Thanatalogy

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How come healthcare improved so much in Canada in the 20th century?

Universal access to healthcare

What were some of the effects of death moving to the hospital?

Censorship of death from public, transfer of caregiving from family to nurses, death became unfamiliar and taboo

What's a death system?

The system of people, culture and symbols that shape a person's relationship to death.

What is Thanatology?

The study of death

What are the components of a death system?

People, places, holidays, objects

What are the functions of a death system?

Warnings, caring for the dead, preventing death, disposing of bodies, helping the bereaved, making sense of death, killing practices

What are some aspects of Tame Death/Death as Neighbour?

Death was common and happened young, dead were moved away

What are some aspects of Death of Self?

Death was thought of as end of unique life, scary, less natural

What are some aspects of Death of the Other/of the Beloved?

Death was last act of deep relationship, graves were symbols of love, big rise in ghost believing

What are some aspects of Invisible Death(1900-present)?

Big medicalization of death, death is uncommon and uncomfortable, big avoidance of death

Columbarium

A structure where ashes are put

Mausoleum

A big building where a body is put in

Cenotaph

A mausoleum but w/ no body

Osuary

A box where bones are put

Crypt

Chamber beneath religious buildings that often has sarcophagi

Sarcophagus

A box for a corpse

Death responses are ___ responses.

learned

What were some of the actions done by The Indian Act?

declared cultural ceremonies illegal, created residential schools, forbade Indigenous peoples from speaking their own languages

What is disenfranchised grief?

When there is a failure to see that a loss has happened

What is ambiguous loss?

A loss that lacks closure and understanding (i.e. missing person)

What is true death?

People who are morgue ready

What is pre-death?

People who aren’t quite dead yet (i.e. life support)

What are your thoughts on the economical state of the funeral process?

The funeral industry is heavily monetized, death is expensive

What is a social institution?

A group or organization that plays a big role in society (i.e. education, government)

What is formal vs informal death education?

Formal - planned education in schools, universities
Informal - family, friends, social media, movies

What are some aspects of a good death?

Loved ones are ready, natural, painless, not premature

What are some effects of religion on death?

Provides meaning, comfort for death, death rituals and customs, gives guidance at the end of life

What is withholding vs withdrawing treatment?

Withholding - Not giving treatment that is available
Withdrawing - Taking away treatment

What is assisted death?

Providing a legal substance at a patient’s request that causes death, controversial topic legal in Canada as of 2016

What is palliative vs curative care?

Palliative - focused on improving quality of life and reducing suffering for dying
Curative - focused on curing death with little regard for the patient’s wellbeing

What is cremation?

The burning of body into ash via very hot fire

What is embalming?

The preservation of a body by replacing fluids with chemicals

What is whole person care?

Care for the whole person than a single issue or diagnosis, patient centered

What are tangible vs intangible memorials?

Tangible - Physical memorials: benches, graves, ashes
Intangible - Non phyiscal memorials: newspaper notices, digital memorials

What is memorial mania?

America’s big focus on remembering the dead. Everything has to be memorialized.

What is memorial morality?

Memorials for mass deaths often aim to make visitors relive the tragedy and evoke strong emotions. This is done to prevent violence. i.e. 911 museum

What are the two main ways other cultures deal with death?

Avoidance/Forgetting - Wari tribe of Brazil’s compassionate canibalism, Yanomami of Venezuela avoid mentioning names of dead
Remembering - Day of the Dead, many asian cultures have a big focus on remembering ancestors

What are examples of body as memorials?

Digital dead body viewings, memorial tattoos, organ donation

What is the purpose of memorialization?

To express emotion, to keep person’s memory alive

What is dark tourism?

Travelling to see memorials, can be seen as morbid

What is the continuing bonds theory?

Loss doesn’t have to mean detachment. The emotional ties the bereaved keep with the dead, instead of breaking the connection. i.e. talking to deceased, keeping photos

What are internal vs external bonds? (Continuing bonds theory)

Internal: Remembering the deceased, imagining their presence
External: Keeping the deceased’s stuff, making memorials

What are some effects of roadside memorials?

Turns sites of death into sacred spaces, challenges traditional spaces of death (i.e. cemeteries)

What is the purpose of memorial tattoos?

Symbolizes a presence of the dead, conversation starters, challenges stigmas about grief by making it public and permanent

We learn most about death ___

in our early years.

What is an advanced directive?

Legal doc that lets competent people decide what will be done if they become incompetent

Why did memorial mania rise?

Countering culture that often denies death, democratization of grief - makes it so not only the social elite are memorialized

What is the main theme of most traditional grief theories?

To grieve means letting go and accepting death

Who made the phase based theory of mourning? Also what are the 4 phases of mourning?

Colin Parkes, Shock and numbness, yearning and searching, disorganization, reorganization