Death, Society, and the Human Experience

This landmark text in death education draws on contributions from the social and behavioral sciences as well as the humanities, such as history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the arts, to provide thorough coverage of understanding death and the dying process. The text focuses on individual and societal attitudes and how they influence both how and when we die and how we live and deal with the knowledge of death and loss. Robert Kastenbaum is a renowned scholar in the field who developed one of the world's first death education courses and introduced the first text for this market. New to this Edition: Coverage of September 11th examines the effects of terrorist activity (Ch. 1.). Expanded presentation of life and death from various world religion perspectives helps students to examine death in a broader context (Ch. 3.). Introduces new suggestions for improving the care of the terminally ill by examining several medical, psychological, community, and spiritual perspectives (Ch. 5). Coverage of violent death has been improved and updated in light of the Washington, D.C., area serial killings, presenting students with the most up-to-date examples and research possible (Ch. 9). Increased coverage on brain death and the implications of organ donation (Ch. 3), abortion, assisted death, and euthanasia (Ch. 10) provides students with the most comprehensive text on death and dying on the market. This edition introduces new developments in the cryonics movement in order to promote student comprehension and questioning of overcoming death by technology (Ch. 14).Kastenbaum, Robert J. is the author of 'Death, Society, and the Human Experience', published 2003 under ISBN 9780205381937 and ISBN 0205381936.