Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and the “Five Stages” Model in a Sampling of Recent American Textbooks

Abstract

This article examines some aspects of the enduring influence of the work of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and especially of her “five stages” model through a sampling of recent textbooks published in the United States in selected academic disciplines and professional fields. The following are the questions to be asked: 1. Does the “five stages” model appear without significant change in the textbooks described here? 2. Is the “five stages” model applied in these textbooks to issues involving loss, grief, and bereavement, as well as to those involving terminal illness and dying? 3. Is the “five stages” model criticized in some or all of these textbooks? 4. If so, is the criticism sufficient to argue that, while the “five stages” model might be presented as an important historical framework, it should no longer be regarded as a sound theory to guide contemporary education and practice?