tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/death-493/articles
Death – The Conversation
2024-03-19T14:31:08Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226040
2024-03-19T14:31:08Z
2024-03-19T14:31:08Z
The Humberside funeral home incident shows England and Wales need a better system for dealing with death
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582821/original/file-20240319-22-gd2v0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/funeral-flowers-back-hearse-driving-through-2233487901">photographercap|Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early March 2024, Humberside Police received reports of concerns over “care for the deceased” at a funeral directors in Hull. Two people have <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-68542986">reportedly</a> been bailed after the bodies and ashes of at least 35 people were <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/hull-police-b1144291.html">removed</a> from the premises. An inquiry is now under way.</p>
<p>As shocking as this news story has been, such concerns are not unexpected. Across England and Wales, funeral directors are an unregulated workforce. There is little external scrutiny and minimal educational requirements to be able to practice. </p>
<p>Funerals have <a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/The-Evolution-of-the-British-Funeral-Industry-in-the-20th-Century/?k=9781787436305">long</a> been firmly located within the commercial world. As far back as the 17th century, funerary arrangements were the purview of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/713685969?needAccess=true">family firms</a> and an alternative income source for carpenters and upholsters. </p>
<p>Today, there are only a handful of ways in which funerals become a public issue. Some deaths will be referred to coroners and local authorities will be involved in organising and funding a public health funeral, when someone dies without the money or family to organise a service. Even then, though, most councils outsource this work to private, for-profit funeral directors.</p>
<p>More broadly, politicians and policymakers are largely <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dead-and-dying-have-been-ignored-by-politicians-for-too-long-83616">reticent</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-prince-charles-and-his-mother-down-why-britain-finds-it-hard-to-talk-about-death-107155">talk about death</a> and who supports the dead. It is rarely a vote winner. It doesn’t fit neatly within the boundaries of individual government departments (involving health and social care, pensions, benefits, housing, cemeteries and crematoriums), all of which have competing interests and priorities. </p>
<p>Further, the dead are unable, and the bereaved often too tired, to lobby for attention. It is only when families fight the system via public inquests and inquiries, or when events such as those in Humberside receive media attention, that the way death is handled really gains political attention.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A lady in a yellow jacket stands in a cemetary." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582807/original/file-20240319-26-qvw9u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mourners value the confidence that their deceased are being cared for as promised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/unknown-woman-mourning-front-tombstone-english-2363991835">Anze Furlan|Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Lack of regulation</h2>
<p>In countries such as the US, it is common practice for funeral directors to be required to hold a mortuary science qualification to practice. In England and Wales, however, there is no requisite training or accreditation needed. More or less anyone can open a funeral home. </p>
<p>There are two main trade bodies: the <a href="https://www.nafd.org.uk/">National Association of Funeral Directors</a> and the <a href="https://saif.org.uk/">National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors</a>. These offer optional educational opportunities and advocate for the sector’s reputation, acting as adjudicators of poor practice. While they can and do inspect premises, because they rely on and represent their membership, the extent to which they will intervene or publicly flag poor practice is open to debate.</p>
<p>Research has shown that, from a consumer perspective, there is significant variation in the services funeral directors provide. It can be difficult to <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JSM-03-2015-0132/full/html?casa_token=1m1NM9ebDUEAAAAA:Tnjswq4sFGCdAV4AzQHpogqvVFy19zNAYCJ5vCredTJJVtILR4fURnxRMWz1WV9Hk19wdpHNQgcZL40_prqEFWIqWc31lEPKQQt8ssUC8ccEAbD8SA">adequately compare</a> service provision between companies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/funerals-market-study">Concerns have duly been raised</a> about the potential vulnerability of families needing to make financial commitments after a person has died. These concerns are compounded by the lack of routine checks and balances across the funeral sector. </p>
<p>A minimal educational requirement and inspection regime would, at the very least, reassure the public that funeral directors are operating within a set of defined parameters. There would be safeguards in place to guarantee that the information they provide is up to date, that staff are trained and equipped in dealing with recently bereaved people, and independent arbitrators to whom one could raise concerns. Crucially, such oversight would ensure that the deceased people entrusted into their care are safe.</p>
<p>Implementing even a light touch regulatory regime will be a challenge. Until 2016, my colleagues and I at the University of Bath ran an independent foundation degree in funeral services. We faced some suspicion within the sector. </p>
<p>Our research found <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13576275.2013.852527">people were resistant</a> to education and to sharing best (and problematic) practice. This was driven by a competitive marketplace and not wanting to give rivals an advantage. </p>
<p>There is also significant cost involved in making education and regulatory compliance a requirement. This would likely drive up costs for the consumer, in what is already a pressured sector. </p>
<p>Even before COVID, low-cost funerals and rituals conducted <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00380385211036350">behind closed doors</a> were gaining in popularity. <a href="https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/">Recent estimates</a> suggest that 20% of all deaths now result in a direct cremation, that is, without an accompanying funeral service – these typically cost around half the price of a standard funeral. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-local-councils-failing-people-who-cant-afford-a-funeral-says-new-report-164897">Paying</a> for a funeral <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/15/uk-faces-a-cost-of-dying-crisis-as-funeral-costs-reach-record-high#:%7E:text=One%20in%20five%20families%20experience,belongings%20to%20cover%20the%20cost.">reportedly</a> leaves one in five families in the UK in financial difficulty. </p>
<p>Profit margins for providers <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0261018320932279">are thus increasingly getting squeezed</a> and there are concerns over consumer exploitation. But the risks of overcharging or receiving services that are poor value for money are just one aspect of potential funerary malpractice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A fictional Welsh funeral directors office." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582812/original/file-20240319-16-gtbifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The set of Simpsons Funeral Directors in Pontyberry, as featured in Welsh TV sitcom Stella.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/llanbradach-caerphilly-wales-uk-03122011-building-1172280709">John Selway|Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Others include the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn3n4vj8r40o">potential for fraud</a> and the consequences of a funeral home abruptly ceasing trading. In October 2023, in Penrose, Colorado, police removed 189 bodies from a dilapidated <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67147297">green funeral home</a>. It was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-10-18/colorado-funeral-home-remains-189-people-removed">reported</a> that the company had missed tax payments, faced eviction from one premises and been sued by a crematory for unpaid bills.</p>
<p>The impact of this kind of news on bereaved people cannot be overstated. Reports on how families in Humberside have reacted to concerns that their deceased might not have been treated as they expected would be have rightly underlined their <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/police-believe-they-have-contacted-all-families-of-35-people-whose-bodies-were-recovered-from-funeral-parlour-13095399">anguish</a>.</p>
<p>In recent years there have been some moves towards better scrutiny. In 2019, the governmental Competition and Markets Authority <a href="https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/funerals-market-study">undertook</a> a full-scale investigation of the funeral sector in England and Wales, laying out the reasons for pricing transparency, in particular. It did not go so far as to determine what constituted quality provision. And while it asked the question about regulation, it did not wholesale recommend it.</p>
<p>In 2022, meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-regulation-boosts-consumer-protection-funeral-plans-market">Financial Conduct Authority</a> began regulating pre-pay funeral plans, provided by 26 companies. </p>
<p>Scotland is showing how this could be done better. In February 2024, the Scottish government introduced a funeral director <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/funeral-director-code-practice-2/pages/5/#:%7E:text=The%20funeral%20director%20must%20ensure,56%20of%20the%202016%20Act.">code of practice</a>. This is the latest development within the regulatory framework for the end of life that was <a href="https://www.bath.ac.uk/publications/death-dying-and-devolution/attachments/ipr-policy-brief-death-dying-and-devolution.pdf">launched</a> by Holyrood in 2017. </p>
<p>Such government action in Scotland positions death as a key feature of the welfare state. How a government recognises, supports and resources death and bereavement speaks to its ideological conceptualisations of citizenship, rights and responsibilities, and social justice.</p>
<p>What happens back stage at a funeral directors is by its very nature hidden from public view. The public in England and Wales need to know that those who become the custodians of their dead are operating appropriately and ethically.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226040/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Woodthorpe has previously received contract funding from Axa Sunlife and Dignity Funerals, to conduct independent research studies.</span></em></p>
The public need to know that those who become the custodians of their dead are operating appropriately and ethically.
Kate Woodthorpe, Reader in Sociology, University of Bath
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225153
2024-03-18T12:23:59Z
2024-03-18T12:23:59Z
Biden and Trump, though old, are both likely to survive to the end of the next president’s term, demographers explain
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581396/original/file-20240312-16-ug5e1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C4247%2C2965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are nearly twice the median age of the U.S. population.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2024ChinaUnitedStates/46152c599dd14340abc0595fca447682/photo">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3890">In a recent poll</a>, 67% of Americans surveyed believe that President Joe Biden, 81, is too old to serve another term as president. But only 41% of respondents said they feel that way about former President Donald Trump, who is 77. Both men have stumbled around and have forgotten or mixed up names and events, <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/memory-loss-and-forgetfulness/memory-problems-forgetfulness-and-aging">which are behaviors that characterize some older people</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jAfhO2YAAAAJ&hl=en">We</a> are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OBIxsGQAAAAJ&hl=en">demographers</a> – not <a href="https://www.salon.com/2024/02/23/dr-john-gartner-on-a-tale-of-two-brains-bidens-brain-is-aging-brain-is-dementing/">scholars of brain function</a> considering people’s cognitive abilities. But there is a question we can answer, one that speaks to concerns about both men’s ages: their life expectancy.</p>
<p>And it turns out that the four-year age difference between Biden and Trump isn’t really much of a difference when it comes to their respective odds of surviving. The statistical odds are good that both would complete a four-year term as president.</p>
<p>We know this because of one of the most versatile <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/population-and-society/5D47EB8139ED72FD59F7379F7D41B4FB">tools of demography</a>, which is called a life table. It’s a table of age groups, usually from 0 to 100 years, showing the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-12.pdf#page=14">percentages of the population at any age</a> surviving to a later age. It is based on the age-specific death rates of the population.</p>
<h2>Early record-keeping</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A table of figures representing births and deaths." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581391/original/file-20240312-28-kj30q1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bill of mortality for 1605 and 1606, by John Graunt, an early version of what is now known as a life table.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_of_Mortality_1606.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The life table dates back to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Graunt">John Graunt, a self-educated citizen of London</a> in the 17th century who is known by many as the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/population-and-society/references/35C31BCEC27E2B0448B160414E1893BF">founder of demography</a>. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41138862">In 1662, Graunt produced and distributed the first life table</a>, showing the probabilities of London’s population surviving from one age to the next.</p>
<p>There are two kinds of life tables. The first is a cohort life table, which represents the death rates and ages for a specific group of people. A cohort table could, for example, document the deaths of all males born in the U.S. in 1940. That table would be very precise, but it wouldn’t be complete until every member of the group had died – so it’s not especially useful for examining the prospects of the living.</p>
<p>As a result, demographers more often use life tables for a current time period, such as the year 2021, which is the date of the most <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-12.pdf">current period life table for the U.S.</a></p>
<p>It shows the probabilities of surviving from one age to another age based on the death rates in 2021. </p>
<h2>Statistical documentation</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-12.pdf">A period life table for 2021</a> indicates that almost 99% of all people born in the U.S. survive from age 0 to age 20; just over 95% of them survive to age 40, and over 85% to age 60. More than 51% of them live to age 80.</p>
<p>But life tables get much more specific. It’s important to examine life tables’ data for each age, race and gender combination. This is because males don’t live as long as females, Black people don’t live as long as white people, and non-Hispanic people don’t live as long as Hispanic people. There are more specialized life tables that focus on education level and income, but they are not as current and complete as the broader tables.</p>
<p>Biden and Trump are both non-Hispanic white men. Biden is 81 and Trump is 77.</p>
<p>Based on the age-specific death rates of non-Hispanic white men in the U.S. in 2021, Biden has a 92.9% probability of surviving at least to age 82. Trump has a 95.1% probability of surviving to at least age 78. These odds are nearly identical, so each man is very likely to be alive on Inauguration Day 2025, regardless of which of them is being sworn in as president.</p>
<p>What about finishing out that four-year term? <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-12.pdf#page=47">Our calculations from the life tables</a> reveal that there is a 63.3% probability that Biden will survive another five years – to at least 86. And there is a 73.6% probability for Trump to survive that period – to at least age 82. Of course, it’s possible either or both will die, but their odds of death are much lower than their odds of survival.</p>
<p>In general, the chances are a bit more favorable for Trump, because he is slightly younger.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A table of figures showing how many people of one age survive to a future age." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581097/original/file-20240311-20-hc2ous.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2021 life table for the U.S. is the most recent available.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-12.pdf#page=10">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Precise calculations</h2>
<p>There are two factors that let us demographers get even more specific. </p>
<p>First, we measure age as exact years. Their age gap is not four years, but 3.5: <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/joseph-r-biden-jr">Biden was born on Nov. 20, 1942</a>, and <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/donald-j-trump">Trump on June 14, 1946</a>. That 10 percentage-point survival advantage for Trump over Biden was based on a four-year age difference. The real difference drops one or two points because they’re not quite so far apart in age.</p>
<p>Second, demographers have shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2648114">people who attend church regularly live longer</a> than those who don’t. This is not because of some divine favor but because churchgoers tend to have more optimistic attitudes, clearer senses of purpose and more regular social interactions and connections. All of these factors extend people’s lives. Biden is a Catholic and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2AC1X6/">attends Mass weekly, in general</a>. Trump was raised as a Presbyterian but now considers himself to be a “<a href="https://www.deseret.com/2023/10/22/23922731/biden-trump-faith-and-presidential-candidates/">nondenominational Christian</a>,” and he attends religious services very irregularly. So, Biden gets the survival advantage associated with churchgoing. </p>
<p>Other factors come into play with longevity as well, such as marital status, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10936-2">body mass index scores</a>, diets and levels of physical fitness and exercise. </p>
<h2>A comparison with the American people</h2>
<p>Biden and Trump are <a href="https://theconversation.com/candidates-aging-brains-are-factors-in-the-presidential-race-4-essential-reads-223419">two of the three oldest people</a> ever to serve as president. The population they are seeking to lead is also older than ever before.</p>
<p>The median age of the nation’s population was <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-estimates-characteristics.html">38.9 in 2022</a> compared with <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1972/dec/pc-s1-10.html">28.1 in 1970</a> and just <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2000/phc/phc-t-09/tab07.pdf">16.7 in 1820</a>. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/opinion/biden-aging-america-population.html">Relative to the age of the population</a>, President Biden is no older than the country’s first presidents,” including Thomas Jefferson, wrote James Chappel, a scholar of aging and history at Duke University, in The New York Times. More recently, Reagan was older than the median American of his time than Biden and Trump are today.</p>
<p>At their second inaugurations, Jefferson was roughly 45 years older than the median age of the U.S. population then, and Reagan 43 years older. If Biden wins a second term, he will be 42 years older than today’s median. If Trump wins in 2024, he will be 38 years older than the current median. </p>
<p>As demographers, we can say it is likely that both Biden and Trump will be alive when the presidential term that begins in 2025 comes to an end in 2029. But as the U.S. population gets older too, the age factor may become less important to voters. This is not an immediate change, however, but one that will likely occur over the next decade or so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Detailed data on the ages at which people die can give good indications of a person’s remaining life span.
Dudley L. Poston Jr., Professor of Sociology, Texas A&M University
Rogelio Sáenz, Professor of Demography, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225409
2024-03-15T17:34:37Z
2024-03-15T17:34:37Z
Elephant calves have been found buried – what does that mean?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581912/original/file-20240314-30-qjw8cc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A recent study by Indian scientists outlined cases of elephant burials. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-baby-not-african-elephant-under-93598702">worradirek/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/elephant-graveyards">myth of elephant graveyards</a> has pervaded popular culture, and recent observations of buried Asian elephant calves may finally give that legend some credence. </p>
<p>In the research published in the <a href="https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/8826">Journal of Threatened Taxa</a>, two scientists describe five instances where elephant calves have been found buried in a legs-upright position within irrigation trenches of tea plantations in northern Bengal, India. The authors argue that the unusual positioning, the surrounding ground being compacted by the feet of several elephants and injuries suggestive of dragging after death, all point to intentional burial practices. </p>
<p>If this conclusion is accurate, these observations could indicate an understanding of death and grief potentially unlike anything else we’ve seen in the animal kingdom, revealing yet another way in which <a href="https://theconversation.com/would-we-still-see-ourselves-as-human-if-other-hominin-species-hadnt-gone-extinct-166759">humans are not as unique</a> as previously thought. </p>
<p>Archaeological evidence suggests our hominid ancestors have been burying their dead for at least 100,000 years – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/06/05/homo-naledi-burial/#">potentially much longer</a>. Burials are intriguing because of what they suggest about the minds of those doing the burying. For us – and presumably for our ancestors who started this practice – burial is not just about disposing of bodies, but an <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2018.0212">expression of grief</a> and an honouring of the life that has passed. </p>
<p>Across cultures, people put time and effort into the rituals of burial as a way of commemorating life. Burials are a clear indication of our sentience and empathy. Indeed, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-point-of-grief-137665#:%7E:text=We%20grieve%20for%20the%20loss,which%20they%20were%20a%20part.">commonly believed</a> that our reactions to death signify humanity. To date, evidence of similar mental representations of death are scarce in other animal species, and despite a few anecdotes, no animal species has been found to systematically bury their dead in the ritualised way that we do. </p>
<h2>Are elephant burials intentional?</h2>
<p>It may be too early to cross burials off the uniquely human list. While the recent reports of calf burials are intriguing, these five burials were not directly observed, so questions remain. It is possible, for example, that dead or weak calves fell into the trenches as they were being carried, before the ensuing panic of the family caused the trench to collapse around the body. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1762664999728902598"}"></div></p>
<p>However, reports of burial are at least consistent with what we know about elephants’ acute reactions to death. Elephants have been observed carrying corpses of dead infants. They frequently show a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2005.0400">change in behaviour as they approach a carcass of a family member or another individual</a>. </p>
<p>This response can involve silent investigating, sniffing and touching body parts with their head held low, perhaps trying to move or rouse the carcass, and on rare occasions, <a href="https://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-sense-a-sociality-4/elephants-are-intelligent.html">placing mud or large palm fronds</a> over the bodies of dead relatives. This all likely amounts to what, in humans, we would recognise as grief or mourning. </p>
<h2>Understanding death</h2>
<p>Of course, elephants are not the only animals to show interesting reactions to dead associates. <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/raven-crow-funerals-intelligence">Crows often gather around</a> and mob the carcass of another dead crow, in what has sometimes been called a funeral. This social gathering appears to provide the crows with an opportunity to learn about a danger to be avoided, lest they end up in the same state (as opposed to offering the chance to say goodbye in the traditional sense of funerals). </p>
<p>Even some social insects, such as ants, will clear away their dead. When ants detect certain chemicals released by dying or dead individuals in their colony, it induces them to <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2017.0258">remove the bodies</a> – and in a few species even to bury them – in order to limit the possibility of disease transfer. </p>
<p>However, as researchers that study animal behaviour and, more specifically, grief, we have no reason to assume this extraordinary “corpse management” behaviour means that the ants have any understanding of life or death. </p>
<p>In the 1950s, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2009/04/01/102601823/hey-im-dead-the-story-of-the-very-lively-ant">biologist and entomologist E.O. Wilson</a> applied the critical chemical to live ants, causing nest mates to respond as they would to a dead animal. They tried to drag the unfortunate individual out of the nest and dumped them a safe distance away. </p>
<p>Similar responses to the chemicals of decay have been noted in rats, who bury others that have been dead for long enough to turn putrid. Like Wilson’s ants, they also try to bury anaesthetised – but still living – rats sprinkled with the signature scent of decomposition. They even try to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0031938481900482">bury wooden sticks</a> that have the same scent. Some social living animals are hard-wired to remove decaying items from their nest area. </p>
<p>These examples in rats and ants are clearly different to human burial, and to the mourning behaviour we see in elephants and several other species <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-grieving-mother-orca-tells-us-about-how-animals-experience-death-101230">including orcas</a>. </p>
<p>While the jury may still be out on whether or not elephants really choose to bury their dead, their emotional reactions to the death of family members or associates are undeniably extraordinary and deeply moving to observe. These reactions remain difficult to explain adequately without suggesting that elephants do have some kind of concept of death. </p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 30,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Recent reports of burials of elephant calves are intriguing but it’s impossible to confirm that this was intentional.
