open access
Changing attitudes towards death
open access
Abstract
The article presents main changes in social attitudes towards death and dying starting from the middle age till contemporary times. It shows how these attitudes have been changing from the acceptance and openness to denial and taboo. The influence of broader social processes like secularization of life, industrialization, transformation in values and family structure, and above all the progress of medical knowledge and science generally, is indicated as the factors influencing discussed changes. As a result of their occurrence, death and dying have become a medical experience instead of family one.
All above mentioned processes are also responsible for the modification of the social context surrounding death; the patterns of caring for a dying person, his/her interactions with closest milieu, the structure and ways in which the institutions where the death occurs function. However, in the last years the new trends in the social attitudes towards dying may be observed; the need of humanization of this process and assertion of dignity to those passing on are the symptoms of the new approach.
Abstract
The article presents main changes in social attitudes towards death and dying starting from the middle age till contemporary times. It shows how these attitudes have been changing from the acceptance and openness to denial and taboo. The influence of broader social processes like secularization of life, industrialization, transformation in values and family structure, and above all the progress of medical knowledge and science generally, is indicated as the factors influencing discussed changes. As a result of their occurrence, death and dying have become a medical experience instead of family one.
All above mentioned processes are also responsible for the modification of the social context surrounding death; the patterns of caring for a dying person, his/her interactions with closest milieu, the structure and ways in which the institutions where the death occurs function. However, in the last years the new trends in the social attitudes towards dying may be observed; the need of humanization of this process and assertion of dignity to those passing on are the symptoms of the new approach.
Keywords
attitudes toward death, factors influencing attitudes toward death, interactions with dying person, dying in hospital, dying in hospice
About this articleTitle
Changing attitudes towards death
Journal
Palliative Medicine in Practice
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Pages
41-47
Published online
2016-11-29
Page views
1039
Article views/downloads
16638
Bibliographic record
Medycyna Paliatywna w Praktyce 2016;10(2):41-47.
Keywords
attitudes toward death
factors influencing attitudes toward death
interactions with dying person
dying in hospital
dying in hospice
Authors
Antonina Ostrowska
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