FREE BMS Sociology Death and Dying Questions and Answers Flashcards

Which sociologist introduced the concept of 'awareness contexts' to describe how dying patients and their caregivers manage knowledge of impending death?

Answer: Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss

Glaser and Strauss identified four awareness contexts—closed, suspected, mutual pretense, and open—in their 1965 study of dying in hospitals.

In the context of death and dying, what does the term 'social death' refer to?

Answer: The point at which a person is treated as if they are already dead by others

Social death occurs when a person is perceived and treated as nonexistent by the community, often before biological death.

Which theoretical perspective views death-related rituals primarily as mechanisms that reinforce group solidarity and shared values?

Answer: Functionalism

Functionalism, rooted in Durkheim's work, sees funeral rituals as collective activities that strengthen social bonds and reaffirm group norms.

What is 'disenfranchised grief' as defined by Kenneth Doka?

Answer: Grief that is not openly acknowledged or socially supported

Doka defined disenfranchised grief as mourning that occurs when a loss is not recognized, validated, or publicly supported by society.

How has the medicalization of death most significantly changed the dying process in the United States?

Answer: Death increasingly occurs in institutional settings under medical supervision

Medicalization shifted dying from a home-based family event to one managed by healthcare professionals in hospitals and care facilities.

Which concept describes the cultural tendency in modern Western societies to avoid discussing or confronting death?

Answer: Death denial

Death denial refers to the widespread cultural pattern of minimizing, avoiding, or sanitizing discussions and visible reminders of mortality.