CDAS Publications

Books

Bereavement Narratives: Continuing Bonds in the 21st Century
Christine Valentine 2008

Death and Dying: A Sociological Introduction
Glennys Howarth 2007

A Social History of Dying
Allan Kellehear 2007

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing
Malcolm Johnson (Ed), In association with Vern L. Bengston, Peter G. Coleman and Thomas B.L. Kirkwood 2005

On Bereavement
Tony Walter 1999

For a more comprehensive list of publications by CDAS members and associates, see our people pages.

Bereavement Narratives: Continuing Bonds in the 21st Century

by Christine Valentine

Bereavement is often treated as a psychological condition of the individual with both healthy and pathological forms. However, this empirically-grounded study argues that this is not always the best or only way to help the bereaved. In a radical departure, it emphasises normality and social and cultural diversity in grieving.

Exploring the significance of the dying person’s final moments for those who are left behind, this book sheds new light on the variety of ways in which bereaved people maintain their relationship with dead loved ones and how the dead retain a significant social presence in the lives of the living. It draws practical conclusions for professionals in relation to the complex and social nature of grief and the value placed on the right to grieve in one’s own way – supporting and encouraging the bereaved person to articulate their own experience and find their own methods of coping.

Based on new empirical research, Bereavement in Contemporary Society is an innovative and invaluable read for all students and researchers of death, dying and bereavement.

For more information on this publication, and to buy a copy, visit the Routledge Mental Health website. This book is now available in both hard back and paper back.

Death and Dying: A Sociological Introduction

by Glennys Howarth

This stimulating new book provides a sophisticated introduction to the key issues in the sociology of death and dying.

In recent years, the social sciences have seen an upsurge of interest in death and dying. The fascination with death is reflected in popular media such as newspapers, television documentaries, films and soaps, and, moreover, in the multiplying range of professional roles associated with dying and death. Yet despite its ubiquitous significance, the majority of texts in the field have been written primarily for health professionals. This book breaks with that tradition.

It provides a cutting edge, comprehensive discussion of the key topics in death and dying and in so doing demonstrates that the study of mortality is germane to all areas of sociology. The book is organised thematically, utilising empirical material from cross-national and cross-cultural perspectives. It carefully addresses questions about social attitudes to mortality, the social nature of death and dying, explanations for change and diversity in approaches, and traditional, modern and postmodern experiences of death.

Death and Dying will appeal to students across the social sciences, as well as professionals whose work brings them into contact with dying or bereaved people.

For more information or to buy a copy, please visit the polity website.

Reviews

'A valuable contribution to the sociology literature, this volume is comprehensive, current, and intelligently and thoroughly researched. It guides readers through the latest thinking in the field of dying, death and bereavement, offering both facts and insights in a logical and easily understood fashion. In short, the book delivers on its promise to explore substantive and theoretical debates in the sociology of death and dying while providing a well thought-out framework for investigation and response.'

Lynne Ann DeSpelder, Cabrillo College, Aptos, California

‘Glennys Howarth has written a pioneering work that challenges the reader to examine their taken-for-granted assumptions about mortality – the separation between the body and society, or even between life and death itself. This is a book full of wonderful insights – and surprises! It is a brilliant and accessible introduction to a fast-growing but complex field and compulsory reading for every student of dying, death and loss, irrespective of their academic programme.’

Allan Kellehear, La Trobe University

‘This is a tour de force! Glennys Howarth has written a systematic and in-depth text about an area that is becoming increasingly relevant to many disciplines. Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the topic is conveyed comprehensively and accessibly to both the informed and an as yet uninformed readership. It should be essential reading for all those interested in developing their knowledge of dying, death, disposal and bereavement.’

Jeanne Katz, Open University

 

A Social History of Dying

by Allan Kellehear

Our experiences of dying have been shaped by ancient ideas about death
and social responsibility at the end of life. From Stone Age ideas about
dying as an otherworld journey to the contemporary Cosmopolitan Age of
dying in nursing homes, Allan Kellehear takes the reader on a two millionyear
journey of discovery that covers the major challenges we will all face:
anticipating, preparing, taming and timing our eventual deaths.

This is a major review of the human and clinical sciences literature about
human dying. The historical approach of this book places recent images
of cancer dying and medical care in broader historical, medical and global
context. Dying is traced from its origins as an otherworld journey to its
later development as ‘good death’ or ‘well-managed’ dying in settlement
societies. Professor Kellehear argues that most dying today is not well managed.
Instead, we are witnessing a rise in shameful forms of dying. It is not
cancer, heart disease or medical science that present modern dying conduct
with its greatest moral tests but rather poverty, ageing and social exclusion.

For more information on this publication, and to buy a copy, visit the Cambridge University Press website.

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing

Edited by Malcolm Johnson
in association with Vern L. Bengston, Peter G. Coleman and Thomas B. L. Kirkwood

The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing is a state-of-the-art guide to the current body of knowledge, theory, policy and practice relevant to age researchers and gerontologists around the world. It contains almost eight original chapters, commissioned and written by the world's leading gerontologists from sixteen countries and five continents. The broad focus of the book is on the behavioural and medical sciences. It provides comprehensive, accessible and authoritative accounts of all the key topics in the field ranging from theories of ageing, to demography, physical aspects of ageing, mental processes and ageing, nursing and health-care for older people, the social context of ageing, cross-cultural perspectives, relationships, quality of life, gender, and financial and policy provision. This handbook will be a must-have resource for all researcher, students and professionals with an interest in age and ageing.

For more information and to buy a copy, please visit the Cambridge University Press website.

On Bereavement

By Tony Walter

Some societies and some individuals find a place for their dead, others leave them behind. In recent years, researchers, professionals and bereaved people themselves have struggled with this. Should the bond with the dead be continued or broken? What is clear is that the grieving individual is not left in a social vacuum but has to struggle with expectations from self, family, friends, professionals and academic theorists.

This ground-breaking book looks at the social position of the bereaved. They find themselves caught between the living and the dead, sometimes searching for guidelines in a de-ritualised society that has few to offer, sometimes finding their grief inappropriately pathologised and policed. At its best, bereavement care offers reassurance, validation, and freedom to talk where the client has previously encountered judgmentalism.

In this unique book, Tony Walter applies sociological insights to one of the most personal of human situations. On Bereavement is aimed at students on medical, nursing, counselling and social work courses that include bereavement as a topic. It will also appeal to sociology students with an interest in death, dying and mortality.

For more information on this publication, and to buy a copy, please visit the Open University Press website.