Lucy A. Bates, Senior Lecturer in Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Portsmouth
Leanne Proops, Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, University of Portsmouth
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/225680
2024-03-14T19:25:21Z
2024-03-14T19:25:21Z
Could ADHD drugs reduce the risk of early death? Unpacking the findings from a new Swedish study
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581833/original/file-20240314-23-yi6tr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8192%2C5457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-beautiful-woman-taking-tablet-glass-2177446101">Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can have a considerable impact on the day-to-day functioning and overall wellbeing of people affected. It causes a variety of symptoms including difficulty focusing, impulsivity and hyperactivity. </p>
<p>For many, a diagnosis of ADHD, whether in childhood or adulthood, is life changing. It means finally having an explanation for these challenges, and opens up the opportunity for treatment, including medication.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-stimulants-actually-work-to-reduce-adhd-symptoms-215801">ADHD medications</a> can cause side effects, they generally improve symptoms for people with the disorder, and thereby can significantly boost quality of life.</p>
<p>Now a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2816084">new study</a> has found being treated for ADHD with medication reduces the risk of early death for people with the disorder. But what can we make of these findings?</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1768034305169654267"}"></div></p>
<h2>A large study from Sweden</h2>
<p>The study, published this week in JAMA (the prestigious journal of the American Medical Association), was a large cohort study of 148,578 people diagnosed with ADHD in Sweden. It included both adults and children.</p>
<p>In a cohort study, a group of people who share a common characteristic (in this case a diagnosis of ADHD) are followed over time to see how many develop a particular health outcome of interest (in this case the outcome was death). </p>
<p>For this study the researchers calculated the mortality rate over a two-year follow up period for those whose ADHD was treated with medication (a group of around 84,000 people) alongside those whose ADHD was not treated with medication (around 64,000 people). The team then determined if there were any differences between the two groups.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/adhd-medications-have-doubled-in-the-last-decade-but-other-treatments-can-help-too-191574">ADHD medications have doubled in the last decade – but other treatments can help too</a>
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<h2>What did the results show?</h2>
<p>The study found people who were diagnosed and treated for ADHD had a 19% reduced risk of death from any cause over the two years they were tracked, compared with those who were diagnosed but not treated. </p>
<p>In understanding this result, it’s important – and interesting – to look at the causes of death. The authors separately analysed deaths due to natural causes (physical medical conditions) and deaths due to unnatural causes (for example, unintentional injuries, suicide, or accidental poisonings).</p>
<p>The key result is that while no significant difference was seen between the two groups when examining natural causes of death, the authors found a significant difference for deaths due to unnatural causes.</p>
<h2>So what’s going on?</h2>
<p>Previous studies have suggested ADHD is associated with an increased risk of <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2789090?">premature death</a> from unnatural causes, such as injury and poisoning.</p>
<p>On a related note, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32662370/">earlier studies</a> have also suggested taking ADHD medicines may reduce premature deaths. So while this is not the first study to suggest this association, the authors note previous studies addressing this link have generated mixed results and have had significant limitations.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-stimulants-actually-work-to-reduce-adhd-symptoms-215801">How do stimulants actually work to reduce ADHD symptoms?</a>
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<p>In this new study, the authors suggest the reduction in deaths from unnatural causes could be because taking medication alleviates some of the ADHD symptoms responsible for poor outcomes – for example, improving impulse control and decision-making. They note this could reduce fatal accidents.</p>
<p>The authors cite a number of studies that support this hypothesis, including research showing <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/124/1/71/71653/Do-Stimulants-Protect-Against-Psychiatric?redirectedFrom=fulltext">ADHD medications</a> may prevent the onset of mood, anxiety and <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/104/2/e20/62430/Pharmacotherapy-of-Attention-deficit-Hyperactivity?redirectedFrom=fulltext">substance use disorders</a>, and <a href="https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(19)31274-0/abstract">lower the risk</a> of accidents and criminality. All this could reasonably be expected to lower the rate of unnatural deaths.</p>
<h2>Strengths and limitations</h2>
<p>Scandinavian countries have well-maintained national registries that collect information on various aspects of citizens’ lives, including their health. This allows researchers to conduct excellent population-based studies. </p>
<p>Along with its robust study design and high-quality data, another strength of this study is its size. The large number of participants – almost 150,000 – gives us confidence the findings were not due to chance.</p>
<p>The fact this study examined both children and adults is another strength. Previous research relating to ADHD has often focused primarily on children.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hormones-and-the-menstrual-cycle-can-affect-women-with-adhd-5-common-questions-210627">How hormones and the menstrual cycle can affect women with ADHD: 5 common questions</a>
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<p>One of the important limitations of this study acknowledged by the authors is that it was observational. Observational studies are where the researchers observe and analyse naturally occurring phenomena without intervening in the lives of the study participants (unlike randomised controlled trials). </p>
<p>The limitation in all observational research is the issue of confounding. This means we cannot be completely sure the differences between the two groups observed were not either partially or entirely due to some other factor apart from taking medication.</p>
<p>Specifically, it’s possible lifestyle factors or other ADHD treatments such as psychological counselling or social support may have influenced the mortality rates in the groups studied.</p>
<p>Another possible limitation is the relatively short follow-up period. What the results would show if participants were followed up for longer is an interesting question, and could be addressed in future research.</p>
<h2>What are the implications?</h2>
<p>Despite some limitations, this study adds to the evidence that diagnosis and treatment for ADHD can make a profound difference to people’s lives. As well as alleviating symptoms of the disorder, this study supports the idea ADHD medication reduces the risk of premature death. </p>
<p>Ultimately, this highlights the importance of diagnosing ADHD early so the appropriate treatment can be given. It also contributes to the body of evidence indicating the need to <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-rising-mental-health-problems-but-a-shortage-of-services-group-therapy-is-offering-new-hope-214711">improve access</a> to mental health care and support more broadly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hassan Vally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The study found people with ADHD who took medication had a lower risk of dying from unnatural causes than those with ADHD who were not taking medication.
Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224984
2024-03-14T13:28:28Z
2024-03-14T13:28:28Z
Ghostbots: AI versions of deceased loved ones could be a serious threat to mental health
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580740/original/file-20240308-29-sis8wp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C26%2C3565%2C2350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-face-matrix-digital-numbers-artifical-2268966863">Alena Ivochkina/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We all experience loss and grief. Imagine, though, that you don’t need to say goodbye to your loved ones. That you can recreate them virtually so you can have conversations and find out how they’re feeling. </p>
<p>For Kim Kardashian’s fortieth birthday, her then husband, Kanye West, gave her a hologram of her <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54731382">dead father</a>, Robert Kardashian. Reportedly, Kim Kardashian reacted with disbelief and joy to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/30/robert-kardashian-resurrected-as-a-hologram-for-kim-kardashian-wests-birthday">virtual appearance</a> of her father at her birthday party. Being able to see a long-dead, much missed loved one, moving and talking again might offer comfort to those left behind. </p>
<p>After all, resurrecting a deceased loved one might seem miraculous – and possibly more than a little creepy – but what’s the impact on our health? Are AI ghosts a help or hindrance to the grieving process? </p>
<p>As a psychotherapist researching how AI technology can be used to enhance therapeutic interventions, I’m intrigued by the advent of ghostbots. But I’m also more than a little concerned about the potential effects of this technology on the mental health of those using it, especially those who are grieving. Resurrecting dead people as avatars has the potential to cause more harm than good, perpetuating even more confusion, stress, depression, paranoia and, in some cases, psychosis.</p>
<p>Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the creation of ChatGPT and other chatbots that can allow users to have sophisticated human like conversations.</p>
<p>Using deep fake technology, AI software can create an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0267364924000104">interactive virtual representation</a> of a deceased person by using their <a href="https://wired.me/technology/artificial-intelligence/why-scientists-are-building-ai-powered-digital-imprints-of-the-dead/">digital content</a> such as photographs, emails, and videos. </p>
<p>Some of these creations were just themes in science fiction fantasy only a few years ago but now they are a scientific reality. </p>
<h2>Help or hindrance?</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12124-022-09679-3">Digital ghosts</a> could <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/18/1061320/digital-clones-of-dead-people/">be a comfort</a> to the bereaved by helping them to reconnect with lost loved ones. They could provide an opportunity for the user to say some things or ask questions they never got a chance to when the now deceased person was alive. </p>
<p>But the ghostbots’ uncanny resemblance to a lost loved one <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2416079-resurrecting-loved-ones-as-ai-ghosts-could-harm-your-mental-health/">may not be</a> as positive as it sounds. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09744-y">Research suggests</a> that deathbots should be used only as a temporary <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12124-022-09679-3">aid to mourning</a> to avoid potentially harmful emotional dependence on the technology.</p>
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<p>AI ghosts could be harmful for people’s mental health by interfering with the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26034650-700-how-ai-avatars-of-the-deceased-could-transform-the-way-we-grieve/">grief process</a>. </p>
<p>Grief takes time and there are many <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/grieving-process#:%7E:text=They%20include%20shock%2C%20denial%2C%20anger,them%20cope%20in%20various%20ways.">different stages</a> that can take place over many years. When newly bereaved, those experiencing grief might think of their deceased loved one frequently. They might freshly recall old memories and it is quite common for a grieving person <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23449603/">to dream</a> more intensely about their lost loved one. </p>
<p>The psychoanalyst <a href="https://tidsskriftet.no/en/2020/03/essay/dynamics-grief-and-melancholia">Sigmund Freud</a> was concerned with how human beings respond to the experience of loss. He pointed out potential added difficulties for those grieving if there’s negativity surrounding a death. </p>
<p>For example, if a person had ambivalent feelings towards someone and they died, the person could be left with a sense of guilt. Or if a person died in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00749/full">horrific circumstances</a> such as a murder, a grieving person might find it more difficult to accept it this. </p>
<p>Freud referred to this as “melancholia”, but it can also be referred to as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15524256.2020.1745726">“complicated grief”</a>. In some extreme cases, a person may experience apparitions <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363461520962887">and hallucinate</a> that they see the dead person and begin to believe they are alive. AI ghostbots could further traumatise someone experiencing complicated grief and may exacerbate associated problems such as hallucinations.</p>
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<h2>Chatbot horror</h2>
<p>There are also risks that these ghost-bots could say harmful things or give bad advice to someone in mourning. Similar generative software such as ChatGPT chatbots are already widely criticised for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/technology/ai-chatbots-disinformation.html">giving misinformation</a> to users. </p>
<p>Imagine if the AI technology went rogue and started to make <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-microsoft-chatgpt.html">inappropriate remarks</a> to the user – a situation experienced by journalist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/bing-chatbot-transcript.html">Kevin Roose</a> in 2023 when a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/insider/ai-chatbots-humans-hallucinate.html#:%7E:text=On%20Valentine's%20Day%20this%20year,him%20to%20leave%20his%20wife.">Bing chatbot</a> tried to get him to leave his wife. It would be very hurtful if a deceased father was conjured up as an AI ghost by a son or daughter to hear comments that they weren’t loved or liked or weren’t their father’s favourite. </p>
<p>Or, in a more extreme scenario, if the ghostbot suggested the user join them in death or they should kill or harm someone. This may sound like a plot from a horror film but it’s not so far fetched. In 2023, the UK’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66224052">Labour party</a> outlined a law to prevent the training of AI to incite violence. </p>
<p>This was a response to the attempted assassination of the Queen earlier in the year by a man who was encouraged by his chatbot girlfriend, with whom he had an “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-66123122">emotional and sexual</a>” relationship.</p>
<p>The creators of ChatGPT currently acknowledge that the software makes errors and is still <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-platforms-like-chatgpt-are-easy-to-use-but-also-potentially-dangerous/">not fully reliable</a> because it fabricates information. Who knows how a person’s texts, emails or videos will be interpreted and what content will be generated by this AI technology? </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s2FJRbRsBBY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In any event, it appears that no matter how far this technology advances, there will be a need for considerable oversight and human supervision.</p>
<h2>Forgetting is healthy</h2>
<p>This latest tech says a lot about our digital culture of infinite possibilities with no limits.</p>
<p>Data can be stored on the cloud indefinitely and everything is retrievable and nothing truly deleted or destroyed. Forgetting is an important element of healthy grief but in order to forget, people will need to find new and meaningful ways of remembering the deceased person.</p>
<p>Anniversaries play a key role in helping those who are mourning to not only remember lost loved ones, but they are also opportunities to <a href="https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/speculative-philosophy/article-abstract/34/3/284/196788/Grief-Phantoms-and-Re-membering-Loss">represent the loss</a> in new ways. Rituals and symbols can mark the end of something that can allow humans to properly remember in order to properly forget.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nigel Mulligan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
AI ghosts, the recreation of digital versions of the dead, may sound like a wonderful idea to those dealing with the pain of loss but this technology could seriously disrupt the grieving process
Nigel Mulligan, Assistant Professor in Psychotherapy, School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224595
2024-03-13T17:03:49Z
2024-03-13T17:03:49Z
Bereavement policies need to be updated to better support employees affected by MAID
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580777/original/file-20240308-16-mvo5i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C30%2C6659%2C4436&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Current bereavement policies do not address the reality of employees with family members that have used, or are planning to use, medical assistance in dying (MAID) services.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine your elderly parent has just made the decision to use <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-services-benefits/medical-assistance-dying.html">medical assistance in dying (MAID) services</a>. Your parent, who has a terminal diagnosis and is suffering and in pain, made this choice after careful consideration, medical guidance and a heartfelt talk with family.</p>
<p>Your family members, who are spread across Canada, decide to gather a few days before MAID is performed — to visit, share stories, laugh and cry together, and say goodbyes. You want to be by your parent’s side, holding their hand, when the procedure is performed. There are plans for a funeral service two days after the procedure.</p>
<p>You call your employer to alert them that you need five days off due to an imminent death in the family. “I’m sorry,” your employer says. “Our official policy allows only three days of bereavement leave, please let us know which three days you will be absent.” </p>
<p>Which event would you be willing to miss? The goodbyes? The medical procedure itself? The funeral? And how much will it cost you emotionally to make that choice? </p>
<p>This is the situation many Canadians, including an Alberta HVAC technician named Arthur Newman (pseudonym), whom I interviewed for this story as part of ongoing research on the topic, currently find themselves in. </p>
<p>Most workplace bereavement policies were designed prior to MAID and very few employers have adjusted these policies in light of the new reality of living and dying in Canada.</p>
<h2>Bereavement policies in Canada</h2>
<p>Bereavement policies are <a href="https://www.benefitscanada.com/benefits/absence-management/a-look-at-current-provincial-policies-on-bereavement-leave/">inconsistent across Canada.</a> Federal employees are able to take up to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/laws-regulations/labour/interpretations-policies/compassionate-care.html">10 days</a> off (not required to be consecutive), while the minimum legal requirements in <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/employment-business/employment-standards-advice/employment-standards/forms-resources/igm/esa-part-6-section-53">British Columbia</a> and <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/bereavement-leave">Alberta</a> are only three days. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/bereavement-leave">Ontario</a> it is only two days, although employers can voluntarily offer more. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/caregiving.html">Compassionate care leave</a> is available, but that requires going through Employment Insurance and is intended for people acting as a primary caregiver for an extended period, rendering it impractical for short leaves.</p>
<p>In addition, some employers strongly encourage employees to take their bereavement days consecutively, limiting flexibility. This current approach assumes the leave only begins after a death has occurred and is inadequate when a family member is using MAID. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of a pair of hands holding the hand of an older person with an oxygen saturation probe on their finger" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580765/original/file-20240308-26-89qkk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being physically present for the procedure itself is also an important comfort for the person dying and their loved ones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the era of MAID, <a href="https://www.cfp.ca/content/64/9/e387.short">death rituals</a> that take place before someone passes away, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/world/canada/euthanasia-bill-john-shields-death.html">living wakes</a> and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2021.1876790">traditions</a>, are becoming increasingly common. If a family member wishes to fully participate in all the end-of-life rituals of a loved one, they will need more than two or three days of leave.</p>
<p>Being physically present for the procedure itself is also an important comfort for the person dying and their loved ones, both of whom <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10497323231196827">psychologically benefit from a supportive and serene environment</a>. These new support needs and rituals generally supplement funerals, rather than replace them, which increases the overall time off that is required.</p>
<h2>Unintended complications</h2>
<p>Aside from death rituals and the MAID process itself, there are additional practical complications that can impact how many days of leave someone requires. For example, in Newman’s case, he travelled from Alberta to Ontario for his father’s MAID services. </p>
<p>After he arrived, his father decided to postpone his death a couple of weeks to address some unexpected legal complications related to his estate. Newman found himself in the impossible position of, having already taken a bereavement leave, being ineligible for another in the same year. </p>
<p>It was not an uncommon dilemma; the nurse practitioner scheduled to perform the service told him short postponements often happened due to things like estate management issues or parents giving their adult children more time to accept their decision. </p>
<p>Current bereavement policies do not address this reality. The outcome of that can be unintentionally cruel if employees are forced to choose between participating in death rituals (postponed or otherwise) or maintaining a positive relationship with their employer. </p>
<p>Some of these issues apply to non-MAID deaths as well. People with terminally ill loved ones who don’t choose MAID also want to be with them at the end, gather with loved ones, and have rituals, but the timing is even more difficult because they don’t have a specific death date.</p>
<h2>Supporting grieving employees</h2>
<p>Like most people who experience loss, employees who have a loved one going through MAID often require support <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733020921493">while they process a wide range of emotions</a>. They experience the usual emotions associated with grieving, including fear, anger, guilt, sadness and uncertainty. </p>
<p>In some cases, however, they also experience moral confusion or outrage if their personal or religious beliefs conflict with the practice of MAID. Family tension, arguing and alienation may emerge if some family members support the decision and others do not, heightening anxiety for everyone.</p>
<p>This creates significant stress. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08853134.1997.10754079">Work-family role conflict</a>, which is conflict experienced when our work roles interfere with our ability to meet family obligations, magnifies the negative impacts of stress. This can lead to emotional exhaustion, difficulties with empathy, the tendency to treat people like objects and diminished performance at work. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with a tired, stressed look on his face, rests his head against his hand while sitting at a desk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580778/original/file-20240308-22-rdjshw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employees who have a loved one going through MAID require extra time and support to process their grief.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All of these outcomes are highly negative in the workplace. As such, it is beneficial for employers to minimize work-family conflict by providing compassionate and caring supports for all bereaved workers, including those whose family members use MAID. That could include an empathetic supervisor, provision of an employee assistance plan with free counselling or referrals to bereavement support groups. </p>
<p>It also includes allowing sufficient time for employees to help their loved ones die with dignity and celebrate the life that was lost — in rituals that occur both before and after MAID services. It is highly recommended that employers adjust bereavement policies to allow more time and flexibility. </p>
<p>The additional cost created is justified on moral and ethical grounds, but also on a direct cost basis. Employees who feel like they are treated fairly, with compassion, consistently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mux028">perform better than employees who feel their needs are being overlooked</a> or neglected. As such they are better able to do their work and contribute to profitable operations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224595/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Breward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Most workplace bereavement policies were designed prior to MAID and very few employers have adjusted these policies in light of the new reality of living and dying in Canada.
Katherine Breward, Associate Professor, Business and Administration, University of Winnipeg
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221630
2024-02-28T16:52:42Z
2024-02-28T16:52:42Z
Music therapy could help manage the pain of bereavement
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576549/original/file-20240219-23-d4z3wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C47%2C7892%2C5249&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seniors-nursing-home-making-music-rhythm-1513123493">Kzenon/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Grief has always inspired songwriters. Popular songs including Let Me Go, by Gary Barlow, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven and The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics, were all written as a way of working through the grief of losing a loved one. </p>
<p><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/vYrJwka114o?feature=shared">Tears in Heaven</a> deals with the sudden loss of Clapton’s four-year-old son. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/25/mike-rutherford-precious-living-years-father">The Living Years</a> addresses the songwriters’ mutual regrets over disagreements with their fathers while they were alive. </p>
<p>The songs are as poignant and heartrending as you might expect from something written about close family bereavement.</p>
<p>Barlow’s Let Me Go, however, is a remarkably upbeat and joyful record, written from the perspective of the pop star’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gary-barlow-dawn-poppy-stillbirth-b2159067.html">stillborn daughter, Poppy</a>. </p>
<p>Barlow <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/when-corden-met-barlow-gary-barlow-speaks-in-depth-about-his-stillborn-daughter-for-the-first-time-9325750.html">has said</a> that writing the song in the voice of his daughter helped keep her memory alive and offered an opportunity for celebration as well as grief. </p>
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<p>But you don’t have to be a famous musician for music to play a role in helping you to work through grief. </p>
<h2>Music helps communicate the unspeakable</h2>
<p>Music can help people cope with grief in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00302228221121490?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.3">a variety of ways</a>. It can help create connection with a deceased loved one. It can help those grieving to explore spirituality (hope and meaning in life) and deal with challenging emotions. Many people have an <a href="https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/talkabout/articles/songs-that-helped-me-through-grief/292607">intimate connection to the songs</a> that have helped them through bereavement.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy">Music therapy</a> harnesses people’s innate connection to music as a means of expression. The therapy helps them communicate and deal with emotions that might otherwise be overwhelming, painful and hard to put into words. </p>
<p>The therapy is conducted by a professionally trained music therapist, using activities like singing, playing instruments, writing lyrics or listening to music to help patients and their loved ones navigate end-of-life and bereavement. This could include helping to improve communication and intimacy between the patient and loved ones, aiding spiritual exploration or even managing physical pain and symptoms. </p>
<p>Music therapy boasts a rich history in end-of-life care, supported by a growing body of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269216316635387">academic evidence</a>. </p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12904-017-0253-5">our previous research</a>, we offered music therapy to people with life-limiting illnesses, such as terminal cancer, in hospice care. The research suggested that music therapy may not only be of benefit to patients, but also to their loved ones. Music can evoke positive memories and allows a depth of communication that can’t always be achieved through words. </p>
<p>Music therapy at end of life, then, can help provide a more comforting environment to say goodbye to a loved one and helps create a unique, lasting memory to hold onto after they die.</p>
<p>It is <a href="https://spcare.bmj.com/content/early/2018/02/22/bmjspcare-2018-001510?versioned=true">common</a> for music therapists working in end-of-life care settings to include the person’s loved ones in their therapeutic practice. This suggests there is demand and recognised value in music therapy as a support for people both before and after the death of their loved one. But what does the evidence tell us? </p>
<h2>Preventing prolonged grief disorder</h2>
<p>Along with our colleagues, we conducted <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-024-01364-z/metrics">a systematic review</a> to identify all the research published worldwide on music therapy with loved ones of people with life-limiting illness, before and after death. </p>
<p>We discovered a total of 34 studies, which used music therapy in different ways. For example, by supporting people with life-limiting illness and their loved ones within the same session or by bringing groups of loved ones together. We found that no conclusions could be made on the effectiveness of music therapy as a form of bereavement support, as there was a lack of high-quality trials.</p>
<p>However, rich accounts of people’s experiences of music therapy provided insight into how it can influence the ability to cope with grief and improve quality of life and <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-020-0532-4">mental wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>Music therapy also seemed to protect against prolonged grief disorder or <a href="https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/effects-of-grief/complicated-grief/">complicated grief</a> (when someone experiences debilitating long-term emotional distress after a bereavement). Family and loved ones of people with life-limiting illness shared how music therapy helped reduce depression, anxiety, family conflict, poor perceived social support, difficulty accepting loss, and difficulty accessing positive memories – all of which are warning signs of complicated grief</p>
<p>Our research review showed that group singing “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02682621.2018.1493646">fostered feelings of</a> connection, awareness, and support”. Other studies with loved ones also shared insights into how music therapy helped them prepare for the loss of their loved one, and increased their <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-022-01116-x">spirituality</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-020-0532-4">care industry is increasingly</a> seeing the importance of social connections when it comes to supporting the grieving process. This is especially important in a <a href="https://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/Resocializing-Social-connectedness-in-a-post-pandemic-world%20">post-pandemic world</a> where the risk factors for complicated grief such as depression, anxiety and poor perceived social support have been heightened through severing of personal relationships and community groups.</p>
<p>A report by The World Health Organization recently suggested that the <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289054553">arts can help improve health and wellbeing</a> by addressing complex problems, such as prolonged grief, which are resistant to other more conventional treatments. This suggests there may be an important role for music therapy in bereavement support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Research suggests that music therapy can help support people before and after a loved one’s death.
