This article describes and analyses how writing a novel about my father's demise brought unexpected relief in my grieving. Research insights into expressive and autobiographical writing proved useful to examine the positive impact of creative writing towards my bereavement. Some of the benefits brought by this novel were to assimilate the experience and probe the emotions that accompany it in a fictional story, and by finding a voice that reflects and records what I - and to an extent my father and my family - went through. The main motivation for this article was the recent passing away of my mother. I look at the facets and differences I encountered in mourning both parents: partly because of the novel, my proximity at the time to some of Mexico's problems regarding criminal violence through my research, and a deeply ingrained difficulty to express emotions because of cultural masculinity mandates.
In recent years, a civic social movement organised around the 'Death Caf & eacute;' has emerged in many countries to encourage public discussion of death and reflection on its meaning in life. The Death Caf & eacute; was introduced into China in 2014. This study discusses the opportunities that facilitated the introduction and development of Death Caf & eacute;s in China, their adaptation to Chinese society and culture, and their impact on public perceptions of death. This research draws on fieldwork conducted during 24 Death Caf & eacute; events from 2019 to 2021, as well as in-depth interviews with organisers and participants. The study finds the developmental trajectory of Death Caf & eacute;s in China to be distinct from that in Western countries. The spread of the Death Caf & eacute; in China is not a simple case of cultural transplantation, but the result of complex interactions among traditional death culture, state power, and social organisations. Originally aimed at promoting engaging, intimate, critical, and open discussions on death, Death Caf & eacute;s in China have transformed and localised into civic activities nested within the state's palliative care policy framework, serving as auxiliary mechanisms supporting the implementation of related initiatives.
Disney's animated films have historically occupied a significant research space. Within these discussions, there is often a recognition that Disney's intended 'moral of the story' can exist at odds with the meta-narrative derived from a combination of the film's images, dialogue and narrative; more than a superficial case of alternative interpretations, the result becomes disconcerting, given Disney's problematic inclusions of death. The following paper analyzes Disney's preferred reading of Hercules centred on 'becoming a true hero' by illustrating how death becomes essential to Hercules' transition to heroism. In particular, textual analysis demonstrates the conditions of true heroism in which sacrificial death is deemed instrumental and argues that this alternative reading is not negated (but rather, strengthened) by the preferred - ultimately communicating to viewers a moral message centred on death.
Pastors in the Netherlands are gaining more experience with pastoral care in the context of euthanasia. According to previous quantitative research, there are considerable differences in the way pastors care for parishioners who wish to die by euthanasia. This qualitative study, based on interviews with 22 pastors from the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, describes pastoral care in the context of a euthanasia request and asks two questions: What experiences do pastors report from these settings? And what moral and religious considerations do they have regarding euthanasia? We compare the themes that emerged from our interviews with other prominent models of pastoral care at the end of life. This may help us move towards developing pastoral best practices in the euthanasia context.
Hong Kong faces population ageing and growing demand for community-based palliative care. The 2023 Advance Decision on Life-sustaining Treatment Bill marks a shift towards autonomy in death and dying, alongside emerging compassionate community initiatives. This article reports the first stage of a Cooperative Inquiry (CI) with the non-profit organisation Forget Thee Not (FTN), which has promoted community-based approaches to dying since 2013. Between May and August 2024, five co-inquirers (board members, staff, and an academic facilitator) engaged in four reflection cycles to prepare the organisation for developing organisational death literacy. Drawing on service data and frontline reflections, the analysis identifies four themes: (1) increasing community demand for death literacy and support; (2) FTN's distinctive positioning within the health and social care system; (3) challenges in articulating the social impact of funeral services; and (4) the role of organisational reflection in fostering death literacy. These findings informed subsequent CI stages, in which 25 co-inquirers participated in re-articulating experiential knowledge as a basis for organisational learning. The article advances the concept of organisational death literacy by demonstrating how it is constituted through organisational reflection within participatory inquiry, extending existing discussions of death literacy beyond individual knowledge to collective practice.
