Editors John D. Morgan (King’s College, London, Canada) and Pittu Laungani (Manchester University, England) have gathered leading international authorities to produce Death and Bereavement Around the World, Volume 1: Major Religious Traditions, the first of a five-volume presentation and analysis of the ways different peoples experience dying and grief.
Effective bereavement care requires a knowledge of an individual’s physical, social, educational, and spiritual existence since the expressions of grief and the needs that emerge vary widely from one to another and are subject to past experiences, cultural expectations, personal beliefs, and relationships. An individual’s identity comes from a sense of personal uniqueness; solidarity with group ideals; continuity with the past, present and future; and from the culture by which an individual is raised or adopted. A culture is the cumulative expression of a group’s attempts, through the rationality available to them, to pursue interests with one another and the material environment. It represents the pattern of values passed from generation to generation: knowledge, customs, beliefs, art, laws, moral ideas and ideas of success. People live and die according to their value systems. It is important, then, that caregivers understand not only the values and traditions of the major religions of the world, but also the national values and traditions by which persons find meaning.
Focus on Volume 2: Death and Bereavement in the Americas Death and Bereavement Around the World, Volume 2: Death and Bereavement in the Americas, examines national cultures. The contributors explore unique Canadian views about dying, bereavement, and euthanasia; the realities of dying and grieving in the United States, noting changes that have occurred since September 11, 2001; and black American attitudes and behaviors. The celebration of the "Day of the Dead" is used to interpret Meso-American views of death-- that death does not have the final word. Other contributors show how the indigenous beliefs of Jamaica mix with Christianity and with the social crises in that country, and discuss similar themes about in Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, where a strong hospice and bereavement care movement is tempering traditional attitudes. In the chapters on Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela, we see how rituals, both religious and secular, help the dying and bereaved. Death and Bereavement Around the World will be a valuable resource for those who care for others during a time of stress or crisis. Physicians and nurses, clergy and funeral directors, teachers, scout leaders, coaches, and lay caretakers will be better able to understand, communicate, and integrate bereavement traditions with their patients, clients, colleagues and family members.