Lisa Graham-Wisener, Lecturer of Health Psychology, Queen's University Belfast
Tracey McConnell, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow , Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223848
2024-02-27T23:45:01Z
2024-02-27T23:45:01Z
We talked to dozens of people about their experience of grief. Here’s what we learned (and how it’s different from what you might think)
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577495/original/file-20240222-26-pcdtt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4899%2C3258&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pensive-single-caucasian-pretty-young-woman-1819708136">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever felt a sudden pang of sadness? A bird seems to stop and look you in the eye. A photo drops out of a messy drawer from long ago, in the mundanity of a weekend spring clean. </p>
<p>Your day is immediately derailed, unsettled. You are pulled into something you thought was past. And yet, in being pulled back, you are grateful, reconnected, and grief-stricken all over again. </p>
<p>“You’ll get over it”. “Give it time”. “You need time to move on”. These are common cultural refrains in the face of loss. But what if grief doesn’t play by the rules? What if grief is a different thing altogether? </p>
<p>We talked to 95 people about their experiences of grief surrounding the loss of a loved one, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380261241228412">their stories</a> provided a fundamentally different account of grief to the one often presented to us culturally.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-mourning-happens-after-bereavement-for-some-grief-can-start-years-before-the-death-of-a-loved-one-221629">Not all mourning happens after bereavement – for some, grief can start years before the death of a loved one</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Disordered grief?</h2>
<p>Grief is often imagined as a time-bound period in which one processes the pain of loss – that is, adjusts to absence and works toward “moving on”. The bereaved are expected to process their pain within the confines of what society deems “normal”. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-dsm-and-how-are-mental-disorders-diagnosed-9568">DSM-5 psychiatric manual</a> says if grief drags on too long, in fact, it becomes a pathology (a condition with a medical diagnosis). “Prolonged grief disorder” is the name given to “persistent difficulties associated with bereavement that exceeded expected social, cultural, or religious expectations”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people hold the hands of a third person to comfort them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577498/original/file-20240223-24-k2d40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prolonged grief disorder is a useful diagnosis for some, but for others, it’s putting arbitrary timeframes on grieving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asia-people-adult-child-help-middle-2274180457">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While there can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-prolonged-grief-should-be-listed-as-a-mental-disorder-4262">value</a> in clinical diagnostic categories such as this, the danger is they put artificial boundaries around emotions. The pathologisation of grief can be deeply alienating to those experiencing it, for whom the pressure to “move on” can be hurtful and counterproductive. </p>
<p>The stories we gathered in our research were raw, complex and often fraught. They did not sit comfortably with commonsense understandings of how grief “should” progress. As bereaved daughter Barbara told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Grief is not in the little box, it doesn’t even come close to a little box.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Grief starts early</h2>
<p>The tendency is to think of grief as something that happens post death. The person we love dies, we have a funeral, and the grief sets in. Then it slowly subsides with the steady march of time. </p>
<p>In fact, grief often begins earlier, often in a clinical consultation where the words “terminal” or “nothing more we can do” are used. Or when a loved one is told “go home and get your life in order”. Grief can begin months or even years before bereavement. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-homesick-for-ourselves-the-hidden-grief-of-ageing-202754">Friday essay: homesick for ourselves – the hidden grief of ageing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As the people we interviewed experienced it, loss was also cumulative. The gradual deterioration of a loved one’s health in the years or months before their death imposed other painful losses: the loss of chosen lifestyles, the loss of longstanding relational rhythms, the loss of shared hopes and anticipated futures. </p>
<p>Many participants felt their loved ones – and, indeed, the lives they shared with them – slipping away long before their physical deaths. </p>
<h2>Living with the dead</h2>
<p>Yet the dead do not simply leave us. They remain with us, in memories, rituals and cultural events. From <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-ancient-cultures-teach-us-about-grief-mourning-and-continuity-of-life-86199">Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/japans-obon-festival-how-family-commemoration-and-ancestral-worship-shapes-daily-life-179890">Japan’s Opon</a>, festivals of the dead play a key role in cultures around the world. In that way, remembering the dead remains a critical aspect of living. So too does <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-not-always-closure-in-the-never-ending-story-of-grief-3096">the ongoing experience of grief</a>. </p>
<p>Events of this kind are not merely celebratory. They are critical forms through which life and death, joy and grief, are brought together and integrated. The absence of remembering can hold its own trouble, as our participants’ accounts revealed. As bereaved wife Anna explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I just find it really frustrating and I do get quite angry and upset sometimes. I know that life goes on. I’d be talking to girlfriends and stuff like that and it’s like they’ve forgotten that I’ve lost my husband. They haven’t, but nothing really changed in their life. But for me, and my family, it has.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Part of the problem, here, is the ambivalent role grief plays in advanced industrialised societies like ours. Many of our participants felt pressure to perform resilience or (in clinical terms) to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1363459317724854">“recover” quickly after loss</a>.</p>
<p>But whose interests does a swift recovery serve? An employer’s? Friends who just want to get on with a death-free life? And, even more importantly, mightn’t ongoing connections with the dead enable better living? Might bringing the dead along with us actually make for better deaths and better lives? </p>
<p>Many of our participants felt their loved ones remained with them, and experienced their “absent presence” as a source of comfort. Grieving, in this context, involved spending time “with” the dead. Anna described her practice as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had a diary, so I just write stuff in it about how I’m feeling or something happened and I’ll say to [my deceased husband], it’s all to [my deceased husband], “Do you remember, blah, blah, blah.” I’ll just talk about that memory that I have of that particular time and I find that that helps.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-he-leve-me-5-things-grieving-children-want-to-know-about-the-death-of-a-loved-one-215881">'Why did he Leve Me?' 5 things grieving children want to know about the death of a loved one</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Caring for those who grieve</h2>
<p>Grief does not begin at death, but neither do relationships end there.</p>
<p>To rush the bereaved through grief – to usher them towards “recovery” and the more comfortable territories of happiness and productivity – is to do them a disservice. </p>
<p>And, perhaps more critically, ridding our lives of the dead and grief may, in the end, make for more limited and muted emotional lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Peterie receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Broom receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p>
There are many social assumptions about how to best ‘get through’ grief. We interview 95 people about their experiences of loss and found we need to rethink what grief looks and feels like.
Michelle Peterie, Research Fellow, Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, University of Sydney
Alex Broom, Professor of Sociology & Director, Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221629
2024-02-22T13:28:09Z
2024-02-22T13:28:09Z
Not all mourning happens after bereavement – for some, grief can start years before the death of a loved one
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575990/original/file-20240215-24-2ic6sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C28%2C6221%2C4119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mixed-ethnicity-family-couple-holding-hands-1492617761">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many people, grief starts not at the point of death, but from the moment a loved one is diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. </p>
<p>Whether it’s the diagnosis of an advanced cancer or a non-malignant condition such as dementia, heart failure or Parkinson’s disease, the psychological and emotional process of grief can begin many months or even years before the person dies. This experience of mourning a future loss is known as <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_1006-1">anticipatory grief</a>.</p>
<p>While not experienced by everyone, anticipatory grief is a <a href="https://spcare.bmj.com/content/bmjspcare/early/2022/02/10/bmjspcare-2021-003338.full.pdf?casa_token=IWNMDFN5SoIAAAAA:2EybwyPcKu73VdrACTNk7jITor-mMIXK8rv76arXgdjV9cA2Y0MV0LyZLLwcYe1rZUAQymOzFYo">common</a> part of the grieving process and can include a range of conflicting, often difficult thoughts and emotions. For example, as well as feelings of loss, some people can experience guilt from wanting their loved one to be free of pain, or imagining what life will be like after they die.</p>
<h2>Difficult to define, distressing to experience</h2>
<p>Anticipatory grief has proved <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02692163221074540#bibr13-02692163221074540">challenging to define</a>. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02692163221074540#bibr13-02692163221074540">systematic review</a> of research studies on anticipatory grief identified over 30 different descriptions of pre-death grief. This lack of consensus has limited research progress, because there’s no shared understanding of how to identify anticipatory grief.</p>
<p>Therese Rando, a <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315800806-9/grief-mourning-accommodating-loss-therese-rando">prominent theorist</a>, has proposed that anticipatory grief can help prepare for death, contributing to a more positive grieving experience post-bereavement. Rando also suggests that pre-death mourning can aid with adjustment to the loss of a loved one and reduce the risk of <a href="https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/effects-of-grief/complicated-grief/">“complicated grief”</a>, a term that describes persistent and debilitating emotional distress.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AapGn60DZSA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>But pre-death mourning doesn’t necessarily mean grief will be easier to work through once a loved one has died. Other <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621005724?casa_token=I9mbdSv3d3gAAAAA:MqxN5X_iWbcqa6BYj7IXmImUviheOQWAVA4UBy6795UDuS1uOHG9b245qMkyOiLcvjv_SU6yVA">research evidence</a> shows that it’s possible to experience severe anticipatory grief yet remain unprepared for death. </p>
<h2>Carers should seek support</h2>
<p>Carers of people with life-limiting illnesses may notice distressing changes in the health of their loved ones. Witnessing close-up someone’s deterioration and decline in independence, memory or ability to perform routine daily tasks, such as personal care, is a painful experience. </p>
<p>It is essential, then, for carers to acknowledge difficult emotions and seek support from those around them – especially because caring for a loved one at the end of their life <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helping-someone-else/carers-friends-family-coping-support/your-mental-health/">can be an isolating time</a>.</p>
<p>Where possible, it can also be beneficial for carers to offer their loved one <a href="https://compassionatecommunitiesni.com/our-programs/dying-to-talk/">opportunities to reflect</a> on significant life events, attend to unfinished business, and to discuss preferences for funeral arrangements. For some, this may involve supporting loved ones to reconnect with friends and family, helping them to put legal or financial affairs in order, talking about how the illness is affecting them, or making an <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/">advance care plan</a>.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<h2>Talking is key</h2>
<p>Living with altered family dynamics, multiple losses, transition and uncertainty can be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2021.1998935">distressing for all family members</a>. It may be difficult to manage the emotional strain of knowing death is unavoidable, to make sense of the situation, and to <a href="https://hospicefoundation.ie/i-need-help/i-am-seriously-ill/how-to-talk-to-those-you-care-about/">talk about dying</a>. </p>
<p>However, talking is key in <a href="https://www.cruse.org.uk/about/blog/important-conversations-death/">preparing for an impending death</a>. Organisations who offer specialist palliative care have information and trained professionals to help with difficult conversations, including <a href="https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/diagnosed/talking-children/children">talking to children</a> about death and dying.</p>
<p>Navigating anticipatory grief can involve self-compassion for both the patient and carer. This includes acknowledging difficult emotions and treating oneself with kindness. Open communication with the person nearing the end of their life can foster emotional connection and help address their concerns, alongside support from the wider circle of family and friends. </p>
<p>Extending empathy and understanding to those nearing death – and those grieving their impending loss – will help contribute to a compassionate community that supports those experiencing death, dying and bereavement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221629/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Mourning the loss of a loved one before they die is known as anticipatory grief. It’s a distressing state but can be managed, as two experts explain.
Lisa Graham-Wisener, Lecturer of Health Psychology, Queen's University Belfast
Audrey Roulston, Professor of Social Work in Palliative Care, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222115
2024-02-13T10:30:46Z
2024-02-13T10:30:46Z
Forget flowers, the greatest gift for 18th century romantics was the heart of a deceased lover
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571688/original/file-20240126-19-6pzd9u.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C22%2C1310%2C1191&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sigismunda Mourning Over the Heart of Guiscardo by William Hogarth (1759).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hogarth-sigismunda-mourning-over-the-heart-of-guiscardo-n01046">Tate</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every Valentine’s Day, we’re inundated with hearts. We purchase cards with hearts and heart-shaped balloons. We wear clothing with hearts and adorn ourselves with heart-shaped jewellery. We ingest heart-shaped foods and candies and send heart emojis in texts. </p>
<p>While we may fall victim to Valentine’s Day commodification and heart-logo mania, there was a time in our not too distant past when actual human hearts were cherished, preserved, worn or placed in <a href="https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/rpr/index.php/object-biography-index/19-prmcollection/75-human-heart-in-a-heart-shaped-cist-18845718.html">special urns</a> and enshrined.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9781512823776/death-and-the-body-in-the-eighteenth-century-novel/">My research</a> into 18th century preservation practices led me to a favourite book that details these heart histories of the famous and infamous: historian Charles Bradford’s quirky tome, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Heart_Burial.html?id=1kxQnwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Heart Burial</a> (1933).</p>
<p>Amazingly sweeping and entertaining, the book narrates the heart journeys of many – primarily western – military, religious and political figures. One such figure, the diplomat Sir William Temple (1628-1699), is buried next to his wife in Westminster Abbey. </p>
<p>But in his will, he directed his heart “be buried in a silver box under a sundial in the garden of Moor Park, near Farnham, Surrey, opposite his favourite window-seat overlooking the garden he had loved so well”. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A silver heart cardiotaph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571692/original/file-20240126-17-2qdcxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A silver heart cardiotaph.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://thebookofdays.com/months/oct/images/silver_heart.jpg">Book of Days</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One haunting entry describes William King (1684-1763), the principal of St Mary’s Hall, Oxford, who requested his heart be placed in a silver urn and deposited in St Mary’s Hall Chapel. There, the book says: “A curious sound of tapping [can be] heard before midnight … said to be caused by the beating of his heart.”</p>
<p>In 2015, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167988">five 17th-century embalmed hearts</a> in heart-shaped and engraved urns were found buried under the Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes, France. </p>
<p>Archaeologists identified one of the hearts as that of Toussaint de Perrien who, in a loving gesture, had his heart placed in a cardiotaph (a heart-shaped lead urn) and buried with his wife, Louise de Quengo. </p>
<p>The practice of preserving the heart – the ancient symbol of the soul and emotion – was not uncommon. But for people in the 18th century, as this case and others show, it also symbolised lovers being united in death.</p>
<h2>Literary hearts</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most storied literary heart is that of poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822). Shelley died tragically just shy of 30 years old, drowning when his boat, the Don Juan, was wrecked during a storm off the coast of Italy.</p>
<p>Shelley’s body, along with that of two companions, washed ashore in the Gulf of Spezia ten days later. Italian law required the cremation of a drowning victim’s body, so Shelley’s corpse was laid upon a funeral pyre on the shores of the sea, with literary luminaries such as Lord Byron and Leigh Hunt in attendance. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Painting of men dressed in black watching body on funeral pyre on a beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571684/original/file-20240126-19-2podus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Funeral of Shelley by Louis Edouard Fournier (1889).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/funeral-of-shelley">National Museum Liverpool</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Novelist <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Recollections_of_the_Last_Days_of_Shelle/5IAOAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1">Edward John Trelawney’s graphic account</a> of extracting Shelley’s calcified heart cemented the morbidly romantic legend. Kept in spirits by Hunt, the heart was eventually returned to Shelley’s wife, the novelist Mary Shelley, who kept it in a desk drawer the remainder of her life. </p>
<p>The year after her own death, the heart was discovered in her desk, wrapped in a silk bag and surrounded by the pages of Adonais, Percy’s elegy to John Keats. The Shelleys’ son, Sir Percy Florence, had his father’s heart encased in silver and placed on display at Boscombe Manor. Upon his death in 1889, the heart was laid to rest in the family vault at St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth.</p>
<h2>Hungry hearts</h2>
<p>While the story of Shelley’s heart has a poetically morbid romance, Napoleon’s storied heart has quite an unromantic ending. </p>
<p>In May 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte’s corpse was autopsied over two days before it was to be transported from St Helena to France. Napoleon had requested his intestines be preserved and given to his son, and his heart be sent to his wife Empress Marie-Louise.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Napoleonic_Anecdotes/Nko2AAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=napoleon%27s+heart&pg=PA285&printsec=frontcover">Legend</a> has it that following the first day of the embalming process, Napoleon’s valet awakened the surgeon to inform him that the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alte_Liebe_rostet_nicht-IMG_0572.jpg">notorious rats of St Helena</a> had eaten Napoleon’s heart (which had been placed under a sheet with Napoleon’s body). Allegedly, the surgeon requested a <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Academy_and_Literature/3JG4oRRTNJIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=napoleon%27s+embalmed+heart&pg=PA318&printsec=frontcover">sheep’s heart</a> replace Napoleon’s without anyone being the wiser.</p>
<p>When rumours circulated in January 1928 regarding the heart of renowned English novelist Thomas Hardy, many were in disbelief. Hardy’s ashes were to be placed in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. But first, his widow had requested that his body be dissected so that his heart could be removed and placed in a custom-made brass urn and <a href="https://dorset-ancestors.com/?cat=206">buried at St Michael’s Church, Stinsford</a>, near Dorchester. </p>
<p>Unbelievably, the surgeon who performed the autopsy placed the heart in Mrs Hardy’s biscuit tin, a temporary resting place until the funeral director, Charles Hannah, was to arrive the next day with the bespoke receptacle. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Florence Hardy by the sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571685/original/file-20240126-23-m5qnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Florence Hardy, Thomas Hardy’s wife, requested the separate burial of his heart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/photoneg/oneITEM.asp?pid=39002036247386&iid=3624738&srchtype=">Yale University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Hannah arrived and noticed the upturned tin, with most of the heart missing, he supposedly strangled Cobby, the guilty culprit – and Hardy’s favourite Persian cat. Placing the dead cat with the remainder of the <a href="https://westdorsetconfidential.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/ardys-eart-and-the-hungry-cat/">heart in a box</a>, he left the Hardy residence, surrounded by mourners, and proceeded to St Michael’s where the contents were buried.</p>
<p>While heart preservation and burials still occur today – mainly for those requesting the ancient tradition of being buried in the Holy Land, or other places of religious significance – for most, this sentimental and morbid practice has died out.</p>
<p>Perhaps that is one of the reasons that at this time of year we frantically obsess over everything heart-shaped – a symbolic gesture to a lost tradition emblazoned on our collective conscious by our romantic forbears. Though Napoleon’s and Hardy’s storied hearts also serve as reminders, perhaps, that we shouldn’t take romantic traditions too seriously.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jolene Zigarovich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Novelist Mary Shelley kept the heart of her deceased husband, the poet Percy Shelley, in her desk drawer.
Jolene Zigarovich, Associate Professor of English, University of Northern Iowa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220838
2024-01-16T20:51:12Z
2024-01-16T20:51:12Z
Remembered by our pets: More animals are getting a mention in obituaries
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569427/original/file-20240115-15-82sgl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C30%2C6700%2C5022&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Over the years, more obituaries have grown longer, providing more room to mention a person's pets, hobbies and passions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Animals occupy many different roles in our lives. Some consider them members of the family, while others appreciate the reminder to take daily walks.</p>
<p>From <a href="https://theconversation.com/service-dogs-play-vital-roles-for-veterans-but-canadas-lack-of-standards-makes-travel-and-access-difficult-219470">service dogs</a> and <a href="https://a-z-animals.com/blog/animals-that-have-been-made-into-service-animals/">emotional support animals</a> to the pet waiting to greet us at the front door, animals can bring joy, comfort and companionship to our lives. So naturally, these relationships that form throughout our lives would continue — or at least be commemorated — in death.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/this-humane-society-needs-a-bigger-home-what-happens-to-the-650-pets-buried-in/article_b25eba3a-99f7-11ee-a7f5-473bdce48588.html"><em>Toronto Star</em></a> recently reported on efforts to excavate and move over 600 animals from an Oakville, Ont. pet cemetery. As that story highlighted, and as <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/46086/">many others will note</a>, burying, embalming or cremating animals is hardly a new practice. These funerary practices offer ways to honour a pet and everything they meant to us.</p>
<p>But what about when the owner dies first? As it turns out, animals are more frequently getting mentioned in the obituaries of their human companions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A smiling woman carries a bulldog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569423/original/file-20240115-67455-vfr8d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From service dogs and emotional support animals to the pet waiting to greet us at the front door, animals can bring joy, comfort and companionship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How obituaries are changing</h2>
<p>Writing an obituary is one of the many practices people conduct when a loved one dies. Formerly, they were reserved for society’s elite, but the <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203015964">democratization of the obituary</a> has resulted in more people being memorialized in this way.</p>
<p>We write obituaries for different purposes. Some of these are purely practical; to announce that someone died, or invite family and friends to the funeral.</p>
<p>More importantly though, obituaries give the bereaved a chance to tell a story about someone they loved. Who were they? What did they enjoy? What were their values?</p>
<p>As one of the studies within the <a href="https://nonreligionproject.ca/">Nonreligion in a Complex Future</a> project, our team has <a href="https://nonreligionproject.ca/obituaries/">analyzed Canadian obituaries</a> over the last century to understand transformations in how people commemorate the dead. As it turns out, animals are appearing more frequently with each passing year.</p>
<p>As recently as 1990, not a single one of the 53 obituaries published on a given Saturday in the <em>Toronto Star</em> mentioned any pets. This steadily started to change, however. We learn that, in 1991, Harriet will be “sadly missed by all of her friends and animals.” Likewise, Berton — who died in 1998 — was “sadly missed by his ‘good boy Scamp.’”</p>
<p>By the mid-2000s, roughly one to four per cent of obituaries mentioned pets. Since 2015, this number has climbed as high as 15 per cent.</p>
<p>Granted, these figures are not exactly overwhelming. In a sample from 1980 to 2022 containing 3,241 obituaries, only 79 mention animals. However, this minor uptick points to a transformation in how people compose obituaries.</p>
<h2>Telling personal stories</h2>
<p>Our research shows that, since the early 1900s, obituaries have grown progressively longer. The old standard was short notices stating the deceased’s name, age and where they died — all in the space of about four lines. In recent years, the mean length has grown to around 40 lines, with some reaching over 100 lines.</p>
<p>This added space leaves room for more information about the deceased. For example, over 80 per cent of recent obituaries mention the deceased’s children. This is up from about 50 per cent prior to 1960.</p>
<p>Recent obituaries are also more likely to mention the deceased’s education, occupation or hobbies. Beyond just listing attributes, it is common to see rich, detailed descriptions. Rather than be defined by their job title, we read that one man was “a dedicated visionary who remained proud of and loyal to his many employees and colleagues.”</p>
<h2>Our furry friends</h2>
<p>As obituaries grow longer and more detailed, it only seems fair that animals get some attention. It has become more common to mention someone’s pet, or love of animals. Passages also grow more detailed. Beyond the pet’s name, we learn whether they were a “hoity-toity poodle,” a “loyal companion” or “the best dog ever.”</p>
<p>Occupation is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2015.1056562">another staple of obituaries</a>. For Mary, who died in 2019, a career highlight while working at Nestle Purina was “inducting various heroic pets and service dogs into the Purina Hall of Fame.” Not just a professional passion; Mary also had six black Labradors at home.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2020.1784122">Hobbies and interests</a> are becoming more common in death notices. For Bobby, these included “sitting in his garden with his dog, Chloe” and “being entertained by his beloved parrot, Pookie.”</p>
<p>Rather than send the family flowers, many obituaries now close by requesting <a href="https://www.lovetoknow.com/life/grief-loss/lieu-flowers-wording-ideas-etiquette">donations in the deceased’s memory</a>. Unsurprisingly, groups like the <a href="https://ontariospca.ca/">Humane Society</a>, the <a href="https://www.farleyfoundation.org/">Farley Foundation</a> and various nature conservancy groups are growing in popularity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A smiling golden retriever" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569428/original/file-20240115-67455-4xa2ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It has become more common to mention someone’s pet or their love of animals in their obituary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The new ways we grieve</h2>
<p>This trend in death notices hints at a broader societal shift. Namely, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/socrel/article-abstract/78/1/9/3053446">people are placing greater value on nature</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00377686231170993">non-human animals</a>. The reasons behind this turn are varied and complex. But the evidence — in <a href="https://doi.org/10.2752/175303713X13636846944204">obituaries</a> and <a href="https://nonreligionproject.ca/trekking/">beyond</a> — suggests people are finding meaningful connection through the natural world and with other-than-human creatures.</p>
<p>Animals aside, obituaries also reveal important transformations in how we commemorate the dead. These were once brief, formulaic texts (and some still are). But more frequently, obituaries are windows into the life of a person. They can be <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/an-ontario-woman-s-scathing-obituary-for-her-dad-raises-questions-do-we-have-to/article_aaaf6d28-0224-5c9a-9eaa-c124482e04bc.html">sad or tragic</a>, but also <a href="https://www.lex18.com/news/he-up-and-died-on-us-sons-hilarious-obituary-goes-viral">funny, sarcastic and heartwarming</a>.</p>
<p>Above all, obituaries are now more personal. To commemorate the lasting memory of someone they loved, families want to share with the world what made that person special. This can be told through the activities, people or pets that brought them joy throughout their lives. For some, this means cheering for their favourite hockey team, or recalling the time they scored a hole-in-one, and, often, the furry friend they curled up with at the end of a long day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Writing an obituary is one of the many things people do when a loved one dies. And animals are more frequently mentioned in the obituaries of their human companions.
