Culture plays an important part in the death system of our world. The death in each culture is different from each other. The culture of the Chinese is a lot different from that of an African American and the rest of this multicultural society, we live in. In each culture the death system is present whether we know it or not, and it consists of five components.
1. People
2. Places
3. Time
4. Objects
5. Symbols
These five components performs seven functions:
1. Warnings and Predictions
2. Prevention
3. Care of the Dying
4. Disposing of the Dead
5. Social Consolidation
6. Making Sense of Death
7. Killing
Since we all belong and contribute to "Systems". The word system is all part of our daily workbook. We are members of a Country's Political System. We are also part of the Health Care System. No matter our circumstances we are part of a system.
These components and functions gives us a way of understanding society and or culture, but our role within that society cultural system, when faced with death in its self are in various forms.
What is a death system Robert Kastenbaum (1998) describes it as the interpersonal, sociophysical and symbolic network, through which an individuals relationship to mortality is mediated by his or her culture.
Let us take a look at our death system and who or what it is comprised off, in the tables you will see names and people, or even things that may have been left out, not by mistake but for you to think of who, or what you think should be included.
Table1
Systems Who are they Role they play
People Funeral Directors,Morgue Attendants First to come to mind
Cemetery Workers, Clergy All members of any death
system.
Citizens Core members
Florists, Lawyers Continuous players
Copy Writers,Real Estate Brokers
Developers and Construction Firms,and
Insurance Brokers.
Places Cemeteries, Crematoriums, Plays a lasting Social Political
and Funeral Homes. or Spiritual power simple by
chance.
Battlefields National and Historical
treasures
Haunted Houses
Times Remembrance Day, The Eleventh National Mourning for those
Hour of the Eleventh day of the who died in the War
Eleventh Month
Saints and Martyrs day. In Religious affiliation of
Mexico, the day of the Christmas Jewish People
Dead. or Shinto.
Birthday,Wedding Anniversary, Date
of Death (of love ones) Christmas,
Easter and Thanksgiving.
Objects The Hearse, Headstone, Coffin or Casket
Symbols Cigarettes Referred to as Coffin nails
Automobile or Aircraft Flying Coffin
Black arm bands for men Black Signaled their Status as
or Purple dresses for women Mourners.
WARNING AND PREVENTION
We have all come across some kind of warning or prediction of death, either by intuition or by your gut feeling. These feelings or what ever we call them are based on the following:
a. Folk Custom
b. Science
c. Religion
d. Personal Revelation
We all know that warnings can be either:
a. Accurate
b. Imaginary
c. false
d. Exaggerated
As Individuals living in a Society, where skeptics tends to be all around us we have the choice to either:
a. Respond
b. Ignore the warning
For us to navigate through, this warning system, meaning, prioritizing and assigning value to the warning it must be taken seriously.
The following are some warnings:
Table 2
Kind of Warning
Weather Report Storm, Hurricane and Tornado
Small Craft Given the population close to
major waterways.
Ecological and Environmental hazards and galactic catastrophe
Predictions of pollution earthquake, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, meteor
showers and infectious diseases.
Psychics Use for entertainment purposes or for personal use
What we think and how we response to these warning and predictions depends on our belief in:
a. How accurate is the warning?
b. How close are we to the event?
c. What time would it happen?
PREVENTION SYSTEM
Physicians and Workers ..... First line of defense is our war on death.
Research Scientists ........... Fight to keep us alive with different drugs.
Police and Firefighters ...... Recruit individuals willing to face danger of
eminent death.
Transportation .... Highway crews reduce the chance of accident and death, by
keeping it in a safe state.
Advertisement .... Campaigns reminding us to drive safe, don't drink and drive.
CARE OF THE DYING
As the population ages caring for the dying continues as a priority of our death system. We move from cure mode, to care mode of comfort, of palliation and the declining of death. Our ability to understand the value, and meaning expressed by the dying is distorted by our values.
DISPOSING OF THE BODY
Method of disposal of the body differs between and within Cultures.
Funeral or Last Rites ........Community expression of its relationship to that of the
deceased.
SOCIAL CONSOLIDATION AFTER DEATH
Death can shatter our assumptive world, what is normally expected to be true may no longer be relevant. The death system either fosters or thwarts this integration.
Emotional Support ........ Consolation, Encouragement and Empathy
Practical Support .......... The doing of tasks and provision of services
re-establishment and define person hood.
Information Support ...... Feedback allows the Bereaved to engaged in reality.
Testing, modifying andestablishing new cognition's,
expectations behaviours and emotions congruent
with new roles.
MAKING SENSE OF DEATH
One of the questions we all ask our selves is " Why?". How can this happen? making sense of death is to discover some reason or purpose, what has death served. The urgency of making sense of death is intensified when death is
Traumatic:
a. Sudden
b. Unexpected
c. Violent
d. Mutilating
e. Involves Children.
No comments:
Post a Comment