief

When a family is unable to mourn separately or collectively

Parts of family secrets that can lead to unresolved grief

Circumstances surrounding death, cause of death, & information about the deceased person

What are children often excluded from?

- Discussions about death

- Visits to see a dying person

- Funeral/memorial services

Avoidant responses from excluding children

Anger & fear

Giving children books about death

More positive perspectives & better coping

Responsibilities of the community in death & loss

- Support & facilitate mourning rituals/funerals/memorials

- Help the bereaved remember the death/with continuing bonds

- Assist the bereaved in the grieving process

Argued the general

public is not

Prepared, capable, or willing to support the bereaved

Evolutionary function of grief

Biological reaction that ensures group survival

Explanation for why grief promotes group survival

Grief increases social/group cohesion because people come together the mourn the loss; increases survival

Study of recently bereaved adults; asked whether anything good resulted from the lost

- Brought family closer together

- Improved communication

- Strengthened family & friend relationships

- Supports grief's evolutionary purpose; promotes social cohesion

2 Responses of families & communities to a loss

1. Resilience

2. Long term dysfunction

How family or cultural legacy alters family or community

Traditions, values, & rituals change over time

Decisions made before death

- Will

- Healthcare leading up to death

- Planning memorial & funeral services

- Choosing a coffin & burial plot

Legal options in death

- Living wills/advance directives

- Power of attorney (medical/healthcare)

- Do not resuscitate (DNR) order/medical assistance in dying (MAID)

Living wills/advance directives

Legal documents that detail the preferences of competent individuals before care is needed

Power of attorney

Allows a named person to make decisions about healthcare, housing, & aspects of personal life; if the person becomes incapable of making decisions

Middle knowledge

Tendency of individuals to simultaneously hold 2 opposite views on the inevitability of death; denying death & making plans for one's death

Denying death

Minimizing the bleakness of one's prognosis

Making plans for one's death

Making a will, arranging burial plots

Function of denial when confronted with death

Prevents the dying from being overwhelmed with knowledge of their mortality; helps them deal with reality by making appropriate decisions & plans

Psychological functions of legal options in dying

1. Enhanced perceived control

2. Autonomy/informed consent

3. Stability for family members

Enhanced perceived control

Perception of control increases positive outcomes & wellbeing

Autonomy/informed consent

Dying people make decisions leading up to their death

Stability for family members

If decisions are not made in advance increases likelihood of family conflicts post death

Cross culturally & religiously death is always followed by...?

A funeral service

Funeral service

Memorializes the deceased person; with body present

2 types of funeral services

1. Open casket; body is viewed

2. Closed casket

Memorial service

Memorializes the deceased person without body present; tends to be more informal & may include food & drinks

Function of funeral & memorial services

Helps the bereaved honour the deceased & prepare the body for burial or cremation

Function of the funeral industry

Assists in the grieving process

Funeral rituals

Are symbolic enactments; fulfills psychosocial needs

Function of funeral rituals

Provides meaningful & affirming experiences for the bereaved

What is necessary after the death of a loved one?

A rite of passage

Function of rites of passage

Allows a death to be recognized

Responses funerals are designed to trigger

- Acute grief response

- Prescribe structured behaviours during a confusing time

- Encourage recognition of the loss

- Development of new relationships with the deceased & the community

Rite of passage

A public ceremony or event; marks an important stage or transition in one's life

Functions of funerals

- Acknowledge the death of a community member

- Acknowledge the bereaved's grief

- Provide guidelines for the public display of emotion; & how community members can support the bereaved

- Provide guidelines for the body's disposal

- Provide a starting point for recovery or renewal

Functions of acknowledging the death of a community member

1. Emphasizes the irreversibility of death

2. Viewing of the body promotes a sense of finality

Funeral director

Tends to be the first point of counselling for the bereaved & funeral attendees; they receive training on how to speak about death

Belief on funerals' usefulness

Most people believe funerals support their process of adjustment

Research on whether funerals are actually helpful (measured outcomes)

Little research that is inconsistent

Relationship between level of funeral participation or attendance & grief adjustment/severity

Many studies have found no correlation; some evidence of short term benefits only

Qualitative study on evaluations of funerals & grief outcomes

Evaluating funerals as comforting predicted fewer difficulties in grief/complicated grief

Negative effect of funeral systems

Funerals can encourage disenfranchised grief by overlooking certain personal relationships & their grief; can increase personal conflicts or tensions

Negative effect of ritual

Can create distance from overwhelming emotion; results in delayed expressions of grief

Review of qualitative study on whether after death rituals have benefits

Whether benefits existed depends on the ability of the bereaved to shape rituals & say goodbye in a way meaningful for them