Chris Miller, Postdoctoral fellow, Nonreligion in a Complex Future project, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/218917
2023-11-30T05:02:58Z
2023-11-30T05:02:58Z
Henry Kissinger has died. The titan of US foreign policy changed the world, for better or worse
<p>Henry Kissinger was the ultimate champion of the United States’ foreign policy battles. </p>
<p>The former US secretary of state <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-30/henry-kissinger-dies-aged-100/103171512">died</a> on November 29 2023 after living for a century.</p>
<p>The magnitude of his influence on the geopolitics of the free world cannot be overstated. </p>
<p>From world war two, when he was an enlisted soldier in the US Army, to the end of the cold war, and even into the 21st century, he had a significant, sustained impact on global affairs.</p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kissinger-at-100-his-legacy-might-be-mixed-but-his-importance-has-been-enormous-206470">Kissinger at 100: his legacy might be mixed but his importance has been enormous</a>
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<h2>From Germany to the US and back again</h2>
<p>Born in Germany in 1923, he came to the United States at age 15 as a refugee. He learned English as a teenager and his heavy German accent stayed with him until his death.</p>
<p>He attended George Washington High School in New York City before being drafted into the army and serving in his native Germany. Working in the intelligence corps, he identified Gestapo officers and worked to rid the country of Nazis. He won a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/30/henry-kissinger-nobel-prize-winning-warmonger">Bronze Star</a>. </p>
<p>Kissinger returned to the US and studied at Harvard before joining the university’s faculty. He advised moderate Republican New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller – a presidential aspirant – and became a world authority on nuclear weapons strategy. </p>
<p>When Rockefeller’s chief rival Richard Nixon prevailed in the 1968 primaries, Kissinger quickly switched to Nixon’s team. </p>
<h2>A powerful role in the White House</h2>
<p>In the Nixon White House, he became national security advisor and later simultaneously held the office of secretary of state. No one has held both roles at the same time since.</p>
<p>For Nixon, Kissinger’s diplomacy arranged the <a href="https://www.history.com/news/henry-kissinger-vietnam-war-legacy">end of the Vietnam war</a> and the pivot to China: two related and crucial events in the resolution of the cold war. </p>
<p>He won the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1973/summary/">1973 Nobel Peace Prize</a> for his Vietnam diplomacy, but was also condemned by the left as a war criminal for perceived US excesses during the conflict, including the <a href="https://theconversation.com/henry-kissingers-bombing-campaign-likely-killed-hundreds-of-thousands-of-cambodians-and-set-path-for-the-ravages-of-the-khmer-rouge-209353">bombing campaign in Cambodia</a>, which likely killed hundreds of thousands of people.</p>
<p>That criticism <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/henry-kissinger-dies_n_6376933ae4b0afce046cb44f">survives him</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/nixon-mao-meeting-four-lessons-from-50-years-of-us-china-relations-176485">pivot to China</a> not only rearranged the global chessboard, but it also almost immediately changed the global conversation from the US defeat in Vietnam to a reinvigorated anti-Soviet alliance.</p>
<p>After Nixon was compelled to resign by the Watergate scandal, Kissinger served as secretary of state under Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford.</p>
<p>During that brief, two-year administration, Kissinger’s stature and experience overshadowed the beleaguered Ford. Ford gladly handed over US foreign policy to Kissinger so he could focus on politics and running for election to the office for which the people had never selected him.</p>
<p>During the turbulent 1970s, Kissinger also achieved a kind of cult status. </p>
<p>Not classically attractive, his comfort with global power gave him a charisma that was noticed by Hollywood actresses and other celebrities. His romantic life was the topic of many <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/27/henry-kissinger-100-war-us-international-reputation">gossip columns</a>. He’s even <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/02/05/uncovering-the-sex-lives-of-politicians/3bb26a91-03ec-4a14-8958-f6ac0d95b260/">quoted</a> as saying “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac”.</p>
<p>His legacy in US foreign policy continued to grow after the Ford administration. He advised corporations, politicians and many other global leaders, often behind closed doors but also in public, testifying before congress well into his 90s. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nobel-peace-prize-offers-no-guarantee-its-winners-actually-create-peace-or-make-it-last-213340">The Nobel Peace Prize offers no guarantee its winners actually create peace, or make it last</a>
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<h2>Criticism and condemnation</h2>
<p>Criticism of Kissinger was and is harsh. Rolling Stone magazine’s <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/">obituary of Kissinger</a> is headlined “War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies”. </p>
<p>His association with US foreign policy during the divisive Vietnam years is a near-obsession for some critics, who cannot forgive his role in what they see as a corrupt Nixon administration carrying out terrible acts of war against the innocent people of Vietnam. </p>
<p>Kissinger’s critics see him as the ultimate personification of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tortured-and-deadly-legacy-kissinger-and-realpolitik-in-us-foreign-policy-192977">US realpolitik</a> – willing to do anything for personal power or to advance his country’s goals on the world stage. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man sitting at a desk gives directions to three other men at the desk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562590/original/file-20231130-19-h7o8mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, leaves behind a controversial legacy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/washington-dc-usa-january-6-1983-1858047433">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in my opinion, this interpretation is wrong.</p>
<p>Niall Ferguson’s <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Kissinger.html?id=H_ujBwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">2011 biography</a>, Kissinger, tells a very different story. In more than 1,000 pages, Ferguson details the impact that world war two had on the young Kissinger. </p>
<p>First fleeing from, then returning to fight against, an immoral regime showed the future US secretary of state that global power must be well-managed and ultimately used to advance the causes of democracy and individual freedom.</p>
<p>Whether he was advising Nixon on Vietnam war policy to set up plausible peace negotiations, or arranging the details of the opening to China to put the Soviet Union in checkmate, Kissinger’s eye was always on preserving and advancing the liberal humanitarian values of the West – and against the forces of totalitarianism and hatred. </p>
<p>The way he saw it, the only way to do this was to work for the primacy of the United States and its allies. </p>
<p>No one did more to advance this goal than Henry Kissinger. For that he will be both lionised and condemned.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tortured-and-deadly-legacy-kissinger-and-realpolitik-in-us-foreign-policy-192977">A tortured and deadly legacy: Kissinger and realpolitik in US foreign policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lester Munson works for BGR Group, a Washington DC consultancy, Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Studies Centre. He is affiliated with George Mason University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.</span></em></p>
Former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger has died, aged 100. His legacy, including his involvement in the Vietnam war, is long, complicated and divisive.
Lester Munson, Non-resident fellow, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/212663
2023-11-22T13:18:08Z
2023-11-22T13:18:08Z
Forensic anthropologists work to identify human skeletal remains and uncover the stories of the unknown dead
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560481/original/file-20231120-29-au8sqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=310%2C36%2C3747%2C2658&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Forensic anthropologists can be called in when human remains are discovered.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/crime-scene-investigators-searching-grave-site-royalty-free-image/520354722">Ashley Cooper/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A seasoned deer hunter is shocked when his hound dog trots up with a human femur clenched between its teeth. A woman veers off her normal urban walking path and happens upon a human skull. New property owners commission a land survey that reveals a set of human remains just below a pile of leaves. </p>
<p>These examples are real cases handled by coroners’ offices where we have assisted as forensic anthropologists.</p>
<p>What happens after someone inadvertently discovers a human body? How are human skeletal remains identified? It can be a major effort, requiring collaboration across law enforcement, forensic anthropologists and <a href="https://www.abmdi.org/faq">death investigators</a> to uncover the identities of the unidentified dead and help bring justice to people who were victims of foul play. </p>
<p>There are nearly <a href="https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/">15,000 open cases</a> in the United States involving unidentified people, according to the Department of Justice’s <a href="https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/">National Missing and Unidentified Persons System</a>, a centralized database and resource for unidentified, missing and unclaimed people. This is an underestimate, though, because there is no universal reporting requirement across agencies. Many practicing forensic anthropologists work hard to alleviate what’s routinely referred to as the “<a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/jr000256.pdf">nation’s silent mass disaster</a>” – the crisis of so many missing and unidentified individuals.</p>
<h2>A specialized branch of anthropology</h2>
<p><a href="https://americananthro.org/learn-teach/what-is-anthropology/">Anthropology</a> is the holistic study of human culture, environment and biology across time and space. Biological anthropology focuses on the physiological aspects of people and our nonhuman primate relatives. It considers topics ranging from the evolutionary history of our species to the analysis of ancient and modern skeletal remains. Forensic anthropology is a further subspecialty that analyzes skeletal remains of the recently deceased within a legal setting.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="human skeleton model posed in bottom of dirt hole with ruler near feet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560035/original/file-20231116-19-cvoupi.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In field school courses, future forensic anthropologists learn from models about what can be gleaned from skeletal discoveries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katherine Weisensee</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Forensic anthropologists are trained in identifying human skeletal remains. They use scientific techniques to identify deceased people whose faces are unrecognizable – often referred to as “Jane and John Does.” Forensic anthropologists’ skills allow them to interpret from skeletons the trauma and disease a person suffered in life, as well as estimate when that person died.</p>
<p>One of us is employed as a postdoctoral research fellow as well as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=JfkuU8AAAAAJ">forensic anthropologist and deputy coroner</a> through a county coroner’s office; the other is a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pum4uEMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">university professor who responds to local forensic scenes</a> on an as-needed, consulting basis. The realities of forensic anthropology casework are often misrepresented by crime and mystery movies and shows, but our positions reflect how a lot of <a href="https://www.aafs.org/careers-anthropology">practicing forensic anthropologists are employed</a> in the United States.</p>
<p>Outside of local work, forensic anthropologists travel to sites of <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/how-forensic-science-can-aid-the-human-rights-movement">political violence</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1556-4029.role-of-forensic-anthropology-in-mass-disaster-identification">mass disasters</a> such as the tragedies of 9/11 or the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/27/surfside-debris-dispose-search/">collapse of the Surfside condo building</a> in Miami, and events like the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12414797/Maui-forensic-anthropologist-robert-mann-dna.html">devastating fires in Maui</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-someone-dies-what-happens-to-the-body-143070">Normal procedures for handling deaths</a> can quickly become overwhelmed during crises; burial of the dead can take priority over identification, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/gaza-burials-dead-israel-hamas-war-rcna124238">as has been occurring in Gaza</a>.</p>
<h2>Scientific tools to identify the unidentified</h2>
<p>The complex decomposition process begins as soon as someone dies. Environment, weather, trauma, clothing and location of the death, among other variables, can all complicate how quickly a body decomposes. In cases of advanced decomposition or extreme circumstances such as fires or building collapses, the deceased may no longer be recognizable. That’s a situation in which local law enforcement might want to contact a forensic anthropologist, if possible, to collaborate on figuring out the person’s identity and possibly the circumstances around their death.</p>
<p>A forensic anthropologists’ primary toolkit involves <a href="https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anthropology/Biological_Anthropology/EXPLORATIONS%3A__An_Open_Invitation_to_Biological__Anthropology_1e/15%3A_Bioarchaeology_and_Forensic_Anthropology/15.04%3A_New_Page">observing subtle variations in features of the skeleton</a> to create a <a href="https://explorations.americananthro.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Chapter-15-Bioarchaeology-and-Forensic-Anthropology-3.0.pdf">biological profile</a>: an estimation of the individual’s age at death, biological sex, height during life and any potentially unique skeletal characteristics, such as healed trauma or tooth loss that may have been visible during life. Forensic anthropologists assess the entire skeleton, with an emphasis on the skull, pelvis and long bones. </p>
<p>Information learned from the skeleton is then uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System so it can be compared with missing person records. The goal is to develop leads on the person’s identity. An estimated time of death can also provide a useful point of comparison.</p>
<p>For example, consider a case in upstate South Carolina that one of us assisted on. Human remains were discovered in someone’s yard after a dog dragged several bones out of a creek. Our assessment revealed that the size and shape of the bones were consistent with this Jane Doe being a middle-aged woman. This information allowed local investigators to quickly narrow the pool of missing people in the area who fit that description. Ultimately, they were able to identify this unknown person. </p>
<p>Missing person records can vary at the county and state levels, though, and not all missing people are even reported. These bureaucratic challenges can complicate our attempts to match up information learned from the skeleton with the database. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="digital representation of a skull on a laptop screen with gloved woman in foreground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560488/original/file-20231120-29-8qsmz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A forensic artist may create a 3D scan of a skull as a starting point to reconstructing what the person looked like during life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/quantico-va-lisa-bailey-a-forensic-artist-with-the-fbi-news-photo/146668602">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the absence of a match, the next step in the identification process can involve a forensic facial reconstruction. Based on the forensic anthropologist’s assessment, along with any clothing found associated with the decedent, <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/forensic-anthropology-puts-a-human-face-on-unidentified-remains">a forensic artist will create</a> a 2D or sometimes 3D facial reconstruction. Law enforcement can release the image to the public through a press release, which may generate leads about who the person was.</p>
<p>DNA can provide other valuable clues, but submitting samples for analysis can be cost-prohibitive. If funding and resources are available, we submit samples from bone or teeth <a href="https://www.unthsc.edu/center-for-human-identification/">to a lab</a> that can then generate a genetic sequence from the skeletal remains.</p>
<p>Even with a clear sequence, though, the unknown DNA sample must be matched either to a sample collected during life or from a close relative in order to be useful for determining identity. <a href="https://bja.ojp.gov/funding/webinar/fy23-cebr-presentation.pdf">It can take weeks, months or even years</a> to get the unknown sequence back and compare it with known individuals. If no match is found, <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/genetic-genealogy">genetic genealogy</a> may suggest leads through <a href="https://theconversation.com/consumer-genetic-testing-customers-stretch-their-dna-data-further-with-third-party-interpretation-websites-118248">potentially related individuals</a> – but this investigative field is still emerging.</p>
<p>In each step toward identification, there are many logistical and bureaucratic barriers that contribute to an enormous backlog of unidentified people in county morgues and coroners’ offices. Many cold cases remain unsolved for decades, and the process is further compounded in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/12/operation-identification-texas-migrant-remains-identify">cases involving undocumented people</a>. Despite these hurdles, forensic anthropologists remain committed to returning names to the unidentified.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Atwell receives funding from the National Institute of Justice. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Weisensee receives funding from the National Institute of Justice. </span></em></p>
Forensic anthropologists are specialized scientists who analyze the skeletal remains of the recently deceased to help authorities figure out who the person was and what happened to them.
