Attitudes Towards Death and Dying

Death and dying has always been an interesting issueexistence which has resulted in the realities of death
to understand and interpret. Each person has his or herbeing obscured (Foos-Graber, 1989, p.6).
own view of death and attitude towards it. However,Recently the issue of death has been raised in the U.S.
the society as the main influencer has a huge impactA huge role was played by the media that covers all
on people’s perception of death. The attitudes of"important deaths". Not only death facts have been
the society towards death have been changing overreported but also emotional side has been usually
the time. Fear has always been one of the mostbrought up. Another thing that makes people think
common attitudes towards death. However,about death and fear it is the emergence of HIV/AIDS.
today’s society has developed many otherThe only way people witness death is through
attitudes.television. Many have no real experience dealing with
1. Attitudes towards death change over a life period ofthe death of close relative or a loved one. So, when it
the person.happens people just do not know how to deal with it.
When a baby is born he or she does not understandAnother aspect that effects person’s perception
what death means. The concept of death (it isof death is his or her religious believes or non-believes.
unavoidable, all living things die and we will eventuallyDifferent religions view death differently. People of
die some day) has to be developed to understanddifferent occupations also view death differently. A
death and have an attitude concerning it. When littlemedical worker would probably view death as a
people start understanding death they try to disagreeprofessional failure while, for example, an artist would
with it and they believe that they can resist it. As thetake it emotionally and could even be inspired to
person grows and the concept of death is alreadydevote something to the person that died. Another
developed death becomes a natural thing and viewedthing that effects the perception and attitude towards
totally different. People do not try to argue with thedeath is the circumstances of death. There would be a
meaning of death.totally different position about "good death" (when an
A great number of scholars investigated the issue ofold person dies) and a death of a teenager in a car
death.a) Sigmund Freud recognized that people haveaccident.
difficulties with the dying people.b) Abram RosenblattOur society today views the death of a child as more
found that when people reminded of their mortalitytraumatic than the death of an adult. This is because it
they react more harshly toward moral transgressorsis rare in the U.S. to die young. It could be argued that
and become more favorably disposed toward thosewhereas social birth often precedes physical birth, this
who uphold their values.c) Thomas Aquinus stated thatis reversed with older people, as their status declines
people are afraid of death not only when they feel itswith age. Similarly, the lethally ill suffer also from 'social
presence but even when they think about it.dying', where others increasingly leave them. 'There
The ability to understand the reality of death andare many ways in which people can approach their
realize its impact on us, ability to discuss our fearsown and other's death, but no one chooses their
about death helps to fully live our lives.approach independently of others' (Mulhall, 1996).
2. American society happens to deny the reality ofTo fully live our lives we should live our lives as if we
death. This is the reason why people always getknew we only had days to live. Thomas Aquinas
confused with death issues. In medieval times, people indescribes people’s fear of death by making the
the western world approached death in a more naturalstatement, " Man (woman) shuns death not only when
way than in present day. Technology has separatedhe (she) feels its presence, but also he (she) thinks of
westerners from the fundamentals of their biologicalit," (Choron, 1964, p.71).