Dying and the Meanings of Death: Sociological Inquiries

Abstract

This review takes off from the remarkable decline in mortality as one of the most striking features of the social history of the past century. Most deaths now occur not among the young but among the old. Death, thus postponed, is taking on new meanings for both the individual and society. Three lines of sociological inquiry over the past two decades, together with an extensive bibliography, are critically reviewed. First, the literature on dying and the self includes dying as a social process, dying trajectories, attitudes toward death, and the potentially mortal impact of such social stressors as retirement, residential relocation, and economic change. Second, a broad and often confusing literature deals with bereavement, grief, and the meaning of loss by death to surviving significant others, touching upon such topics as the “broken heart syndrome,” widowhood, types of death and bereavement, and anticipatory grief. Third, sociological inquiries examine the norms and social structures found in all societies for defining and managing dying and the consequences of death. Although no satisfactory “sociology of death” has yet been written, four influential theories of death-in-society are noted: by Parsons, Blauner, Marshall, and Fox. On balance, the review sees a promising future for sociological inquiries on death and dying and concludes that the meanings of death are in a process of continuing transformation. Some of the key questions yet to be answered are: Will socialization for death become a recognized reality? Will dying persons seek to maintain an even greater sense of autonomy? Will passive euthanasia create fewer moral dilemmas? Will suicide continue as “the final alternative” for increasing numbers of older people? Will new patterns of bereavement emerge for the future population of widows? Will new caring environments for the terminally ill be institutionalized? Will the concept of a “good” death gain wider acceptance? An agenda for continued sociological inquiry appears to be in hand.