Madeline Atwell, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, Clemson University
Katherine Weisensee, Professor of Anthropology, Clemson University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216982
2023-11-22T13:17:37Z
2023-11-22T13:17:37Z
In the face of death, destruction and displacement, beauty plays a vital role in Gaza
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560196/original/file-20231117-30-92u3yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C79%2C1273%2C769&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Palestinian boy climbs on a painted wall in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City in 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57cf18ae6b8f5ba693497e1a/1474043441471-IU9GCH5Y6Z8XP9M8EYQJ/ap_63282323864.jpg?format=2500w">AP Photo/Hatem Moussa</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A small group of children in Gaza sit on a lavender and white blanket around a small tray of beverages, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzLUHMvtgo3/">singing “Happy Birthday”</a> to a young girl. Like kids her age around the world, she wears a sweatshirt with prints of Elsa and Anna, characters from “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/">Frozen</a>”; unlike most kids, she’s celebrating against a backdrop of a war that, according to United Nations estimates as of Nov. 10, 2023, <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-44">has already killed more than 4,500 Palestinian children</a>. </p>
<p>Celebrating anything might seem odd or even inappropriate in the face of so much devastation – and in the middle of what <a href="https://time.com/6334409/is-whats-happening-gaza-genocide-experts/">many are calling genocide</a>.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/75786">in the research</a> of refugees that I’ve conducted with interdisciplinary artist and scholar <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14036096.2013.789071">Devora Neumark</a>, we’ve found that the urge to beautify one’s surroundings is widespread and profoundly beneficial – particularly so in the harrowing circumstances of loss, displacement and danger.</p>
<p>When people find themselves displaced from their homes, finding or creating beauty can be just as vital as food, water and shelter.</p>
<h2>Gaza today</h2>
<p>In the first six weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-40">70%</a> of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have had to leave <a href="https://sheltercluster.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/public/docs/Shelter%20Cluster_Gaza_Factsheet_%202%20November%202023.pdf?VersionId=yrMZO8faThzipir9nFzf8RNaOaefLSE5">or have lost their homes</a>. </p>
<p>Over half crowd into some type of emergency shelter, while others squeeze into relatives’ and neighbors’ homes. Food is scarce and increasingly expensive. According to the U.N., people are getting only <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-10#:%7E:text=As%20hostilities%20entered%20the%20tenth,Ministry%20of%20Health%20in%20Gaza">3% of the water</a> they need each day. Much of the water they do have is polluted.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bird's eye view of buildings destroyed by bombs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560199/original/file-20231117-31-2b7ial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The rubble of the Yassin mosque, at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AP23282360829019-1696857723.jpg">Hatem Moussa/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Crops <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/6/our-hearts-burn-gazas-olive-farmers-say-israel-war-destroys-harvest">are dying</a>. Moms <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231106-malnourished-sick-and-scared-pregnant-women-in-gaza-face-unthinkable-challenges">are not producing breast milk</a>. People are getting <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/disease-runs-rampant-gaza-clean-water-runs-rcna125091">sick</a>. There are severe shortages of <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190108-lack-of-medicated-baby-formula-puts-life-of-gaza-children-at-stake/">baby formula</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-hospital-procedures-without-anaesthetics-prompted-screams-prayers-2023-11-10/">anesthesia</a> for those <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/nightmarish-gazas-pregnant-women-endure-c-sections-without-anesthesia-15823792">needing surgery</a>. The lack of space and overwhelming stress and fear <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/13/gaza-diary-we-survived-another-night-every-inch-of-my-body-aches-lack-of-sleep-is-torture">add sleep</a> to the list of things that are hard to come by.</p>
<p>These needs are urgent and essential. Without them people will die. <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-reported-impact-day-32">Too many already have</a>, while the conditions for those who live are horrific. They make it hard to see much else. </p>
<p>But the endless images of bombs and blood <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaysofPalestine/posts/palestinian-school-girls-in-uniform-take-part-in-a-traditional-dabka-as-musician/2754532801440104/?locale=hi_IN">hide the story of the life</a>, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gaza-colorful-neighborhood-video_n_55c26079e4b0138b0bf4dc42">color</a> and <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/features/%E2%80%9Cwe-paint-safeguard-our-heritage%E2%80%9D">creativity</a> that existed in Gaza. And they hide the beauty that persists despite war. </p>
<p>Beauty is often viewed as a luxury. But this isn’t the case. It’s the opposite.</p>
<h2>A human impulse</h2>
<p>Beauty has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800205">a hallmark</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt28557b">every human civilization</a>. Art philosopher <a href="https://books.google.it/books/about/The_Abuse_of_Beauty.html?id=hUFMv8LxuVUC&redir_esc=y">Arthur Danto</a> wrote that beauty, while optional for art, is not an option for life. Neuroscientists have shown that our brains are biologically <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/12/how-the-human-brain-is-wired-for-beauty/672291/">wired for beauty</a>: The neural mechanisms that influence attention and perception have adapted to notice color, form, proportion and pattern.</p>
<p>We’ve found that refugees worldwide, often with limited or no legal rights, <a href="https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/75786">still invest considerable effort in beautifying</a> their surroundings. Whether they’re staying in shelters or makeshift apartments, they paint walls, hang pictures, add wallpaper and carpet the floors. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392120927755">They transform</a> plain and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.587063">seemingly temporary</a> accommodations into <a href="https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.43234">personalized spaces</a> – into semblances of home. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three people cover a tent with decorative fabric" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560200/original/file-20231117-19-58ix1z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A decorative tarp added to a shelter at the Jeddah camp in Iraq.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sheltercluster.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/public/docs/GSC-Achievements-Report-2022_0.pdf?VersionId=ZQC_sNMTIhYrmybN1zjKIvMgqHcbYSEp">Sami Abdulla</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Refugees <a href="https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160103">rearrange spaces</a> to share meals, celebrate holidays and host parties – to greet friends, hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1798747">dances</a> and say goodbyes. They burn incense, serve tea in decorative porcelain and recite prayers on ornate mats. These simple acts <a href="https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/75786">carry profound significance</a>, even amid challenges.</p>
<p>Urban studies scholars Layla Zibar, Nurhan Abujidi and Bruno de Meulder <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25wxbvf.7">have told the story of Um Ibrahim</a>, a Syrian refugee. When she was pregnant, she and her husband transformed the tent they were issued at a refugee camp in the Kurdistan region of Iraq into home. They built brick walls. She planned paint colors and furniture. Around her, neighbors potted plants and set up chairs to create front porches on their temporary shelters to be able to gather with friends. They turned roads into places for celebrating special occasions. They painted a flag at the entrance of the camp. </p>
<p>They made a new home, but they also made it feel like it “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv25wxbvf.7">used to in Syria</a>.” </p>
<h2>Creating hope in a hopeless place</h2>
<p>The benefits of beauty are both practical and transformative, especially for refugees. </p>
<p>Many refugees <a href="https://doi.org/10.1192%2Fpb.bp.114.047951">experience trauma</a>. All <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdt004">experience loss</a>. Beautifying is a way to exert agency, grieve and heal.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2013.789071">Simple acts</a> – rearranging a home, sweeping the floor or intentionally placing an object – allow refugees to infuse an area with their <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv25wxbvf.9">own identity and taste</a>. They provide a way to cope when one has little control over anything else. Often, once someone is labeled a refugee, all their other identities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2015.1113633">are overshadowed or disappear</a>. </p>
<p>Devora Neumark’s study of over 200 individuals who experienced forced displacement found that beautifying the home helped <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2013.789071">heal intergenerational trauma</a> caused by forced displacement. </p>
<p>Neumark observed that as children participated in efforts to beautify their home, it seemed to positively influence their own coping mechanisms and well-being.</p>
<p>Furthermore, if children could imagine their homes prior to displacement through the stories and images shared with them – what scholar Marianne Hirsch calls “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472334.Family_Frames">postmemories</a>” – then the actions taken to beautify their present-day homes could be transformative. They served as a bridge connecting the past with the present and facilitated the ongoing process of healing and preserving identity. </p>
<p>Ultimately, making a space feel more comfortable, secure and personalized is a tangible expression of hope <a href="https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40141">for a future</a>. </p>
<h2>Cultivating love and life</h2>
<p>Even prior to the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinians lived in the face of immense injustice and violence. </p>
<p>Our Palestinian research partner, who must remain anonymous for security reasons, described that their home in the refugee camp feels like living in jail, but that they still make it a beautiful place to live. </p>
<p>Prior to the start of the latest war, neighborhoods featured <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/features/%E2%80%9Cwe-paint-safeguard-our-heritage%E2%80%9D">striking murals</a> and <a href="https://banksyexplained.com/the-segregation-wall-palestine-2005/">embellished walls</a>. <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/02/gaza-mosque-history-islamic-civiliation-mamluk.html">Intricate mosaics</a> adorned buildings, and <a href="https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/colorful-neighborhood-in-gaza-celebrates-ramadan-with-vibrant-colors/">paint livened</a> the facades of homes. Neighbors would gather to pray, putting on new clothes, spraying perfume and burning incense to prepare for the rituals. As Christmas approached, Palestinian Christians, along with some Muslims, would <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2221441/middle-east">decorate their homes</a>. Both faiths would gather for <a href="https://www.newarab.com/media/images/gaza-begins-christmas-celebrations">annual tree lightings</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit on a colorful carpet on a makeshift table eating prepared food." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560203/original/file-20231117-19-42v59b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Palestinians sit down for a meal of quail meat in a home at a refugee camp in Gaza in November 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/november-2020-palestinian-territories-khan-yunis-news-photo/1229669375?adppopup=true">Mohammed Talatene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Geographer David Marshall described how youth living in a Palestinian refugee camp used beauty to focus on the positives in their environment and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2013.780713">dream about</a> a future beyond their camp – and the walls that constrained their lives. </p>
<p>In our community-based storytelling project in a Palestinian refugee camp this past summer, we witnessed the commitment to making homes beautiful in the thriving gardens that were created within very crowded quarters. Neighbors shared how their gardens <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemics-gardening-boom-shows-how-gardens-can-cultivate-public-health-181426">calm them</a>, provide a place to gather with friends and serve as a reminder of fields they once tended.</p>
<p>In her 2021 research, Corinne Van Emmerick, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology, described Fatena, a Palestinian who was living in a refugee camp. She had <a href="https://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/15.Aesthetics-from-the-Interstices.pdf">flowers on everything</a> – the roof, walls and windowsills. They were expensive and needed “lots of love.” But, Fatena added, they gave her “love back.”</p>
<h2>A form of resistance and resilience</h2>
<p>One Guinean refugee interviewed as part of Neumark’s study said, “As refugees we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2013.789071">lose our sense of beauty</a>, and when that happens, we lose our sense of everything, of life itself.”</p>
<p>If the opposite of this is true, then clearly beauty cannot be thought of as superficial or an afterthought. One study of Bosnian refugees found that their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840490506392">ability to notice beauty</a> was a sign of improved mental health.</p>
<p>Creating, witnessing and experiencing beauty offers a connection to the familiar, works to preserve cultural identity and fosters belonging. </p>
<p>It’s what ensures that a little girl in Gaza not only has her birthday celebrated, but that it is also made as beautiful as possible.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl wears a birthday hat and holds three balloons in front of a destroyed building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560541/original/file-20231120-23-8nqyl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Palestinian girl celebrates in front of a house destroyed by Israeli shelling during the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/palestinian-girl-during-a-party-amuse-children-in-front-of-news-photo/526077258?adppopup=true">Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Devora Neumark, an interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose trauma-informed work explores the intersections between a home beautification and the human experience in the context of displacement, contributed to writing this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Acker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When people find themselves displaced from their homes, finding or creating beauty can be just as vital as food, water and shelter − and serves as a form of resistance and resilience.
Stephanie Acker, Visiting Scholar of International Development, Community and Environment, Clark University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210450
2023-11-05T13:01:56Z
2023-11-05T13:01:56Z
As a death doula and professor who teaches about dying, I see a need for more conversations about death
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556950/original/file-20231031-27-knk923.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C216%2C5485%2C3587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students in a death and dying class have the opportunity to become a ‘death ambassador,’ in recognition of their new level of awareness that could help foster healthy conversations about death and dying. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/as-a-death-doula-and-professor-who-teaches-about-dying-i-see-a-need-for-more-conversations-about-death" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A growing number of folks may have heard of the <a href="https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/death-positive-movement/">death-positive movement</a>, <a href="https://deathcafe.com/what/">death cafés</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/death-friendly-communities-ease-fear-of-aging-and-dying-157655">death-friendly communities</a> — each of which are animated by the understanding that welcoming our own mortality could improve the quality of our lives.</p>
<p>There is truth to these claims. Both as a person who has taught courses on death, dying, and spirituality for more than 20 years, and <a href="https://endoflifedoulaassociation.org">as a death doula</a>, thinking about dying and working closely with the dying <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Staring+at+the+Sun%3A+Overcoming+the+Terror+of+Death-p-9780470894019">has fostered in me a deep appreciation for what it means to live well and meaningfully</a>.</p>
<p>However, my university students have often told a different story. Both informally in class discussions, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMWff7NLm5k">and also in a public presentation</a> about why death education matters, for the online <a href="https://twitter.com/Liftingthelid21">Lifting The Lid International Festival of Death and Dying</a>, many have expressed how their learning with me signals their first times talking about death.</p>
<p>When I hear this, I am aware of how our society needs to do a better job at nurturing more conversations about death, and building communities that support people navigating questions surrounding death and dying.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aMWff7NLm5k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Students speak about why death education matters to them.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Denying death</h2>
<p>The easiest way to exile death from our conversations is to label it “morbid,” ensuring we never need speak of it.</p>
<p>My first lecture in every death class begins with a discussion of the pervasiveness <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Denial-of-Death/Ernest-Becker/9780684832401">of death denial in dominant modern western culture</a>. </p>
<p>I ask my students: “How do people react when you tell them you’re taking a course on death?” Invariably they have heard things like: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“That’s so morbid!” </p>
<p>“How depressing/dark/strange/weird!”</p>
<p>“Why would you want to study that!?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My courses are designed to introduce students to the study of death through history, culture, religion and spirituality, ritual, literature, ethics <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-of-Social-Justice-in-Loss-and-Grief-Exploring-Diversity-Equity/Harris-Bordere/p/book/9781138949935#">and social justice</a> </p>
<p>We explore social and cultural barriers affecting how services are structured and the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27608146">implications for end-of-life care</a>. For example, <a href="https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/racism-is-a-social-determinant-of-health">racism and inequities in health care</a> and other institutions contributes to dangerous disparities in treatment and life outcomes, influencing Black, Indigenous and racialized communities’ <a href="https://apnews.com/article/general-news-health-lifestyle-5b111827cc16cb38b7ae63018c8b3727">collective trauma surrounding</a> dying and death.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-an-indigenous-doctor-i-see-the-legacy-of-residential-schools-and-ongoing-racism-in-todays-health-care-162048">As an Indigenous doctor, I see the legacy of residential schools and ongoing racism in today's health care</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Students read and learn about how humans have understood and interpreted death, as well as some of the pressing social issues that we face in contemporary <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2020.0435">death care and practices</a>. </p>
<p>Inspired by the work of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/naheedd">Dr. Naheed Dosani</a>, palliative care physician and health justice activist, I now include a class on palliative care for people experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27055">homelessness and dying in the streets</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/blog/reclaiming-cultural-teachings-about-mortality-grief-loss-death-and-dying/">Anishinaabe death doula Chrystal Toop, a Member of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation</a>, also visits my class to speak about compounded trauma of death and collective grief experienced by Indigenous Peoples, and why she created her own Indigenous death doula training to reclaim cultural teachings.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jcdm5fEqJmk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘What’s a life worth?’ Ted talk from Dr. Naheed Dosani.</span></figcaption>
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<p>I also bring what I have learned as an end-of-life companion from hours <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/06/end-of-life-doulas-the-professionals-who-help-you-die">sitting with and listening to people who are facing their own death or</a> the death of those they love. </p>
<p>The gentle skills learned there are discernment, attention and compassion. As students reflect on what they will take with them from the course, they perceive the value in this kind of experience I bring to the classroom as much as in an article <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.31.2.205">on palliative care and its history</a>.</p>
<h2>Negative consequences of denying death</h2>
<p>My courses on dying and death have always drawn students from other humanities programs like English, fine arts and history. But over the years, more students from the professional programs, such as nursing, criminal justice and social work are enrolling. </p>
<p>While students’ professional programs — for example, in nursing or social work — seek to address various topics surrounding aging, trauma, death or end-of-life care in varying ways, students also need opportunities to think about their own mortality and, to cultivate some self-awareness in order to be present for others experiencing death and dying. </p>
<p>Some of my nursing students raise questions like: How do they talk to the loved ones of patients who are dying? What should they say? </p>
<p>These questions are hard enough when death is expected. They are exceptionally difficult when it isn’t, when the death is of a young person, a child or a baby. </p>
<h2>New level of awareness</h2>
<p>Students also express their disappointment and confusion because what they face in the aftermath of death and loss is often isolation and solitude.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.cfp.ca/content/54/12/1693">research about how to support children and young people navigating death</a> amplifies the need for open and sensitive discussion, some students, especially white, middle-class students, speak of experiences of having been shielded from death by those who thought shielding them was the best way to protect them from fear and anxiety.</p>
<p>Simply providing the safe space to begin to have these conversations goes a very long way towards assuaging their fear and grief.</p>
<p>In part this is because supporting the passage of life to death, and supporting grief, is (or should be) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524221102468">a collective experience</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.talkdeath.com/learn-from-collective-mourning-tragedy">Community death care is everyone’s business</a>, and while awareness of our own mortality is an important part of that, awareness and activism around racism, violence and injustice in end-of-life care is essential.</p>
<h2>Death ambassadors</h2>
<p>Figures like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/naheedd">Dosani are</a> making social media outreach part of their teaching and care practices. In recognition of the importance of creating death supportive communities, I also started an Instagram account, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/death.ambassadors">@death.ambassadors</a>, to chronicle my death teaching.</p>
<p>At the end of each death course, I offer students the opportunity <a href="https://www.nipissingu.ca/research/centres/death-ambassadors">to be a “death ambassador,” in recognition of their new level of death awareness</a> that could help to foster healthy conversations about death and dying in our culture.</p>
<p>Some of my students have also created their own death-awareness <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-approach-death/278836">social media accounts</a>, and found themselves supported by a death-positive community of educators, end-of-life companions, funeral directors and death doulas.</p>
<p>It is a universal truth that one day we are all going to die and that means we all have a serious stake in death education. </p>
<p>When it’s your turn, or the turn of someone you love, don’t we all need people who have considered how to support us in navigating dying and death? Let’s do the work to make that a reality for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210450/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Srigley is a palliative care volunteer with the Near North Palliative Care Network.</span></em></p>
All of us face loss and the reality of our own mortality. Whether through in-person discussion or over social media, let’s build communities that support people navigating death and dying.
Susan Srigley, Professor of Religions and Cultures, Death Doula & Death Educator, Nipissing University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/209782
2023-11-01T12:34:59Z
2023-11-01T12:34:59Z
American individualism lives on after death, as consumers choose new ways to put their remains to rest
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556389/original/file-20231028-21-xyvvvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1022%2C803&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">LifeGem is a company that extracts carbon from cremated human remains and transforms it into diamonds to remember loved ones. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-undated-handout-from-lifegem-a-diamond-made-from-news-photo/55872324?adppopup=true">Handout/LifeGem via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Death may be inevitable and universal, but the ways people deal with it most certainly are not. Whether doing <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sky-burial">Tibetan Buddhist sky burials</a>, attending a graveside service dressed in black or putting one’s parents’ ashes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEOBW1PvMqo">in the sacred Ganges</a>, each culture has its own ways to deal with death and mourning.</p>
<p>Yet death rites around the world do share some common goals. Traditionally, what happens to a dead body reflects communal beliefs and practices – rituals not only meant to honor the deceased but also to comfort their community.</p>
<p>Increasingly, however, people in the United States are choosing unconventional ways to dispose of their bodies. Today, fans of music might have their cremated remains <a href="https://www.andvinyly.com/">pressed into LPs</a>. Wannabe astronomers can be <a href="https://www.celestis.com/experiences-pricing/">shot into space</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/profile/diana-blaine/">my research on death in the U.S.</a> – from <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12031348/Death_on_Display_The_Ideological_Function_of_the_Mummies_of_the_World_Exhibit">mummy exhibits</a> and lurid true crime cases to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315091181-14/going-see-king-christianity-celebrity-michael-jackson-memorial-diana-york-blaine">Michael Jackson’s celebrity-filled memorial</a> – I have found that many Americans are more attracted to sensational portrayals of mortality than realistic ones. </p>
<p>Similarly, I believe these new funeral practices present death as a fantastic, personalized adventure, rather than something natural and inevitable. They emphasize the power of the individual consumer – up to and including the last purchase they’ll ever make.</p>
<h2>Comfort and community</h2>
<p>Even when expected, death is always upsetting, unsettling mourners’ sense of normalcy. One important function of death rituals is to help survivors process their grief and reestablish order. </p>
<p>Many funerary rituals also emphasize the immortality of the deceased, whom they depict as entering another realm of existence. <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Death,+Mourning,+and+Burial:+A+Cross+Cultural+Reader,+2nd+Edition-p-9781119151760">Depending on the particular culture</a>, this journey might require the community to burn the body, leave it exposed to carrion animals, bury it or mummify it.</p>
<p>Christians in the United States have long practiced earth burial, gathering at the graveside to witness their loved one’s final interment. A minister preaches about the soul, which in this faith is believed to transcend the body and spend eternity in a heavenly afterlife – providing that the person lived a life in line with religious dictates. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Seven people in a line, wearing black, stand near a coffin outside as another man with glasses reads from a book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556390/original/file-20231028-21-otrkds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christian burial traditions have deeply shaped the U.S. funeral industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/people-at-a-funeral-royalty-free-image/104302968?phrase=christian+burial+service&adppopup=true">RubberBall Productions/Brand X Pictures via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Christian teachings that Jesus will ultimately <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A49%E2%80%9352&version=KJV">resurrect believers’ bodies</a> on Judgment Day, not just their souls, helped shape standards of funeral practices, including embalming and casketing an intact body. These religious beliefs also influenced the emergence of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/115611/the-american-way-of-death-revisited-by-jessica-mitford/">the modern funeral industry</a> in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Long-term shifts</h2>
<p>For decades, though, American norms around death and funerals have been changing.</p>
<p>While the nation’s majority is still Christian, religious diversity has grown significantly. About 6% of Americans <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/">belong to another faith</a>, and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/">around 3 in 10 are unaffiliated</a>, according to the Pew Research Center. More Americans than ever before count themselves among the “spiritual but not religious.” </p>
<p>Christianity’s decreasing dominance has helped give rise to new ways of handling death – including among Christians. Half of the people who die in the U.S. each year <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/04/18/cremation-death-funeral/">are now cremated</a>, <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt4xr4450n/qt4xr4450n_noSplash_97c0606d4c11343a1070bfc2931cd0ea.pdf">the traditional method</a> of bodily disposal for communities like Japanese Buddhists and South Asian Hindus.</p>
<p>But the increasing costs of burials have also made cremation <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-americans-today-are-choosing-cremation-heres-why-burials-are-becoming-less-common-186618">a more attractive option</a> for people from other religions. Among Christians, Protestants embraced the practice before Catholics, as the Vatican <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/world/europe/vatican-bans-scattering-of-human-ashes.html">banned cremation until 1963</a>. Yet cremated Christians may still opt to include other long-standing funeral practices into their memorial services, such as reading biblical passages and using Christian symbols on urns and other mementos.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men in suits wheel a casket through a hallway and a door into the outdoors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556391/original/file-20231028-24-sa89s2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drive-by viewings at funeral homes helped people pay their final respects during the pandemic, despite limits on the number of people at gatherings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-coffin-of-lieselotte-tonon-is-brought-outside-the-news-photo/1248618210?adppopup=true">John Moore/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ordering your afterlife</h2>
<p>It is not just practices around death that have been changing, though, but attitudes.</p>
<p>Beginning in the 20th century, with the decrease in handling dead bodies at home, Americans grew increasingly uncomfortable with the contemplation of their own death. As my research on the popularity of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/38486918/Death_and_the_Maiden_Literally_Our_Enduring_Fascination_with_JonBenet_Ramsey">true crime</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qd3qf?turn_away=true">mummy exhibits</a> and <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315091181-14/going-see-king-christianity-celebrity-michael-jackson-memorial-diana-york-blaine">celebrity deaths</a> has shown, many people prefer to think about mortality as a phenomenon that happens to others, often in spectacular and even entertaining ways.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/speccoll/collection_descriptions/gorer.html">Anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer</a> <a href="https://www.unz.com/print/Encounter-1955oct-00049/">argued in the 1950s</a> that with the decline in religious beliefs, death had become unbearable to think about – even death-bed scenes in literature had grown scarcer, he said. Instead, Gorer argued, depictions of death had become like pornography: something natural made taboo, a guilty pleasure, and represented in an unnatural light.</p>
<p>Today’s popularity of superhero and gangster films featuring violent deaths, or horror movies filled with otherworldly monsters, shows just how right he was. Death from natural causes, on the other hand, is typically shielded from view. Even the “Barbie” movie, which features a montage depicting what it means to be human, shies away from showing dying, grief or loss.</p>
<p>On an individual level, too, some Americans are opting to handle their remains in new ways, including methods that feel removed from the reality of death and decomposition. Rather than being planted under a field of green grass, for example, people who enjoyed hunting can choose to have their cremains <a href="http://www.myholysmoke.com/home.html">placed in bullet casings</a> – fantasizing their continued identity as killers. Those preferring a less aggressive finish might have their cremains <a href="https://www.saintdiamonds.com/how-it-works/">transformed into diamond jewelry</a>. A trace of carbon remains after bodies have been burned, and numerous companies will take that small bit and purify enough out of it to form a sparkly jewel.</p>
<p>Wearable memorial tokens actually have origins in the Victorian era. England’s Queen Victoria became <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/why-victorians-loved-hair-relics/">a symbol of public mourning</a> following the death of her husband, Prince Albert, whose hair she had fashioned into jewelry. During the era, locks from the dead were woven into designs, placed in frames and worn as pendants. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A cuff bracelet with photographs of two young girls, photographed against a turquoise background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556392/original/file-20231028-15-3z8egy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Victorian bracelet with a band of woven hair, from the mid-19th century, which may have been a piece of mourning jewelry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/victorian-bracelet-with-a-band-of-woven-hair-c1865-it-has-news-photo/464472069?adppopup=true">Museum of London/Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditional mourning jewelry, therfore, was a visible reminder of death, with the loved one’s hair on display. <a href="https://www.heart-in-diamond.com">Today’s commercial enterprises</a>, on the other hand, offer mass-marketed gemstones to a consumer public and look indistinguishable from any other jewelry, effectively hiding their relation to the dead body.</p>
<p>Lest jewelry seem too materialistic, nature lovers can request that they be <a href="https://www.eternalreefs.com/the-eternal-reefs-story/what-is-an-eternal-reef/">incorporated into coral reefs</a> <a href="https://www.thelivingurn.com/pages/tree-zip-code?gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3dCnBhBCEiwAVvLcu04T9zeh8-7avOHcC6CGluCpbIC9c9TigedZaOoFXznCGd1pyoyDNxoC7vAQAvD_BwE">or trees</a> after death. The variety of products using hair and ashes keeps growing: <a href="https://marksturkenboom.com/Works/21-grams/">One company</a> creates glass sex toys that house customers’ cremains, while other services will package ashes <a href="https://heavenlystarsfireworks.com/">into fireworks</a> or <a href="https://skyhighskydiving.co.uk/ashes-scattering-jumps/">scatter them during a skydive</a>.</p>
<p>But despite these secular, consumer-based, highly individualized options reflecting the move away from traditional religious explanations for death, I believe each one still appeals to a desire for immortality. In that sense, they connect to a universal human longing to live on – as people who remain active, present and vital, even in death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209782/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Blaine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For some people, the decision over how to dispose of their body represents one last adventure – and one last consumer choice, a scholar explains.
