Death, Dying, and Bereavement in a Changing World

In this introductory text on thanatology, Alan Kemp continues to take on the central question of mortality: the centrality of death coupled with the denial of death in the human experience. Drawing from the work of Ernest Becker, Death, Dying, and Bereavement in a Changing World provides a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach to the study of death, putting extra emphasis on the how death takes place in a rapidly changing world. This new, second edition includes the most up-to-date research, data, and figures related to death and dying. New research on the alternative death movement, natural disaster-related deaths, and cannabis as a form of treatment for life-threatening illnesses, and updated research on physician-assisted suicide, as well as on grief as it relates to the DSM-5 have been added.

Alan R. Kemp is Professor of Sociology at Pierce College where he teaches a course on death, dying, and bereavement. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award at Pierce and the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two other textbooks: Abuse in the Family: An Introduction and Abuse in Society: An Introduction. He is both an ordained member of the clergy and a licensed mental health professional. He was recognized by the National Association of Social Workers as a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work. For five years he worked with military families under contract with the U.S. Air Force, including work in its "family advocacy" program. He is himself a Vietnam veteran who was among the last American advisors serving on patrol with Vietnamese forces aboard Swift Boats (PCFs). During work on the second edition of this book, his wife, Claudia, was diagnosed with metastatic renal cell cnacer, for which she was not successfully treated. He cared for her at home with the support of hospice until shortly before she passed.

Preface; PART I: Introduction and Context; Chapter 1: Lifting the Pall; Chapter 2: Death and Dying in a Rapidly Changing World; Chapter 3: For Everything There Is a Season; Chapter 4: Coureurs de Bois; PART II: Death; Chapter 5: The Grim Reaper through Time; Chapter 6: The Grim Reaper Today; Chapter 7: Traumatic Death; PART III: Dying; Chapter 8: In the Valley of the Shadow; Chapter 9: Intensive Caring; PART IV: Bereavement, Grief, and Mourning; Chapter 10: Life After Loss; Chapter 11: When Grief Goes Awry; PART V: Legal and Ethical Borderlands; Chapter 12: Physician-Assisted Death; Chapter 13: Withdrawing Life Support and Organ Transplantation; PART VI: Into the Future; Chapter 14: Life after Life; Chapter 15: The Road Ahead; Glossary; References; Index