How Death Imitates Life: Cultural Influences on Conceptions of Death and Dying

James Gire
2014 Online Readings in Psychology and Culture  
Regardless of how or where we are born, what unites people of all cultures is the fact everyone eventually dies. However, cultures vary in how they conceptualize death and what happens when a person dies. In some cultures, death is conceived to involve different conditions, including sleep, illness, and reaching a certain age. In other cultures, death is said to occur only when there is a total cessation of life. Similarly, certain cultural traditions view death as a transition to other forms
more » ... existence; others propose a continuous interaction between the dead and the living; some cultures conceive a circular pattern of multiple deaths and rebirths; and yet others view death as the final end, with nothing occurring after death. These different conceptions have a noticeable influence on their lifestyles, their readiness to die for a cause, the degree to which they fear death, their expressions of grief and mourning, and the nature of funeral rituals. Any reasonably broad conceptualization of death issues would necessarily have to incorporate these various cultural variations. This organization provides grief support to people who have experienced the death of a child (of any age) both personally, or family members or friends of those so affected. http://www.hospicefoundation.org. This website is operated by the Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and caters to people and their families who are dealing with the difficult, painful, and complex end-of-life decisions and experiences.
doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1120 fatcat:ht65tmf4lbbwtncl5jqdf3ulpi