Diana Blaine, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216733
2023-11-01T02:02:04Z
2023-11-01T02:02:04Z
Voluntary assisted dying is finally being considered in the ACT. How would it differ from state laws?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556975/original/file-20231031-19-anshst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C612%2C4759%2C2585&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-standing-on-glass-window-fTF-oB9BZSg">Rich Brown/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first Australian Capital Territory voluntary assisted dying bill in more than 25 years was tabled in parliament yesterday. </p>
<p>This was possible after the Commonwealth <a href="https://theconversation.com/territories-free-to-make-their-own-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws-in-landmark-decision-heres-what-happens-next-195291">lifted the ban</a> on territories making laws about assisted dying in December last year. This meant the ACT and Northern Territory could join the six Australian states which have now passed voluntary assisted dying laws.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1719142405969260844"}"></div></p>
<p>As with all parliamentary debates about voluntary assisted dying in Australia, this will be a conscience vote. But what will ACT parliamentarians be voting on?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-will-be-available-to-more-australians-this-year-heres-what-to-expect-in-2023-196209">Voluntary assisted dying will be available to more Australians this year. Here's what to expect in 2023</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In some ways, the ACT bill reflects the <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238547/8/VAD_in_Australia_Comparison_Paper.pdf">Australian model</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>detailed eligibility criteria are reviewed by two independent and trained health practitioners </li>
<li>patients need to make three requests at various points</li>
<li>there is an oversight board scrutinising cases, along with offences, to protect patients</li>
<li>health practitioners’ conscientious objection is protected.</li>
</ul>
<p>But ACT bill has three new features: </p>
<ul>
<li>no specific timeframe until death</li>
<li>nurse practitioners can be involved in assessing eligibility </li>
<li>protections for patients in institutions that object to voluntary assisted dying.</li>
</ul>
<h2>No specific timeframe until death</h2>
<p>Reflecting the <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238547/8/VAD_in_Australia_Comparison_Paper.pdf">national approach</a>, voluntary assisted would be available for adults living in the ACT with decision-making capacity who seek this choice voluntarily and without coercion. They must also be suffering intolerably.</p>
<p>But discussion will no doubt focus on the fact that the ACT bill does not contain an expected timeframe until death. </p>
<p>Australian states have normally required an expected death within six months, with an extension to 12 months for neurodegenerative conditions. Queensland has 12 months for all conditions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-could-soon-be-legal-in-queensland-heres-how-its-bill-differs-from-other-states-161092">Voluntary assisted dying could soon be legal in Queensland. Here's how its bill differs from other states</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But in the ACT, the relevant criteria is silent on time to death and requires only that the condition is “advanced, progressive and expected to cause death”.</p>
<p>Reasons for this policy choice include that a timeframe is arbitrary, it exacerbates suffering for terminally ill patients and was not supported in public consultation. </p>
<p>This new feature must be seen in context. Voluntary assisted dying <a href="https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Issue-451-White-et-al.pdf">eligibility criteria work together</a> so all of them must be satisfied before a person can access voluntary assisted dying. </p>
<p>The ACT bill requires the person’s condition be “advanced” and this is defined to include requiring that the person is in the “last stages of life”. Because this criterion must be satisfied too, just having an illness that will cause death is not enough to access the service.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Issue-451-White-et-al.pdf">research has shown</a> that because eligibility criteria work together, removing the timeframe to death is unlikely to affect which conditions will allow people to access voluntary assisted dying. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man reaches for glasses next to his bed" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556977/original/file-20231031-21-mmrb9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ACT change is unlikely to affect which conditions will be eligible for assisted dying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-green-shirt-holding-eyeglasses-8899485/">Shvets Production/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Nurse practitioners can be involved in assessing eligibility</h2>
<p>Australian voluntary assisted dying laws have to date required that both health practitioners assessing eligibility be doctors. </p>
<p>The ACT bill contemplates that one practitioner could be a nurse practitioner. When introducing the bill, Minister for Human Rights Tara Cheyne said nurse practitioners must have relevant experience and at least one year’s endorsement after qualifying before they can undertake that role. </p>
<p>Cheyne <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8406420/voluntary-assisted-dying-laws-introduced-in-act/">pointed to the ACT’s small health workforce</a>; and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/mja2.52004">a key challenge</a> of existing state voluntary assisted dying systems has been finding sufficient numbers of practitioners to assist patients. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-is-legal-in-victoria-but-you-may-not-be-able-to-access-it-208282">Voluntary assisted dying is legal in Victoria, but you may not be able to access it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Protecting patient access in objecting institutions</h2>
<p>A third key difference is how the ACT bill deals with institutions which may object to voluntary assisted dying, such as faith-based hospitals. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-023-00902-3">growing evidence</a> this is a problem in the first states to pass voluntary assisted dying laws like Victoria. Later states – South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales – have dealt with this issue specifically in their law.</p>
<p>Those states generally protect access for permanent residents in facilities, such as aged care residents, but offer less protection for non-permanent residents, such as a patient in a hospital.</p>
<p>The ACT has opted for a simpler approach that does not distinguish between permanent and non-permanent residents, giving stronger protection for the latter.</p>
<p>The default is that voluntary assisted dying can be accessed in facilities unless that is not reasonably practicable. </p>
<p>The ACT bill also regulates this more robustly by requiring institutions to develop minimum standards for how they will comply with these laws and creating offences for non-compliance.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-if-you-want-access-to-voluntary-assisted-dying-but-your-nursing-home-wont-let-you-183364">What happens if you want access to voluntary assisted dying but your nursing home won't let you?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The bill was referred to a parliamentary committee for further consideration. This happened for Australian state voluntary assisted dying laws and provides opportunity for reflection on the bill. </p>
<p>Some will object to these features in the ACT bill because they are different from the Australian model. Such objections also arose when states after Victoria made decisions that their law would be different. </p>
<p>But it is difficult to argue the ACT should blindly follow what other states have done. There is evidence that <a href="https://theconversation.com/voluntary-assisted-dying-is-legal-in-victoria-but-you-may-not-be-able-to-access-it-208282">access to voluntary assisted dying under those laws is challenging</a> and local considerations may also mean different approaches are needed.</p>
<p>We anticipate robust consideration of the bill by the committee and then parliament. If passed, the usual 18-month implementation period is proposed which means ACT residents could have access by 2025.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/territories-free-to-make-their-own-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws-in-landmark-decision-heres-what-happens-next-195291">Territories free to make their own voluntary assisted dying laws, in landmark decision. Here's what happens next</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben White receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Commonwealth and state governments for research and training about the law, policy and practice relating to end-of-life care. In relation to voluntary assisted dying, he (with colleagues) has been engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. He (with Lindy Willmott) has also developed a model bill for voluntary assisted dying for parliaments to consider. He is a sessional member of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which has jurisdiction for some aspects of this state's voluntary assisted dying legislation. Ben is a recipient of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (project number FT190100410: Enhancing End-of-Life Decision-Making: Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying) funded by the Australian government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindy Willmott receives or has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Commonwealth and state governments for research and training about the law, policy and practice relating to end-of-life care. In relation to voluntary assisted dying, she (with colleagues) has been engaged by the Victorian, Western Australian and Queensland governments to design and provide the legislatively mandated training for health practitioners involved in voluntary assisted dying in those states. She (with Ben White) has also developed a model Bill for voluntary assisted dying for parliaments to consider. Lindy Willmott is also a member of the Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board, but writes this piece in her capacity as an academic researcher. She is a former board member of Palliative Care Australia.</span></em></p>
The first Australian Capital Territory voluntary assisted dying bill in more than 25 years was tabled in parliament yesterday. So what will MPs vote on? And how is it different to state legislation?
Ben White, Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology
Lindy Willmott, Professor of Law, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213206
2023-10-31T12:33:18Z
2023-10-31T12:33:18Z
From India and Taiwan to Tibet, the living assist the dead in their passage
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556195/original/file-20231026-27-b64ql7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1024%2C679&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hindu devotees prepare to scatter ashes of the deceased into the sea as part of Ngaben, a mass cremation ceremony, in Surabaya, Indonesia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/hindu-devotees-prepare-to-scatter-ashes-of-the-deceased-news-photo/1243611860?adppopup=true">Juni Kriswanto/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people see death as a rite of a passage: a journey to some new place, or a threshold between two kinds of being. Zoroastrians believe that there is <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803133541542">a bridge of judgment</a> that each person who dies must cross; depending on deeds done during life, the bridge takes the deceased to different places. Ancient Greek sources depict the deceased <a href="https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/the-final-journey-crossing-the-styx">crossing the river Styx</a>, overcoming obstacles with the help of coins and food.</p>
<p>But the dead cannot make this transition alone – surviving family or friends play key roles. Ritual actions the living perform on behalf of the dead are said to help the deceased with their journey. At the same time, these actions give the living a chance to grieve and say goodbye. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://miamioh.edu/profiles/cas/liz-wilson.html">a scholar of South Asian religions</a> specializing in death and dying, I have seen how much surviving family depend on these rituals for peace of mind. Traditions vary widely by region and religious tradition, but all of them help mourners feel that they have given one last gift to their loved one.</p>
<h2>Fire, water and food</h2>
<p><a href="https://openfolklore.org/content/make-sesame-rice-please-appetites-dead-hinduism-1">Some Hindu death rituals</a> have roots in ancient Vedic rites as old as 1,500 B.C.E. The survivors’ goal is to ensure that a dead person separates from the realm of the living and makes a safe transition to a blessed afterlife or rebirth.</p>
<p>Death rites <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/28709299">typically use fire, water and food</a> in a sequence of three stages.</p>
<p>Stage one is cremation, the fiery incineration of a corpse on a stack of wood infused with flammable oils. Cremation is considered the dead person’s willing, final gift to the god of fire, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57894855">traditionally officiated by the oldest son</a> of the deceased.</p>
<p>Stage two is the immersion of cremated remains in a flowing body of water, such as the Ganges River. There are many sacred rivers in India where the ashes of a loved one can be immersed, and Hindus <a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.119">regard them as goddesses</a> who carry off impurities and sins, assisting the soul on its journey.</p>
<p>Many Hindus believe the ideal place to immerse a loved one’s ashes is in the sacred city of Varanasi, in northern India, where the Ganges flows in a broad stream. Families carry corpses in festive processions to the cremation site, hopeful that their rituals will help loved ones move to another state of existence.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TEOBW1PvMqo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Though the Ganges is considered the holiest river, many rivers are viewed as sacred.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Stage three is entrance into the realm of the ancestors. Ancient Hindu belief depicts relatives who have died living in a realm where they are maintained by offerings given by their living descendants, whom they assist with fertility and wealth.</p>
<p>Hindu beliefs and practices are extremely diverse. In many communities, however, descendants perform rites that offer nourishment to the dead person, <a href="https://scroll.in/article/1032342/devdutt-pattanaik-on-the-3000-year-old-hindu-ritual-of-feeding-the-dead">represented in the form of a ball of rice</a>. Through these offerings, which can be performed after the death or during certain holidays and anniversaries, the deceased spirit is said to gradually become an embodied ancestor, reborn thanks to the ritual labor of their offspring. </p>
<h2>Colorful processions</h2>
<p>Buddhist death rituals differ considerably from culture to culture, yet one commonality is the amount of human effort that goes into sending off the dead. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Nine men in black outfits with brightly colored patterns on them hold a huge puppet of a dragon outside a building with Chinese characters on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556237/original/file-20231026-22-sh2stu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dragon dancers perform during a funeral for Taiwanese TV star Chu Ke-liang in New Taipei City on June 20, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dragon-dancers-perform-outside-a-funeral-hall-during-a-news-photo/698172402?adppopup=true">Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Chinese and Taiwanese culture, it is thought best to send off the deceased with a well-attended funeral procession, full of pageantry for deities and mortals alike. Many people rent “Electric Flower Cars,” trucks that serve as moving stages for performers – even pole dancers are not uncommon. Fifty jeeps with pole-dancing women graced <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38528122">the funeral procession of a Taiwanese politician</a> who died in 2017. </p>
<p>Though pole dancers are a newer phenomenon, Taiwanese funerals and religious processions have long showcased women and young people, including female mourners hired to wail. Scholars such as <a href="https://www.harvard-yenching.org/person/chang-hsun/">anthropologist Chang Hsun</a> suggest that a combination of such traditions <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCRmmSdYwDc">led to the inclusion</a> of women dancing and singing in some modern funeral processions. </p>
<p>By the 1980s, scantily clad women were a fixture of rural Taiwanese funeral culture. In 2011, <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/anthropology/our_people/directory/moskowitz_marc.php">anthropologist Marc L. Moskowitz</a> produced a short documentary called “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCRmmSdYwDc">Dancing for the Dead: Funeral Strippers in Taiwan</a>” about the phenomenon. </p>
<p>Funeral performances show tremendous freedom and innovation; one sees drummers, marching bands and Taiwanese opera singers. Paper objects in the shape of things the deceased is believed to use in the afterlife are burned, from microwaves to cars. Likewise, specially printed money called “ghost money” is burned to provide the deceased with funds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a yellow monk's robe and someone wearing black stand behind what looks like a dollhouse, as the monk rings a bell." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556448/original/file-20231029-27-6pbk83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A paper model of a villa, used as an offering for the dead during a ceremony in New Taipei City, Taiwan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-on-march-16-2019-shows-a-relative-news-photo/1134772913?adppopup=true">Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Guiding the dead</h2>
<p>In Tibet, Buddhists believe that the vital energy of a person who has died stays with the body <a href="https://theasiadialogue.com/2016/05/04/tibetan-death-rituals/">for 49 days</a>. During this time, the dead person receives instruction from priests to help them navigate the journey ahead.</p>
<p>This journey toward the next stage of being involves a series of choices that will determine the realm of their rebirth – including rebirth as an animal, a hungry ghost, a deity, a being in hell, another human being or immediate enlightenment. </p>
<p>Priests whisper instructions into the ear of the dead person, who is believed to be capable of hearing so long as they retain their vital energy. Being told what to expect after death allows a person to face death with equanimity.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows a man seated in prayer on top of a mountain, as other people work in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556238/original/file-20231026-25-lx55xi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Tibetan Buddhist priest chants prayers and repeats passages from religious scrolls while his helpers make a funeral pyre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lamaist-priest-chants-prayers-and-repeats-passages-from-news-photo/646273502?adppopup=true">Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The instructions given to the dead are described in a sacred text called the “Bardo Thodol,” often translated in English as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-the-tibetan-book-of-the-dead-172962">The Tibetan Book of the Dead</a>.” “Bardo” is the Tibetan term for an intermediate or in-between state; one might think of the bardo of death as a train that stops at various destinations, opening doors and giving the passenger opportunities to depart. </p>
<p>Tibetan Buddhists believe that these instructions allow the deceased to make good choices in the 49-day interim between their death and the next life. Different rebirth realms will appear to the person, taking the form of colored lights. Based on the karma of the deceased, some realms will seem more alluring than others. The person is told to be fearless: to let themselves be drawn toward higher realms, even if they appear frightening.</p>
<p>For several days before burial, the deceased is visited by friends, family and well-wishers – all able to work out their grief while assisting the dead in a postmortem journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Wilson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Across cultures, death rituals give mourners a chance to grieve. But they also offer one last opportunity to help the deceased as they transition to the next stage of existence.
Liz Wilson, Professor of Comparative Religion, Miami University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215881
2023-10-31T00:49:04Z
2023-10-31T00:49:04Z
‘Why did he Leve Me?’ 5 things grieving children want to know about the death of a loved one
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554694/original/file-20231019-23-mqpggf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C997%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-son-hugging-his-mother-home-337104815">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Death and grief are not easy to talk about. Talking to children about these can be harder still. </p>
<p>Our instinct to protect children from harsh realities means we might avoid these topics altogether.</p>
<p>But, as we discovered in our recently published <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">research</a>, bereaved children have lots of questions about death and grief.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/passed-away-kicked-the-bucket-pushing-up-daisies-the-many-ways-we-dont-talk-about-death-77085">Passed away, kicked the bucket, pushing up daisies – the many ways we don't talk about death</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Child grief is common</h2>
<p>Children experience grief much more commonly than most of us think. One <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2632352420975043">study</a> in Scotland found that, by the age of ten, 62% of children report having been bereaved by the death of a family member, usually a parent, sibling, grandparent or other close person. </p>
<p>Research in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7afd5fed915d3ed90614ef/CWRC-00081-2011.pdf">United Kingdom</a> finds about one in 20 teenagers will have experienced the death of their parent. By the age of 25, <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/50/3/803/169588/A-Sibling-Death-in-the-Family-Common-and">up to 8%</a> of children and young people in a US study had lost a sibling.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Brother comforting younger sister near grave" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554696/original/file-20231019-25-hh15g4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children experience grief much more commonly than most of us think.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-brother-sister-standing-grave-their-773316946">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gone-but-never-forgotten-how-to-comfort-a-child-whose-sibling-has-died-101847">Gone but never forgotten: how to comfort a child whose sibling has died</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>We analysed questions about death and grief from more than 200 children aged five to 12 years. They had experienced the death of a parent, sibling or other family member (such as an uncle or grandmother) in the past four months to five years.</p>
<p>Causes of death included cancer, car crashes, heart attacks, suicide, workplace accidents, substance use and childhood illnesses.</p>
<p>Children had submitted their questions while on a <a href="https://lionheartcampforkids.com.au">Lionheart Camp for Kids</a>, a two-day camp to support grieving children, teenagers and families in Western Australia.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/adults-can-help-children-cope-with-death-by-understanding-how-they-process-it-58057">Adults can help children cope with death by understanding how they process it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Our study, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">published</a> in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, found many of the children’s questions were sophisticated. </p>
<p>They revealed curiosities about various biological, emotional and existential concepts, demonstrating complex and multi-faceted considerations of their loved one’s death and its impact on their lives. </p>
<p>Many questions reflected egocentric thinking typical of children (thinking that relates to themselves), such as thinking they caused the death.</p>
<p>We grouped their questions into five topics.</p>
<p><strong>1. Why and how people die</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="What tipe of sick nesses can popol die from?" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554642/original/file-20231019-17-3mp7dg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This type of question was the most common.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">Journal of Child and Family Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most common question was about causes and processes of death. </p>
<p>These questions captured children’s curiosities and concerns regarding why and how people die.</p>
<p>For instance, they wanted to know how and why heart attacks, cancer, suicide and substance use happen. Some children wanted to know how and when they’d die.</p>
<p><strong>2. Managing grief</strong></p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Why did he Leve Me?" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554644/original/file-20231019-19-wfrez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making sense of grief.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">Journal of Child and Family Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These questions reflected children’s efforts to make sense of death and their subsequent social and emotional experiences. </p>
<p>They tried to understand their emotions and responses such as changes in sleeping patterns and physical sensations. </p>
<p>They also asked questions about how they could gain support from peers and teachers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-five-stages-of-grief-dont-come-in-fixed-steps-everyone-feels-differently-96111">The five stages of grief don't come in fixed steps – everyone feels differently</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>3. Human intervention</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="How does a paste maker work" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554645/original/file-20231019-25-265tvq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children wanted to know about pacemakers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">Journal of Child and Family Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These questions were about specific technologies such as pacemakers, and treatments such as medications, involved in preventing death and helping people who are dying.</p>
<p>Some children wanted to know how to prevent future deaths in their family.</p>
<p><strong>4. The meaning of life and death</strong></p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="What is the meaning of life?" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554646/original/file-20231019-29-ag8lw2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children questioned life’s purpose.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">Journal of Child and Family Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These questions captured the children’s existential concerns about life’s purpose and why people die.</p>
<p>These included questions about why some people can die so young, but others live for many years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-people-get-old-190142">Curious Kids: why do people get old?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>5. After death</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="What does it feel like to be in heaven?" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554647/original/file-20231019-17-68bc4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children wanted to know about the afterlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-023-02694-x">Journal of Child and Family Studies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The final question type included ones relating to a person once they had died. </p>
<p>Many questions were about after-death destinations, such as heaven, and the possibility of reincarnation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-what-might-heaven-be-like-95939">Friday essay: what might heaven be like?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>Children <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/chso.12352">are aware</a> adults are reluctant to discuss death with them. But shielding them from details <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673618332021">could add</a> to their distress and worry.</p>
<p>Our research shows children who have experienced the death of a close person want to know how to cope with difficult emotions and need support, validation and reassurance. </p>
<p>They need adults around them to encourage them to ask questions, then for those adults to listen and answer. And adults should try to find opportunities to start a conversation with children, bereaved or not, about death and grief.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Shelly Skinner (Lionheart Camp for Kids and Perth Children’s Hospital) and Lisa Cuddeford (Perth Children’s Hospital) co-authored this article.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. <a href="https://www.childrensgriefawarenessday.org/cgad2/index.shtml">Online resources</a> <a href="https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/parenting/parenting-articles/grief-and-loss/#:%7E:text=Tips%20for%20talking%20to%20children%20about%20death%201,...%206%20Take%20care%20of%20yourself%2C%20too%20">are</a> <a href="https://www.grief.org.au/ga/ga/Resources.aspx">also available</a> on how best to support a child experiencing death and grief.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Breen has received funding from Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Future Fund, Australian Research Council, Department of Health (Western Australia), Silver Chain, Royal Perth Hospital Medical Research Foundation, Canadian Institutes of Health, Star Legacy Foundation, MND Research Institute of Australia, iCare Dust Diseases Board (New South Wales), Cancer Council (Western Australia), and Healthway. She is on the board of Grief Australia and Lionheart Camp for Kids. She is the managing editor of Death Studies.</span></em></p>
Children experience grief much more commonly than most of us think. This is what they want to know.
