Overview
- Draws on a range of social theory including social death and multiple research studies
- Provides researchers a means of understanding the complexities and ethics of studying this topic
- Forms part of a new wave of scholarship that will be fundamental to understanding the diversity of dying
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About this book
This book presents a sociological challenge to the long-held assumption that dying alone is a bad way to die and that for a death to be a good one the dying person should be accompanied. This assumption is represented in the deathbed scene, where the dying person is supported by religious or medical professionals, and accompanied by family and friends. This is a familiar scene to consumers of culture and is depicted in many texts including news media, fiction, television, drama and documentaries. The cultural script underpinning this assumption is examined, drawing on empirical data and published literature. Clarification is offered about what is meant when someone is said to die alone: are they alone at the precise moment of their death, or is it during the period before that? Questions are asked about whose interests are best served by the accompaniment of dying people, whether dying alone means dying lonely and whether, for some individuals, dying alone can be a choice and offera good death? This book is suitable for scholars and students in the field of dying and death, as well as practitioners who work with dying people, some of whom may wish to be alone.
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Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Glenys Caswell is an independent death studies scholar and associate of the University of Nottingham, UK. She is a sociologist by training and her area of research interest focuses on the social management of dying and death. She has research and published on aspects of dying alone, time of death and Scottish funerals.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Dying Alone
Book Subtitle: Challenging Assumptions
Authors: Glenys Caswell
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92758-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-92757-8Published: 17 March 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-92760-8Published: 18 March 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-92758-5Published: 16 March 2022
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 224
Topics: Sociology, general, Sociology of Culture