Research on grieving & grief outcomes on how people should mourn

People should grieve & mourn in ways most appropriate for them

Relationship between culture & tradition & grief expression

Limits which expressions of grief are deemed important/meaningful to the bereaved

Study found multiple challenges & difficulties with the funeral experience

- Making decisions about the funeral; especially in a short time period

- Financial burden; especially in cases where the deceased did not plan in advance

- Interpersonal challenges; e.g seeing unwelcome people, family & friends, & interpersonal conflict

- Misinformation about the industry; affects the attitudes of people towards the funeral system

Study on adverse events during funeral services

Adverse events are related to more intense grief reactions; e.g not being allowed to view the body

The funeral industry can be perceived as ... by the bereaved

Commercialized & tacky

Decision made before a funeral

Choosing a funeral program

How funeral homes contribute to the financial burden

Upselling caskets more than they're worth

Unethical practices in the funeral industry

- Misleading information about embalming or burial; e.g embalming of the body is not legally required, the bereaved may be told it is necessary

- Mismanaged prepaid funeral plans or pre needs; e.g extra charges arise after the death

- Overcharging for products & upselling

- Wrongful burial or cremation; deceased are accidentially laid to rest in a way they did not want

- Theft of personal belongings of the deceased; e.g grave robbing

Aspects of funeral services that create symbolic immortality

- The funeral service, burial, or cremation of the body

- The way someone is memorialized; e.g headstone or grave plaque, funeral program

How funeral rituals increase symbolic immortality

Determines how the deceased is remembered by others

What enhances a sense of symbolic immortality before death

Making decisions in advance of death

Alternatives to traditional funerals

- Celebrations of life

- Green burials; e.g biodegradable burial pods, bio urns, & eternal reefs

- Aquamation/resomation

- Body preservation/cryonics

- Memorial fireworks

Why alternatives to traditional funerals are used

Better aligns with how the deceased wants to be remembered; increases symbolic immortality

Celebrations of life

Memorial events that tell the story of the deceased with greater flexibility & fewer formalities, may have food, drinks, & music; more positive & consistent with the deceased's outlook/lifestyle

Green burials

Includes biodegradable pods, bio urns, & eternal reefs; places the deceased's body in the ground with a seed & a tree sprouts; symbolic immortality of feeling connected to the earth

Aquamation/Resomation

Includes alkaline hydrolysis; alkaline solution reduces the body to a skeleton, skeleton is then crushed into a power without any carbon output (similar to cremation)

Body preservation/cryonics

Entire body or head is cryogenically preserved in hope of being resurrected as medicine & science advance in the future

Memorial fireworks

Ashes of a cremated person is placed in fireworks

Plastination/Body Worlds

Includes plastination where all body's liquids are removed & body is preserved & made into a plastic mannequin; donated bodies are displayed for educational purposes in an exhibit

Responses to images of tragedy & death in the news

More likely to heighten emotions & evoke a response; e.g images of corpses or people dying

Purpose of death being included in the media

Maintains the attention of viewers on an issue

2 possible responses to seeing upsetting images

1. Greater compassion

2. Compassion fatigue & apathy; difficulty experiencing compassion/empathy in response to tragedy

Issue with fatalities being posted on social media

Images of the deceased can be seen by family members & friends; prolongs the grieving process

How social media publicizes stories of death

- Social media moderators can develop PTSD

- Social media users may witness images of death when unprepared; e.g death of a loved one

Suicide contagion/copycat suicides

Can result in suicide clusters within a population or community; especially young people

Those affected by contagion effects after a publicized suicide

Tend to relate to the deceased person or their experience

Factors that increase risk of suicide contagion/copycat suicides

1. Detailed & sensationalized media coverage

2. Lack of information about mental health services

Sensationalized

Story presented in a way intended to trigger curiosity or interest by including exaggerated or shocking details; e.g including how someone died, circumstances leading up to the suicide, or a dramatic life event before the suicide

Characteristics of people affected by suicide contagion

- Are of a similar demographic to the deceased in a publicized suicide

- Often observed in small populations; e.g Indigenous communities with a lack of resources

Findings of studies on the impact of publicized suicides in the news

- Celebrity suicides are 14x more likely to find a contagion effect

- Real suicides are 4x more likely to find a contagion effect; than fictional ones

Study 2 months after Robin Williams' suicide

10% increase in suicides in the US; mostly men

Analysis of news articles published 1 month after Robin Williams' suicide

- 46% of articles went into detail about the method by which he died

- 27% of articles tended to romanticize the suicide; e.g struggle, comedian life, life difficulties leading up to the suicide

- 11% included information on how to seek help