What. Please describe a main takeaway from the lecture and reading this week. Please be specific on what this was and use references.
So What. Why is this takeaway important as it connects to your social work practice and to your own learning. Be specific and use examples to support/justify the “why.”
Now What. In thinking about your cultural reflections in a few weeks, what is a culture or religion that stands out to you as important – what would you want to learn more about.
SOCW5318 DEATH & DYING
AGENDA
What is death
Important terminology
Cross-cultural considerations of death
DSM-V and cultural sensitivity (persistent complex bereavement disorder)
MEDICAL VS LEGAL DEFINITIONS OF DEATH
Medical definition of death
The irreversible cessation of all vital functions especially as indicated by permanent stoppage of the heart,
respiration, and brain activity : the end of life
Legal definition of death
A permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions : the end of life
WHAT IS DEATH?
Definition of brain death
final cessation of activity in the central nervous system especially as indicated by a flat
electroencephalogram (EEG) for a predetermined length of time
Definition of whole brain death
ruling out other conditions that might appear similar to death such as a deep coma.
some insist that the cessation of brain activity must occur both in the cortex and in the brainstem
Definition of cortical brain standard
Irreversible loss of capacity
Permanent coma – declared dead (alive under whole brain standard)
DEATH-WELCOMING OR DEATH DENYING
Death as a transition
Death as a boundary (end, denial)
What do you think North American culture supports?
What does your family support?
How do you view death?
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
People are actively responsive to and creators of the social structures and processes in their lives
Society: A group of people who share a common culture, territory, and identity
Culture: is the conceptual system that structures the way people view the world it is the particular set
of beliefs, norms, and values that influence ideas about the nature of relationships, the way people live their
lives and the way people organize their world
Its also important to not generalize about societies, cultures, faiths and how they practice death
awareness, how they manage grief and loss, and their own burial or funeral rites.
DSMV-V DEFINITION OF CULTURE
Culture refers to systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across
generations. Culture includes language, religion and spirituality, family structures, life-cycle stages, ceremonial
rituals, and customs, as well as moral and legal systems.
Cultures are open, dynamic systems that undergo continuous change over time; in the contemporary world,
most individuals and groups are exposed to multiple cultures, which they use to fashion their own identities
and make sense of experience.
Culture is a multifactorial set of overlapping systems made up of many components beyond race and ethnicity,
including gender identity, sexual orientation, and even generational cohort and occupational group.
The views and practices associated with the confluence of these cultural characteristics affect how all
participants in the health care process-patients and their relatives, as well as clinicians, administrators, and
policy makers-understand illness and engage in care.
INTERSECTIONALITY
Individuals belong to multiple social categories/identities
Interconnectedness of social categorizations (race, class, gender)
Overlapping experiences of discrimination as well as power and privilege
CULTURAL HUMILITY & CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Cultural Humility
Dynamic and lifelong process
Focusing on self-reflection and personal critique to acknowledge ones own biases and assumptions
Understanding the complexity of identities
Never be fully competent about the nature of your clients experiences
Genuine attempts to understand a persons identities with an awareness of the self
Desire to repair power dynamics (e.g., North American conceptualizations of death)
Cultural Competence
Knowledge and awareness of beliefs, practices, and cultural values of diverse populations
Engage with knowledge
Table 11.1 Religious Beliefs about Death, Dying and Funerals