Lauren Breen, Professor of Psychology, Curtin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214048
2023-09-28T12:28:11Z
2023-09-28T12:28:11Z
Your microbes live on after you die − a microbiologist explains how your necrobiome recycles your body to nourish new life
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550423/original/file-20230926-27-qpnpj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1794%2C1668&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After you die, bacteria harvest your body for the nutrients that help push daisies.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/embroidery-skull-and-roses-grapes-humming-royalty-free-illustration/931298520">Matriyoshka/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each human body contains a <a href="https://www.hmpdacc.org/overview/">complex community of trillions of microorganisms</a> that are important for your health while you’re alive. These <a href="https://open.oregonstate.education/generalmicrobiology/chapter/microbial-symbioses/">microbial symbionts</a> help you digest food, produce essential vitamins, protect you from infection and serve many other critical functions. In turn, the microbes, which are mostly concentrated in your gut, get to live in a relatively stable, warm environment with a steady supply of food.</p>
<p>But what happens to these symbiotic allies after you die? </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=U_xOnjEAAAAJ&hl=en">environmental microbiologist</a> who studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiad006">the necrobiome</a> – the microbes that live in, on and around a decomposing body – I’ve been curious about our postmortem microbial legacy. You might assume that your microbes die with you – once your body breaks down and your microbes are flushed into the environment, they won’t survive out in the real world. </p>
<p>In our September 2023 study, my research team and I share evidence that not only do your microbes continue to live on after you die, they actually play an important role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-023-00451-y">recycling your body</a> so that new life can flourish.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c_ZRZkU-FEw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Your microbes accompany you from cradle to grave.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Microbial life after death</h2>
<p>When you die, your heart stops circulating the blood that has carried oxygen throughout your body. Cells deprived of oxygen start digesting themselves in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autolysis_(biology)">process called autolysis</a>. Enzymes in those cells – which normally digest carbohydrates, proteins and fats for energy or growth in a controlled way – start to work on the membranes, proteins, DNA and other components that make up the cells. </p>
<p>The products of this cellular breakdown make excellent food for your symbiotic bacteria, and without your immune system to keep them in check and a steady supply of food from your digestive system, they turn to this new source of nutrition. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3437">Gut bacteria</a>, especially a class of microbes called <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02096"><em>Clostridia</em></a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.03.019">spread through your organs</a> and digest you from the inside out in a process called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539741/">putrefaction</a>. Without oxygen inside the body, your anaerobic bacteria rely on energy-producing processes that don’t require oxygen, such as fermentation. These create the distinctly odorous-gases signature to decomposition.</p>
<p>From an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2017.09.006">evolutionary standpoint</a>, it makes sense that your microbes would have evolved ways to adapt to a dying body. Like rats on a sinking ship, your bacteria will soon have to abandon their host and survive out in the world long enough to find a new host to colonize. Taking advantage of the carbon and nutrients of your body allows them to increase their numbers. A bigger population means a higher probability that at least a few will survive out in the harsher environment and successfully find a new body.</p>
<h2>A microbial invasion</h2>
<p>If you’re buried in the ground, your microbes are flushed into the soil along with a soup of decomposition fluids as your body breaks down. They’re entering an entirely new environment and encountering a whole new microbial community in the soil.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.06.004">mixing or coalescence</a> of two distinct microbial communities happens frequently in nature. Coalescence happens when the roots of two plants grow together, when wastewater is emptied into a river or even when two people kiss.</p>
<p>The outcome of mixing – which community dominates and which microbes are active – depends on several factors, such as how much environmental change the microbes experience and who was there first. Your microbes are adapted to the stable, warm environment inside your body where they receive a steady supply of food. In contrast, soil is a particularly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820202-9.00002-2">harsh place to live</a> – it’s a highly variable environment with steep chemical and physical gradients and big swings in temperature, moisture and nutrients. Furthermore, soil already hosts an exceptionally diverse microbial community full of decomposers that are well adapted to that environment and would presumably outcompete any newcomers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Microscopy image of Clostridium septicum" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550417/original/file-20230926-19-r1tn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=629&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Clostridium septicum</em> is one species of bacteria involved in putrefaction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2n1hVng">Joseph E. Rubin/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s easy to assume that your microbes will die off once they are outside your body. However, my research team’s previous studies have shown that the DNA signatures of host-associated microbes can be detected in the soil below a decomposing body, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130201">on the soil surface</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208845">in graves</a> for months or years after the soft tissues of the body have decomposed. This raised the question of whether these microbes are still alive and active or if they are merely in a dormant state waiting for the next host.</p>
<p>Our newest study suggests that your microbes are not only living in the soil but also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-023-00451-y">cooperating with native soil microbes</a> to help decompose your body. In the lab, we showed that mixing soil and decomposition fluids filled with host-associated microbes increased decomposition rates beyond that of the soil communities alone.</p>
<p>We also found that host-associated microbes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-023-00451-y">enhanced nitrogen cycling</a>. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for life, but most of the nitrogen on Earth is tied up as atmospheric gas that organisms can’t use. Decomposers play a critical role recycling organic forms of nitrogen such as proteins <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.03.005">into inorganic forms</a> such as ammonium and nitrate that microbes and plants can use. </p>
<p>Our new findings suggest that our microbes are likely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-023-00451-y">playing a part</a> in this recycling process by converting large nitrogen-containing molecules like proteins and nucleic acids into ammonium. Nitrifying microbes in the soil can then convert the ammonium into nitrate. </p>
<h2>Next generation of life</h2>
<p>The recycling of nutrients from detritus, or nonliving organic matter, is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1930126">core process in all ecosystems</a>. In terrestrial ecosystems, decomposition of dead animals, or carrion, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2460-3">fuels biodiversity</a> and is an important <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7542">link in food webs</a>.</p>
<p>Living animals are a bottleneck for the carbon and nutrient cycles of an ecosystem. They slowly accumulate nutrients and carbon from large areas of the landscape throughout their lives then deposit it all at once in a small, localized spot when they die. One dead animal can support a whole pop-up food web of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiad006">microbes</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241777">soil fauna</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88448-1_6">arthropods</a> that make their living off carcasses. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/life-after-death-how-insects-rise-from-the-dead-and-transform-corpses-into-skeletons-148847">Insect</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0292.1">animal scavengers</a> help further redistribute nutrients in the ecosystem. Decomposer microbes convert the concentrated pools of nutrient-rich organic molecules from our bodies into <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287094">smaller, more bioavailable forms</a> that other organisms can use to support new life. It’s not uncommon to see <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1537">plant life flourishing near a decomposing animal</a>, visible evidence that nutrients in bodies are being recycled back into the ecosystem.</p>
<p>That our own microbes play an important role in this cycle is one microscopic way we live on after death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer DeBruyn receives funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.</span></em></p>
With the help of the microbes that once played an essential role in keeping you alive, the building blocks of your body go on to become a part of other living things.
Jennifer DeBruyn, Professor of Environmental Microbiology, University of Tennessee
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210436
2023-09-12T12:28:43Z
2023-09-12T12:28:43Z
Why ‘Barbie’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’ made 2023 the dead girl summer
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546713/original/file-20230906-15-7eas9t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2946%2C1666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In one sense, Barbie is already dead, cheerfully doomed to repeat the same pink day, devoid of food, conflict and sex.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nicole-morson-looks-at-a-barbie-of-swam-lake-doll-and-news-photo/2571814?adppopup=true">Chris Hondros/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ariel and Barbie have quite a bit in common: They’re both frozen in time, and they both yearn to live as humans do.</p>
<p>The fantastic seascapes and perfect dollhouses of “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5971474/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520little%2520merma">The Little Mermaid</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_q_barbie">Barbie</a>” might appear whimsical. But I see these settings – and the characters who inhabit them – as figurations of death. </p>
<p>In my forthcoming book, I consider the relationship between mermaids and Barbie dolls. In the case of the 2023 films, I couldn’t help but think about how Ariel and Barbie make the same ironic choice: to leave the stasis of their deathlike existence for a human life – which ends in death. </p>
<p>These dead girls offer insights about living. Embracing death’s inevitability brings some freedom, as well as access to truths about time and the natural world.</p>
<h2>‘I am dead yet I live’</h2>
<p>Ariel and Barbie are not your typical dead girls – at least in the literary sense.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/dead-girls-alice-bolin?variant=32217989677090">dead girl trope</a> goes back to <a href="https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/hamlet/read/4/5/">Shakespeare’s Ophelia</a>, who drowns herself after being driven to madness by Hamlet’s erratic, abusive speech. But dead girls have long populated folktales about <a href="https://sites.pitt.edu/%7Edash/type0410.html#perrault">sleeping beauties</a> and <a href="https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/kore">myths of goddesses traversing the underworld</a>. </p>
<p>Today, the trope is often found <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039545/">in noirish mysteries</a>. These narratives frequently prioritize the development of a male protagonist – a detective who grapples with his own mortality while solving a crime that regularly involves sexual violence.</p>
<p>David Lynch’s “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/">Twin Peaks</a>,” which first aired on ABC in 1990, wields this version of the trope. FBI agent Dale Cooper investigates the murder of Laura Palmer, a homecoming queen whose corpse is discovered wrapped in plastic. Though Laura Palmer has been victimized, she isn’t voiceless. She appears in flashbacks and has recorded her feelings and desires in diary entries.</p>
<p>In Showtime’s 2017 reboot, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4093826/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_twin%2520peaks%2520the%2520return">Twin Peaks: The Return</a>,” the afterlife version of Laura tells Cooper, “I am dead yet I live.” </p>
<p>Ariel and Barbie are their films’ protagonists, and they don’t die via murder. But they nevertheless actualize Laura’s words: Choosing flesh over immortality is to live and die, too.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bouquet of withering pink flowers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546718/original/file-20230906-31-r0qj33.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barbie and Ariel choose life – even as they know it will ultimately end in death.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/wilted-flowers-royalty-free-image/685478293?phrase=pink+death&adppopup=true">Jonathan Knowles/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dreaming death in fish tails and pink</h2>
<p>“Do you guys ever think about death?” asks the character known as “Stereotypical Barbie,” played by Margot Robbie, a few scenes into the film. The irony is that Barbie is already dead, cheerfully doomed to repeat the same pink day, devoid of food, conflict and sex. </p>
<p>Barbie’s dreamworld is home to many iterations of its title character, including Mermaid Barbie. There are also a number of Kens. They are coupled, but they aren’t having sex. As Stereotypical Barbie declares, Barbies don’t have vaginas, and Kens don’t have penises. </p>
<p>Fish tails don’t typically feature vaginas either. The virginal Ariel is stuck in her fin, fathoms below.</p>
<p>Ariel and Barbie don’t get periods and can’t get pregnant. They’ll also never go through menopause.</p>
<p>In their films, the protagonists reject dollified existences and choose human life with its opportunities for sex and unavoidable death. Ariel leaves the ocean’s eternity for the prince’s land-world after she saves him. Barbie sacrifices physical perfection – her own and Ken’s – for the possibility of authentic intimacy and the spontaneity of an aging female body. The latter leads her to visit the gynecologist’s office at the film’s conclusion.</p>
<p>Hollywood films promise happily ever afters, but those weren’t the main draw for audiences of “The Little Mermaid” and “Barbie.” </p>
<p>I think that part of what drove theater attendance this summer was a subconscious attraction to the deathlike repetition of timeless dreamworlds, whether underwater or plastered in pink.</p>
<p>As dead girls, Ariel and Barbie are appealing vessels because, in them, time stops: You can’t be out of time when there is no time to begin with.</p>
<p>A water-bound mermaid and an ageless doll present a “timeout,” especially for girls and women pressured to achieve specific education and other life goals within certain time frames. Fish-tailed mermaids and Barbie dolls are free from ticking biological and career clocks – although they imagine or play at the things determined by those clocks, too. As a doll, Barbie gets to have any and all jobs, trading one for another whenever her player gets bored. She can be a doctor, an astronaut or even president of the United States.</p>
<p>Audiences might go to the movies to escape reality. Yet, Barbie and Ariel choose to enter reality, leaving their respective dreamworlds. Such outcomes make the films relevant to the summer of 2023: The dead girl can’t age, but her perpetual youth signals the future’s promises, even when there is no promise of a future.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The tail of a mermaid covered in sand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546716/original/file-20230906-23-2maja2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ariel chooses to leave behind her fish-tailed existence for life on Earth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/beautiful-pink-mermaids-tail-on-the-beach-mettams-royalty-free-image/954670096?phrase=mermaid+illustration+death&adppopup=true">Robbie Goodall/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘This sad, vanishing world’</h2>
<p>In her fish-tailed state, Ariel sings about wanting to know about fire and its causes, questions applicable to this summer’s reckoning with global warming. Humans have scorched the planet to fulfill a desire for, among other things, plastic – <a href="https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news-and-ideas/barbie-and-the-american-dream">the very material that made Barbie possible</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4189155-summer-heat-breaks-records/">The unprecedented heat in the summer of 2023</a> demands that everybody listen to another ticking clock, the one counting down to environmental ruin.</p>
<p>Ariel and Barbie choose to live in the world their audiences inhabit, even though the characters are fully aware that humans are destructive and cause suffering.</p>
<p>“The Little Mermaid” is explicit about how humans hurt the ecosystem, a critique made by Black mermaids <a href="https://theconversation.com/disneys-black-mermaid-is-no-breakthrough-just-look-at-the-literary-subgenre-of-black-mermaid-fiction-194435">in older folk tales and recent literature inspired by them</a>. Ariel and Eric inevitably sail away, leaving her home under the sea and his coastal kingdom. The bittersweet ending suggests they, each equipped with knowledge of the other’s world, will carry insights about environmental harmony to other places.</p>
<p>“The Little Mermaid” and “Barbie,” I believe, reveal a truth found in many sacred stories. If you accept that you are dead already and that time is always passing away, you might gain the freedom to truly embrace the brief life you do have in what the Hindu deity Krishna <a href="https://web.english.upenn.edu/%7Ecavitch/pdf-library/Bhagavad_Gita_chs8-12.pdf">described as</a> “this sad, vanishing world.”</p>
<p>Or <a href="https://poemanalysis.com/william-butler-yeats/nineteen-hundred-and-nineteen/">as W.B. Yeats wrote</a>, “Man is in love and loves what vanishes, / What more is there to say?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Kapurch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
People might go to the movies to escape reality. Yet Barbie and Ariel choose to live in the world their audiences inhabit − and, in doing so, decide to die.
Katie Kapurch, Associate Professor of English, Texas State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213173
2023-09-11T12:24:18Z
2023-09-11T12:24:18Z
The scent of the ancient Egyptian afterlife has been recreated – here’s what it smelled like
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547243/original/file-20230908-21-bulnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C150%2C1653%2C932&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Burial ceremonies as depicted in the Book of the Dead of Hunefer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA9901-5">© The Trustees of the British Museum</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To be human is to wonder what happens after we die. Is there an afterlife? If so, what does it look like? But a question you may not have asked yourself is: what does the afterlife smell like? To ancient Egyptians, however, there were very specific answers, and new research has shed light on this aspect of their burial practices. </p>
<p>Analysis of the oils and resins in limestone jars that held the organs of <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557553">Senetnay</a>, a noblewoman of the 18th Dynasty who lived around 1450BC, has revealed a carefully formulated mix of ingredients. </p>
<p>Researchers have presented this as “the scent of the afterlife” in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-39393-y">scientific report</a>. The smell will be revealed in an interactive exhibition at <a href="https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/en/">Moesgaard Museum</a> in Denmark titled <a href="https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/en/exhibitions/upcoming-ancient-egypt-obsessed-with-life/">Ancient Egypt – Obsessed with Life</a>, opening on October 13 2023.</p>
<p>Senetnay’s role as a <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557553">wetnurse</a> to the future king <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amenhotep-II">Amenhotep II</a> ensured her place in the afterlife and saw her buried in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Valley-of-the-Kings">Valley of the Kings</a>. Unfortunately, her remains have not survived. But the embalming resin used for her preparation has. Its scent was both a reflection of her own status in royal circles and a statement of the king’s wealth and power. </p>
<h2>A high-status scent</h2>
<p>Amenhotep II inherited one of the largest empires ever known from his father, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thutmose-III">Thutmose III</a>. Senetnay was fortunate to live at a time of great prosperity for Egypt and to be part of the king’s entourage. Her canopic jars (containers that preserved the viscera of the dead for the afterlife) were recovered from <a href="https://archive.org/details/annalesduservice02egypuoft/page/196/mode/2up">tomb KV42</a> by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Howard-Carter">Howard Carter</a> in 1900. </p>
<p>The resin is not typical of an ancient Egyptian burial – even a high status one – as it was extremely expensive, with ingredients from distant lands. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A side on portrait of an Egyptian pharaoh wearing a gold hat and eyeliner." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547240/original/file-20230908-15-up6s5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of Amenhotep II from his burial in the Valley of the Kings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amenhotep_II_Uraeus.jpg">Wiki Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such balms, resins and oils used in mummification provided pleasant aromas and practical functions in the preservation process, but also had spiritual significance. </p>
<p>This specific recipe seems to have been mixed specifically for Senetnay as it is different to other samples. She may have had some say in what was used – perhaps even her favourite scent. </p>
<h2>The scent of the afterlife</h2>
<p>Mummified human remains tend to smell relatively benign. The infusion of scented oils and resins has a lasting effect, especially in an undisturbed burial where the scent has been contained. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history-technology/mummies-pigments-and-pretzels#:%7E:text=Natron%20is%20hydrated%20sodium%20carbonate,thus%20dry%20out%20a%20body.">salt</a> and <a href="https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/exhibits/online/mummification/materials.html">palm wine</a> used in the preparation of the body itself also helped to preserve the properties of the other ingredients. </p>
<p>There is often a distinct fragrance of pine or cedar, with some spiciness from cloves, cumin and myrrh, and warm notes from plants, flowers and trees. Senetnay’s balm is based largely around beeswax, plant oil and tree resin, with extra fats, bitumen and other resins. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white vase-shaped ceramic jar with hieroglyphics engraved on the side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=811&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547241/original/file-20230908-15-lhgacr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A jar Inscribed for Senetnay found in and around the entrance of KV 42.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557553">The Met</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The ingredients are a snapshot of Egypt’s empire and reach – several came from a considerable distance. Larch tree resin is likely to have been obtained from the northern Mediterranean. South-east Asia (perhaps more specifically India) is present in what is possibly <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2357581-ancient-egyptians-used-exotic-oils-from-distant-lands-to-make-mummies/#:%7E:text=Many%20of%20the%20substances%20were,dammar%22%20is%20a%20Malay%20word.">dammar tree resin</a>. </p>
<p>The researchers have still to establish conclusively if dammar was used – if so, this is an indication of the extent of the ancient Egyptian trade route, stretching to the tropical forests of south-east Asia.</p>
<p>Oils and bitumen from cypress, cedar or juniper add layers of scent, preservative and antibacterial properties. Beeswax is both antibacterial and acts as a binder and sealant. Animal fat adds consistency and carries oils well, and the mixture is heightened with plant and flower oils such as sesame or olive. </p>
<p>The resulting balm would have been intensely fragrant and crucial for the survival of Senetnay’s remains. The written record confirms the close association of scent with life and death. </p>
<p>One ancient Egyptian word for a bouquet or garland was a homonym for life – <em>ankh</em>. A poignant and beautiful 12th Dynasty composition known, among other titles, as <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.40597/page/n33/mode/2up">The Dialogue of a Man with his Ba</a> (soul) says: “Death is before me today, like the scent of myrrh, like the scent of flowers.”</p>
<h2>Scent at the museum</h2>
<p>Scent is one of our most powerful senses, with the ability to transport us to another time or place by triggering memories, so it is an unusual but effective way to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17458927.2022.2142012">engage museum visitors with the past</a>.</p>
<p>Smelling what the balm contained conveys much more than just a description would and it can enhance the experience for certain groups of visitors, such as the visually impaired, or those who engage more fully with such displays through an interactive approach.</p>
<p>Intangible aspects of ancient Egyptian funerary practice are by their nature difficult to research, and analysis of embalming materials has tended to focus on the body itself and its wrappings. However, some <a href="https://shorturl.at/mpRX3">research projects</a> have lately been attempting to address this gap in research, including concentration on the treatment of organs such as those of Senetnay. </p>
<p>The experience of an ancient funeral would have encompassed smell, sight, taste, sound, light, darkness and more. While we can reconstruct the process of embalming and burial through artefacts, we are doubtless missing very important aspects of the ritual that connects the deceased with their family, community and the ancestors they hope to join in the afterlife. </p>
<p>The luxuriousness of Senetnay’s provisioning for the afterlife should not obscure how profound and essential the materials and ritual were for her transfiguration in the tomb, complete and perfect for eternity, as fragrant as the gods.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Isabella Gilmour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There is often a distinct fragrance of pine or cedar, with some spiciness from cloves, cumin, myrrh, and warm notes from plants, flowers and trees.