While death for those living in residential aged care facilities (RACFS) may be an expected part of care, there is limited research exploring how staff support resident wellbeing following the death of a fellow resident. This paper reports on a case study that explored ways in which two care professionals, who each brought diverse professional experience, communicated care with bereaved residents. Taking an applied linguistic approach, the participants' narrative accounts were thematically analysed, providing important insights into communicative strategies and local practices. The ways in which staff strategically use presence to communicate care is explained via three themes: (1) being there, (2) silence and listening and (3) social connection and relationships. While not formally taught or guided by wider RACF policy, such responses informed sensitive approaches to care that could be implemented into professional development.
Homicide incidents are often geographically concentrated into certain 'high risk' communities; however, the online world - social media especially - has allowed exposure to violent deaths to reach beyond the physical boundaries of geographic neighbourhoods and face-to-face interactions. Social media has changed not only how people connect and communicate, but also how they mourn and express grief, with the bereaved increasingly engaging in 'digital mourning'. Thanatology and criminology rarely intersect in their examination of violent death, and this study seeks to bridge that gap. Through a case study of Facebook communications following a violent death, we explored social media friends' engagement with loss and mourning online. We conducted a close read of 152 public Facebook wall posts, identifying patterns used to code 2,826 public posts from high-influence network connections. Instances of the bereaved using social media to talk 'to' and about the deceased illustrate the role of social media in facilitating continuing bonds between the living and the dead. We also highlight the themes and messages that garner higher levels of user engagement (via online reactions and shares), suggestive of the further diffusion of grief and loss.
This article analyses depictions of death in popular American sitcoms utilising concepts from performance theory. The chosen shows were How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, New Girl, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Sitcoms' death situations imitate and comment on the ideals and norms of real-life social performances. Through content analysis and close reading, we found that storylines about death emphasise comedy and social connection within death rituals. Rituals often include humorous mishaps, as the characters defy social expectations. When the deceased is unfamiliar, humor can be grotesque, and characters feel social pressure to perform the role of a grieving person - often unsuccessfully. Rituals also offer a genuine chance for mourning and social support when a loved one passes. Mortality serves as a contrast that highlights the life-affirming message of the shows and the value of long-lasting social bonds. Sitcoms navigate the balance between culturally ideal sincere moments, failing to live up to these ideals, and joking in a light-hearted or even brutal manner. The shows therefore offer the viewers a chance to face death from a safe distance, allowing space for laughter.
This article shares the autoethnographic and curatorial experiences of me, Nikki, as Researcher-Participant and Participant Nancy after-a-death, which was preceded by a period of estrangement. It resonates from my postgraduate research exploring through photographs and other ephemera after-a-death and following my experiences of the deaths of my nan, grandad, and dad, all within 3 years. Data were collected through emergent conversations in participants' homes, sound recordings, documentary photographs, and themes established through thematic analysis. Methods suited the sensing conversations in a bricolage approach, forming a thick description. It includes evocative explorations supported by empathetic analysis and 'invites others to think and feel'. The family is explored within existing narratives and through photo elicitation. The article suggests that after-a-death experiences preceded by estrangement can not only compound perceptions of them as taboo, hidden, or secret but can also be places for positivity, reimagining, and rewriting connections through creativity. Ephemera may also be kept from the deceased despite family fractures.
Taking the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut as a case study, this paper examines the connection that exists between materiality and mourning and how that connection can be effectively mobilised to help manage community grief following catastrophic events. In the wake of social traumas like the one under consideration, it is common to focus immediate attention on abstract social issues aimed at preventing future tragedies. This paper emphasises that attention must, at the same time, be turned towards the social wound that traumatic events inflict on the communities in which they occur. In this work, the material world matters. The process of healing can be greatly facilitated by the thoughtful management of the material remnants associated with traumatic events. The purpose of this inquiry is to emphasise the power that material has both to bind us to tragedy and to heal us from it, and to provide an example where this power was both recognised and utilised effectively by those managing a community's response to an unthinkable event. Through the use of both additive and subtractive strategies, the material world became a critical tool in the work of mourning in Newtown, Connecticut.
