Running Head: DEATH RELATED ENCOUNTERS

Death Related Encounters

Tiffany Homan
English310
August 15, 2015
Kim Smith

DEATH RELATED ENCOUNTERS

Death Related Encounters

Knowledge and beliefs about death can have a profound effect both on the way people live and
the way they approach their own death. Inevitably, the way in which people deal with death,
whether by denial or by the construction of a complex system of beliefs and myths, leads to
questions about the meaning of life. For Julia Neuberger this is the lesson of death. It is nothing
to fear of itself, but it concentrates the mind powerfully in examining what it is we mean by life
(Neuberger and White, 1991, p. 13). In some cultures, or groups within a culture, there is an
attempt to integrate the fact of mortality into the centre of living so that members are actively
encouraged to see death as normal and to face the fact that each of us will die. In others there is a
tendency to combat or deny the fact of death, to the extent that life becomes an exercise in
keeping thoughts of death at bay.
The five central features within the broad patters of death related encounters in our society are:
1. Death rates:
In general, death rates are determined by choosing some specific group of people and dividing
the number of those in the group who die during a particular time period by the total population
of the group. Studies of international data on death rates have long shown that Americans and in
general, those who reside in other developed societies around the world- have many advantages
in their encounters with death. In 1900 the death rate for the entire American population of
approximately 76 million people was 17.2 deaths per 1000 in the population. By 1954, that rate
had dropped to 9.2 per 1000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1975). Reduction in overall death rates
have a significant impact on encounters with death. Above all, they mean that most living
Americans are likely to have fewer encounters with natural death than did our greatgrandparents.
2. Average life expectancy:
Average life expectancy is closely related to death rates and is another significant feature in the
changing patterns of encounters with death. Projected average life expectancy for all individuals
born in the U.S. in 2007 rose to a record high of 77.9 years (Xu et al., 2007). Average life
expectancy identifies the average remaining length of life that can be expected for individuals of
a specific age. During the 20th century, overall average life expectancy in the United States
increased from fewer than 50 years to 76.7 years.
3. Causes of death: communicable versus degenerative diseases:
A third distinguishing factor in death related encounters has to do with causes of death. Around
1900 in the United States, the largest number of deaths resulted from infectious or communicable
diseases. Earlier cultures experienced sporadic waves of these communicable diseases. From
time to time epidemics of such diseases as influenza, cholera, scarlet fever, measles, smallpox,
and tuberculosis would run through human communities. Today relatively few people in the

DEATH RELATED ENCOUNTERS

developed countries die of communicable diseases- with notable exception of deaths associated
with influenza and pneumonia, septicaemia, and infection by HIV and AIDS.
In our society today, the largest numbers of death result from the long term wearing out of body
organs, a deterioration associated with aging, life-style, and environment. These set of chronic
conditions are called degenerative diseases.
4. Dying trajectories:
Different causes of death are typically associated with different patterns of dying trajectories.
Some dying trajectories involve a swift or almost instantaneous onset of death, while others last a
long time; some can be anticipated, others are ambiguous or unclear, and still others give no
advance warning.
Most communicable diseases are characterised by a relatively brief dying trajectory. The period
from the onset of the infection until its resolution, either in death or in recovery. By contrast,
dying trajectories associated with degenerative diseases are usually lengthier; sometimes much
lengthier.
5. Location of death:
Another feature in death related encounter is location of death. In 1949, 49.5% of all deaths in
our society occurred in some sort of healthcare institution. By 2007, more than 68% of all deaths
in the United States took place in an institution: nearly 44% in health care centre and 21% in
some sort of long term facility.
As time passed by the encounters with death changed and six factors related to it are given
below:
1. Rapid industrialization: an important factor that led to the decline in death rate.
2. Public health measures: another factor which has slowed down the death rate.
3. Preventive health care for individuals: a very important factor in reducing the death rate.
4. The rise of modern cure oriented medicine: a significant contributor in reducing the death rate.
5. The nature of contemporary families: a significant factor of how death is encountered.
6. Lifestyle: another factor that influences how death is encountered.

References

DEATH RELATED ENCOUNTERS

[1] http://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/social-care/living-death-anddying/content-section-1.2.3
[2] https://jigsaw.vitalsource.com/api/v0/books/9781133710578