Question

Part II Short Essay Questions Take care to express your thoughts in logical, well-organized form. Answer the following question in well-developed paragraphs.

A. Define what is meant by a death system. Then identify and explain some of the 1) elements and 2) functions of a death system. Two paragraphs (8 points)

B. Provide a detailed definition of grief, bereavement and mourning; using examples, explain how they are similar, unrelated, or different. Two paragraphs (7 points)

Answer 1

(A)
Death system is the sociophysical, interpersonal, and symbolic network through which an individual's relationship to mortality is arbitrated by his or her society. Death systems help the members of a particular group to know what death is and how to respond to it.

(1) Major Elements of theDeath System include:

I.People: doctors, pharmacists, etc. death related
II.Places: funeral homes. Hospitals, etc.
III.Times: Holidays, memorials etc
IV.Objects: hearse, guillotine, death certificate etc
V.Symbols: Black, marigold, etc.

(2) Major functions of theDeath System are-

I. Warnings & Precaution
(a) Weatherman telling you hurricanes is coming
(b) Or doctor telling you bad news

II.Caring for the dying
(a)Hospice care
(b)Counseling

III.Preventing Death
(a) Medicine, surgeries
(b)Artificial life – ventilator

IV. Killing
(a) Rule and regulation
(b) killing animals
(c) not really the act of killing

V. Disposal of the Body
(a) Every culture has a different way

VI. Making Sense of Death
(a) Beliefs about after death

VII.War
(a) Kill large amounts of people
(b) International treaties different rules

B.

Grief is an internal experience to loss. This includes the thoughts and feelings that each of us has when someone we love dies. Our ability to grieve stems from our capacity to give and receive love.
Many of us have been given the message that grief is something "to get over." The reality of the situation is that grief is not something that one "gets over." Rather we integrate our grief by being touched by the feelings. In a way, it is our grief that manages us or guides us rather than us trying to manage our grief. Grief is integrated when it is welcomed rather than being based on a set time.

Mourning, often heard interchangeably with grief, is different. Mourning is the outward expression of our grief. In other words, it is our shared social response to loss. In simple terms, mourning is grief gone public.

Bereavement

To be bereaved is to be torn apart and to have special needs. After the loss of a loved one in our lives we may feel torn to pieces or feel like there is a hole in our lives. And we do have special needs. Things are different and our needs have shifted.

No matter where one is on their grief journey, it is a journey. Moving from our internal feelings and thoughts into authentic mourning and knowing that we can’t go back to the way it was before. Rather, we seek a new integration, a new normal, all the while knowing that there will be days when tears will flow or smile will come.