Claire Isabella Gilmour, PhD Candidate, Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202229
2023-08-22T12:24:50Z
2023-08-22T12:24:50Z
This university class uses color and emotion to explore the end of life
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539631/original/file-20230726-21-o8a1by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C5%2C1096%2C656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An imaginative watercolor drawing by Madison Zhao inviting students to enter the 'Schools of Color.' </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madison Zhao/Courtesy of Marcia Brennan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“The Colors of Life and the End of Life”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>For many years, I’ve <a href="https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/marcia-brennan">worked as a literary artist</a> at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In both contexts, I work with advanced oncology patients and with <a href="https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/axismundi-books/our-books/heart-hereafter">people at the end of life</a>.</p>
<p>During the hospital visits, I ask people about images that are close to their heart. As people speak, I write down their words verbatim and put their phrases into successive lines, like poetry – a gift for the patient and their loved ones.</p>
<p>Then, a year and a half ago, I was offered an opportunity to consult on an animation project in Hollywood. After decades working with university students and people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-012-0477-5">facing the end of life</a>, I found myself working with people at the beginning of life – with children.</p>
<p>The themes converged, and I was inspired to write a children’s book and teach a related university class about how art can help us understand major life insights and experiences, especially the wisdom that emerges at the end of life. </p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>Classes pair original literary artworks that I produced with people at the end of life with related texts and images from philosophy, ethics, biomedicine, literature – including my new children’s book – and the fine arts. Together, we read everything from 15th century texts about <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/49038880/">the Ars Moriendi</a>, or “the art of dying,” to contemporary writings by figures such as <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/57745/the-chart">the physician-poet Rafael Campo</a> and <a href="https://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/">the surgeon Atul Gawande</a>.</p>
<p>To organize key themes, each week we focus on one color and related thematic elements. In addition to the seven primary colors, the class examines pink, silver, gold, and black and white. The “orange” class, for example, centers on readings about creativity and communication, while the “green” class looks at issues of balance, continuity and people’s relationship to the natural world. During the “red” week, as we discuss strength and perseverance, we also examine debates about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/health/end-of-life-care-hospice.html">aggressive medical interventions</a> at the end of life.</p>
<p>Students also produce their own narrative artwork, drawing on a meaningful encounter with another person – preferably, a statement that incorporates the wisdom of an elder.</p>
<h2>What’s a critical lesson from the course?</h2>
<p>The end of life is all about life itself and the many different types of love that we experience as human beings. The wisdom that can emerge at this time is vital, not just for those facing the end of life but for all of us. </p>
<p>“The Colors of Life” explores how art and color can provide a way to express and discuss experiences that <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/L/bo25034444.html">can otherwise be hard to put into words</a>. These can be deeply personal thoughts, and often, spiritual ones – especially in the face of death, suffering and uncertainty.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>The class provides a window into a vital aspect of life that is often overlooked and avoided – namely, serious illness and the end of life.</p>
<p>While the class focuses on themes that are relevant to everyone, the course is particularly appropriate for students planning to enter into the medical and health care professions, or who will one day serve as caregivers. The emotions we explore engage some of <a href="https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/core-competencies">the core competencies</a> in pre-medical and medical education, from resilience and perseverance (red) to compassion and care (pink) to the ability to see multiple perspectives at once (black and white).</p>
<p>By focusing on color, this class also gives a concrete way for STEM-oriented learners – those in science, technology, engineering and math – to engage social, emotional, creative and humanistic themes.</p>
<p>I hope that all my students will draw on these skills and insights throughout their education and well beyond, within both their professional and personal lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Brennan is the Carolyn and Fred McManis Professor of Humanities at Rice University, and she is affiliated with the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the nonprofit organization COLLAGE: Art for Cancer. </span></em></p>
Exploring colors can help discuss abstract, challenging topics in concrete ways – especially experiences doctors and caregivers may encounter caring for people at the end of life.
Marcia Brennan, Professor of Religion and Art History, Rice University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205723
2023-08-07T13:03:29Z
2023-08-07T13:03:29Z
What’s behind our enduring fascination with wives and mothers who kill?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540540/original/file-20230801-19-4zkxdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C22%2C2991%2C2029&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A family photo of Andrea Yates, her husband and four of their five children. Yates killed all five by drowning them in a bathtub in 2001.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-undated-family-photo-shows-four-of-the-five-children-news-photo/1607982?adppopup=true">Photo Courtesy of Yates Family/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In March 2023, a Utah woman named Kouri Richins published a children’s book titled “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/123277319">Are You With Me?</a>” which she characterized as an effort to help her three young sons process the loss of their father, who had died suddenly the previous year. Presenting herself as a concerned mother and grieving widow, she was interviewed on “<a href="https://www.abc4.com/gtu/a-childrens-book-to-aid-in-coping-with-grief/">Good Things Utah</a>” in April 2023.</p>
<p>A few weeks later, on May 8, 2023, Richins was arrested and charged with killing her husband, Eric.</p>
<p>An autopsy showed that the 39-year-old man died of a massive fentanyl overdose. Since Eric had no history of drug abuse, his family found the circumstances suspicious. In the months before his death, Eric confided in his business partner that on several occasions – after being served a drink or meal by his wife, including on Valentine’s Day – he had become violently ill. Utah’s <a href="https://www.parkrecord.com/news/prosecutors-provide-more-information-about-alleged-marital-troubles-between-kamas-couple/">Park Record reported</a> that he had mentioned to friends and family that if anything were to happen to him, Kouri would be the likely culprit.</p>
<p>In August 2023, as I write this, the Richins’ housekeeper <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/07/housekeeper-admits-selling-kouri-richins-fentanyl-affidavit/">has confessed</a> to providing the fentanyl that killed Eric, and the case is mired in multiple lawsuits, including one in which <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/06/28/sister-eric-richins-sues-kouri/">the victim’s sister accuses</a> Kouri of “enacting a horrific endgame to steal money from her husband, orchestrate his death and profit from it.” Meanwhile, Kouri Richins refutes these charges and has filed her own <a href="https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-woman-accused-of-husbands-murder-faces-civil-case-over-property-finances">civil suit</a> “seeking not only half of the marital residence but also her late husband’s business, which is valued at approximately $4 million.” She has been <a href="https://kutv.com/news/local/judge-denies-kouri-richins-bail-request-due-to-severity-of-charges-potential-penalties-eric-richins-kamas-book-author-fentanyl-summit-county-court">denied bail</a> and is currently awaiting trial – an event destined to become a media spectacle.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/njXQz82S9UI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Inside Edition’ reports on the arrest of Kouri Richins.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whether or not it’s true that “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/10/16/15244466/love-and-hate-a-tolstoy-family-tale">each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way</a>,” as Leo Tolstoy famously wrote, other people’s domestic misery seems to be a constant source of interest. </p>
<p>What lies behind the public’s fascination with familial trauma, especially when it turns deadly? And what occluded anxieties or longings do people confront or exorcise as they consume these stories of mayhem and murder?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/20/true-crime-podcasts-are-popular-in-the-us-particularly-among-women-and-those-with-less-formal-education/">The interest in true-crime podcasts</a>, series and documentaries is nothing new. The public appetite for easily accessible portraits of real-life murders stretches back to the early days of print, when they were repackaged and sold as ballads, domestic tragedies and lurid penny pamphlets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/961f96e82665b4b9a540742fafcf3ca5/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=51922&diss=y">My research</a> as a scholar of 16th- and 17th-century English literature is largely focused on popular representations of domestic crime. I’m often struck by the resonance between these historical portrayals and the way such incidents are reported today.</p>
<p>While the medium has changed, the framing of these stories has remained strikingly consistent. The same queasy combination of sensationalist titillation and pious condemnation found in 16th- and 17th-century media appears in today’s news coverage of domestic murders – and it shines a light on enduring cultural anxieties. </p>
<h2>‘Sleeping in a serpent’s bed’</h2>
<p>The Richins case – with its themes of marital distrust, betrayal and conflicting interests – echoes a 16th-century murder so scandalous that it was reported in historical chronicles and popular pamphlets alike. It also inspired the Elizabethan domestic tragedy “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43440/43440-h/43440-h.htm">Arden of Faversham</a>” and at least <a href="https://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/printballad.php?i=rox_album_3_156-157_2448x2448.jpg">one ballad</a>. </p>
<p>The crime occurred on Valentine’s Day 1551, when <a href="https://blog.pshares.org/alice-arden-of-faversham-and-womens-interest-in-true-crime/">Alice Arden</a> conspired with her lover and some hired assassins to kill her husband, Thomas, at his own dinner table. </p>
<p>The historical records and the play depict a woman who places desire above duty, determined to kill her husband and replace him with her paramour, who was a servant in her stepfather’s household – a step down the social ladder that added insult to injury.</p>
<p>That the murder of a middle-class suburban bureaucrat rated inclusion in official sources like “<a href="https://english.nsms.ox.ac.uk/Holinshed/">Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland</a>” and the “<a href="https://www.exclassics.com/newgate/ng4.htm">Newgate Calendar</a>” – and was still inspiring fresh interpretations decades later – suggests an appeal beyond the merely salacious. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crude drawing of man being strangled with a cloth at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540532/original/file-20230801-19-wj7vfp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An undated print depicts the murder of Thomas Arden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://from.ncl.ac.uk/hubfs/Ardens_Murder.png">Newcastle University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 16th-century England, where the majority of adults <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=DrMyGQGmwmoC&q=adventure+of+marriage#v=snippet&q=adventure%20of%20marriage&f=false">were married</a>, women effectively became their husbands’ legal “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverture">subjects</a>” upon marriage. This meant that a wife who killed her spouse was guilty not only of murder but of petit, or “petty,” treason, a crime against the state punishable by burning. <a href="https://brill.com/display/book/9789004400696/BP000015.xml?language=en">As I have argued elsewhere</a>, the idea of violent marital insurrection posed a frightening challenge to patriarchal notions of a man’s home as his castle. </p>
<p>But cases of female violence were – <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/domestic-abuse-is-a-gendered-crime/">as now</a> – comparatively rare: The figure of the murderous wife wielded far more power in the imagination than in reality. </p>
<p>As the unmarried Elizabeth I’s long reign drew to its close, fears about domestic partners gone wild indicated broader fears about the family as a “<a href="https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/CleaverGodly_M/index.html">little commonwealth</a>” or microcosmic state – and the need to reinforce the status quo in politically uncertain times.</p>
<p>In life and onstage, Alice Arden was the stuff of proto-feminist fantasy and masculine nightmare, and early modern plays, pamphlets and ballads sought to defuse the rogue woman’s perceived menace in the way they presented the scandal. </p>
<p><a href="http://elizabethandrama.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Arden-of-Feversham-Annotated.pdf">In the play</a>, Alice’s lover, Moseby, notes that “‘tis fearful sleeping in a serpent’s bed,” since when she has “supplanted Arden for my sake” she might “extirpen me to plant another.” </p>
<p>These suspicions find an echo in Eric Richins’ <a href="https://meaww.com/eric-richins-husband-allegedly-poisoned-by-author-wife-kouri-richins-believed-she-was-unfaithful">fears</a> about his wife’s intentions, and in some media portrayals of her as a <a href="https://meaww.com/kouri-richins-utah-woman-who-killed-husband-believed-she-would-inherit-3-6-m-until-he-changed-will">thwarted gold digger</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Like a fierce and bloody Medea’</h2>
<p>If a homicidal wife was a terrifying prospect, a murderous mother presented an entirely different level of horror. </p>
<p>The anonymous 1616 pamphlet “<a href="https://www.executedtoday.com/2015/05/18/1616-margaret-vincent-pitilesse-mother/#:%7E:text=A%20pitiless%20mother%2C%20that%20most,Vincent%20of%20the%20same%20town.">A Pittilesse Mother That at One Time Murdered Two of Her Own Children at Acton, etc.</a>” tells the story of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/medieval-and-early-modern-murder/monstrous-unmaking-maternal-infanticide-and-female-agency-in-early-modern-england/664BA2D9B855631299EF057D94BDB25C">Margaret Vincent</a>, who strangled and killed her two young children in an attempt to save their souls when her husband refused to convert to Catholicism. (She later repented, saying she had been “converted to a blind belief of bewitching heresy.”)</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crude drawing of woman murdering two little children on a bed while a demon watches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540533/original/file-20230801-18384-iitsai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘A Pittilesse Mother’ tells the story of Margaret Vincent’s murder of her two children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/media/strangling-from-a-pittilesse-mother-that-most-unnaturally-at-one-time-murthered-eb67ac">British Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are many parallels in the stories of Vincent and an evangelical Christian named <a href="https://time.com/4375398/andrea-yates-15-years-drown-children/">Andrea Yates</a>, who in 2001 drowned her five children in the bathtub of their Texas home, believing she would send their souls to heaven and drive Satan from the world. In March 2002, Yates was sentenced to life in prison, but a 2006 appeal found her not guilty by reason of insanity. She now resides in a mental health facility from which <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/u-s-woman-who-drowned-children-refuses-release-from-psychiatric-hospital-every-year">she routinely refuses</a> to apply for release.</p>
<p>Neither Vincent nor Yates had been involved in any previous crimes or scandals, but both had exhibited signs of spiritual or mental instability. Vincent had “disobediently” insisted her family become Roman Catholics; Yates had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates#:%7E:text=Yates%20stopped%20taking%20Haldol%20in,feverishly%2C%20and%20stopped%20feeding%20Mary.">stopped taking the medication</a> prescribed for her postpartum depression and later psychosis without her doctor’s approval. Both women reportedly planned their children’s murders carefully, waited until their husbands were away from home to commit them, invoked diabolical forces to explain their actions, and initially claimed to feel no remorse. </p>
<p>The correlation between these historically distant murders is disturbing and fascinating, not least because both narratives feature conventionally “good,” married, middle-class mothers. Yet both were excoriated in contemporary media as <a href="https://nypost.com/2001/06/26/the-murdering-mom-the-prison-of-self/">monsters</a>: guilty of <a href="https://www.executedtoday.com/2015/05/18/1616-margaret-vincent-pitilesse-mother/">crimes against nature</a>, their husbands and their offspring.</p>
<p>Fast-forward to Jan. 24, 2023, when <a href="https://www.wcvb.com/article/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-mother-children-killed-committed-6-months/43852054">Lindsay Clancy</a> sent her husband, Patrick, on an errand and, like Margaret Vincent, strangled her three children before attempting suicide.</p>
<p>When Patrick Clancy returned to their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, he found Lindsay on the lawn with major injuries, suffered in a jump from a second-story window. Inside, his children – ages 5 years, 3 years and 8 months – were unconscious. The two oldest were pronounced dead at the scene, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/as-community-mourns-duxbury-children-killed-questions-circle-about-maternal-mental-health/2956568/">while the youngest survived for several days</a>. </p>
<p>As more details of the case became known, a picture emerged of a doting mother and nurse midwife who often shared family photos and anecdotes on social media. After her youngest child’s birth, these posts included references to depression, anxiety and her ongoing attempts to find relief via therapy and medication. </p>
<p><a href="https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/unlike-any-other-type-of-homicide-how-lindsay-clancy-mirrors-andrea-yates-case/">The inevitable comparisons</a> to the 2001 Yates murders were exacerbated by her lawyer’s revelation that Clancy had been prescribed more than a dozen medications in recent weeks, and by her own claim – as reported during her Feb. 7, 2023, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/02/07/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-arraignment">arraignment</a> – that she had “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/health/lindsay-clancy-child-murder-charges-massachusetts.html">heard a man’s voice, telling her to kill the kids and kill herself because it was her last chance</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Split screen of judge sitting at his dais and woman wearing facemask lying in a hospital bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540538/original/file-20230801-19-3rdp00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lindsay Clancy appeared at her arraignment over Zoom while still in the hospital recovering from self-inflicted injuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lindsay-clancy-appeared-at-her-plymouth-district-court-news-photo/1246891610?adppopup=true">David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The prosecution presented Clancy as a coldblooded, calculating murderer. The defense countered with a portrait of a woman suffering from serious mental illness with inadequate treatment. <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/duxbury-tragedy-read-patrick-clancys-full-statement-on-his-wife-deaths-of-3-kids/2957737/">Patrick Clancy</a> has argued that his wife deserves compassion rather than condemnation. </p>
<p>As the familiar lines are drawn on the battlefield of public opinion, the sense of déjà vu is palpable. Is Lindsay Clancy a latter-day <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea">Medea</a>, the vengeful child killer of Greek mythology, or an overwhelmed and poorly supported woman struggling with a serious illness? As of this writing, <a href="https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/lindsay-clancy-duxbury-mother-accused-murdering-her-kids-remain-committed-6-months/PM7XPI3MCVFINO65YCCAGBSCNQ/">Clancy is committed</a> to Tewksbury State Hospital until November 2023, at which point future legal proceedings will be assessed.</p>
<p>These events are unquestionably horrific, but the passage of two decades may have wrought some changes in the public’s response. While Clancy has been reviled in some quarters as a coldblooded killer – <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@aprnbeauty_81/video/7198259011211365637">particularly on social media</a> – the murders have also sparked a discussion about <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/what-we-still-dont-understand-about-postpartum-psychosis#:%7E:text=In%20November%2C%20Clancy%2C%20who%20is,with%20Ativan%2C%20a%20benzodiazepine%2C%20but">postpartum mental health</a>, suggesting a willingness to better understand this complicated topic.</p>
<h2>A queasy sort of comfort</h2>
<p>Tales of domestic murder expose and underscore fears about society’s most fundamental institutions: home, family and community. The media in every period are extremely skilled at weaponizing – and capitalizing on – worries about the family’s capacity to provide a safe haven in a turbulent world.</p>
<p>In early modern England, highly gendered ideas about the home as a reflection of the state politicized anxieties about order, stability and the family as a patriarchal institution. Then as now, it was a frightening – yet compelling – prospect that threats to a family’s very survival might be hiding in the place people should feel safest. </p>
<p>Perhaps the ongoing fascination with dysfunctional, broken homes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-it-feel-good-to-see-someone-fail-107349">is based in schadenfreude</a>, and the comforting realization that as troubled as our own families may be, we have not taken violent action against them. </p>
<p>Like the repentant gallows speeches recounted in ballads, or the assurance in “A Pittilesse Mother” that Margaret Vincent “earnestly repented the deed,” the containment and punishment of those who disrupt this bedrock institution offer reassurance that they are anomalies. (I could never do that; you could never do that.)</p>
<p>Or the appeal may lie in the idea that any of us might, in fact, be capable of such things. </p>
<p>Perhaps in choosing to be disturbed, entertained and ultimately comforted by narratives about domestic stability turned to chaos, we find a way to confront, if only obliquely, our most primal fears about the institutions we trust, the people we love – and our own capacity to destroy them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205723/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dianne Berg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The framing of these stories of murder and mayhem have remained remarkably consistent since the invention of the printing press – and may reveal our own hidden fears and desires.
Dianne Berg, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Clark University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/193071
2023-07-31T12:23:25Z
2023-07-31T12:23:25Z
What happens if someone dies in space?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516818/original/file-20230321-2335-y7uosd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4970%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's depiction of two astronauts on Mars. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/astronauts-exploring-mars-royalty-free-image/1318550764?phrase=astronauts%20on%20Mars&adppopup=true">cokada/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>What happens if someone dies in space? – Guillermo, Palm Beach, Florida</strong></p>
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<hr>
<p>There’s no question that sending human beings to space is an extraordinarily difficult and perilous proposition. </p>
<p>Since human space exploration began just over 60 years ago, 20 people have died – 14 in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/35-years-ago-remembering-challenger-and-her-crew">NASA space shuttle tragedies of 1986</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/01/1153150931/columbia-space-shuttle-disaster-20th-anniversary">2003</a>, three cosmonauts during <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-remembering-the-crew-of-soyuz-11">the 1971 Soyuz 11 mission</a>, and three astronauts in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/55-years-ago-tragedy-on-the-launch-pad">Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967</a>.</p>
<p>Given how complicated human spaceflight is, it’s actually remarkable how few people have lost their lives so far. But NASA plans to send <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii">a crew to the Moon in 2025</a> and astronauts to Mars <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/6_Technologies_NASA_is_Advancing_to_Send_Humans_to_Mars">in the next decade</a>. Commercial spaceflight <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/6_Technologies_NASA_is_Advancing_to_Send_Humans_to_Mars">is becoming routine</a>. As space travel becomes more common, so does the possibility that someone might die along the way. </p>
<p>It brings to mind a gloomy but necessary question to ask: If someone dies in space – what happens to the body?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An artist's concept of an astronaut on Mars, sitting against a rock and gazing at the space colony sitting in the distance on dusty orange flatland." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516825/original/file-20230321-26-l9gw62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In the future, NASA and other space agencies, along with private industry, hope to establish colonies on Mars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/astronaut-on-planet-mars-watching-a-space-station-royalty-free-image/1398989851">janiecbros/E! via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Death on the Moon and Mars</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/emmanuel-urquieta-ordonez-32141">a space medical doctor</a> who works to find new ways to keep astronauts healthy, I and my team at the <a href="https://www.bcm.edu/academic-centers/space-medicine/translational-research-institute">Translational Research Institute for Space Health</a> want to make sure space explorers are as healthy as they can be for space missions.</p>
<p>Here is how death in space would be handled today: If someone died on a low-Earth-orbit mission – such as aboard the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a> – the crew could return the body to Earth in a capsule within a matter of hours. </p>
<p>If it happened on the Moon, the crew could return home with the body in just a few days. NASA already has detailed <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ochmo-tb-012_mortality_related_to_human_spaceflight.pdf">protocols in place for such events</a>. </p>
<p>Because of that quick return, it’s likely that preservation of the body would not be NASA’s major concern; instead, the No. 1 priority would be making sure the remaining crew returns safely to Earth. </p>
<p>Things would be different if an astronaut died during the <a href="https://nineplanets.org/questions/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-to-mars/">300 million-mile trip to Mars</a>. </p>
<p>In that scenario, the crew probably wouldn’t be able to turn around and go back. Instead, the body would likely return to Earth along with the crew at the end of the mission, which would be a couple of years later. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the crew would presumably preserve the body in a separate chamber <a href="https://doi.org/10.3357/AMHP.6146.2023">or specialized body bag</a>. The steady temperature and humidity inside the space vehicle would theoretically help preserve the body. </p>
<p>But all those scenarios would apply only if someone died in a pressurized environment, like a space station or a spacecraft. </p>
<p>What would happen if someone stepped outside into space <a href="https://www.livescience.com/human-body-no-spacesuit">without the protection of a spacesuit</a>? </p>
<p>The astronaut would die almost instantly. The loss of pressure and the exposure to the vacuum of space would make it impossible for the astronaut to breathe, and blood and other body fluids would boil. </p>
<p>What would happen if an astronaut stepped out onto the Moon or Mars without a spacesuit? </p>
<p>The Moon has nearly no atmosphere – <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LADEE/news/lunar-atmosphere.html">a very tiny amount</a>. Mars has <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mars/overview/#:%7E">a very thin atmosphere</a>, and almost no oxygen. So the result would be about the same as exposure to open space: suffocation and boiling blood.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8yU33cguGaY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Radiation exposure, toxic soil and leaky spacesuits are three of the ways to die on Mars.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What about burial?</h2>
<p>Suppose the astronaut died after landing, while on the surface of Mars. </p>
<p>Cremation isn’t desirable; it requires too much energy that the surviving crew needs for other purposes. And burial isn’t a good idea, either. Bacteria and other organisms from the body could <a href="https://theconversation.com/colonizing-mars-means-contaminating-mars-and-never-knowing-for-sure-if-it-had-its-own-native-life-103053">contaminate the Martian surface</a>. Instead, the crew would likely preserve the body in a specialized body bag until it could be returned to Earth. </p>
<p>There are still many unknowns about how explorers would deal with a death. It’s not just the question of what to do with the body. Helping the crew deal with the loss, and helping the grieving families back on Earth, are just as important as handling the remains of the person who died. But to truly colonize other worlds – whether the Moon, Mars or a planet outside our solar system – this grim scenario will require planning and protocols.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emmanuel Urquieta is supported by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health.</span></em></p>
If an astronaut were to die on Mars, neither cremation nor burial would be good options.
Emmanuel Urquieta, Professor of Space Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.