Death and Bereavement Around the World ― Reflective Essays

This final volume of Death and Bereavement Around the World reflects on some major themes: death and after-life, religion and spirituality, rites and rituals, secularist approaches, cultural variations, suicide, and other issues. The first few chapters describe progress in end-of-life care, including some new tools to evaluate hospice care (chapter 1); what children know, when they know it, and how parents can respond to questions, with some guidelines for support by schools (chapter 2); the importance of ritual (chapter 3); and gender differences in death customs around the world (chapter 4). The transcript of a 1997 interview of John (Jack) Morgan by Pittu Laungani is presented as chapter 5. The following chapters discuss death systems and suicide (chapter 6); HIV/AIDS, including the role of cultural and economic factors in the spread of the disease (chapter 7); and grief and bereavement in the developing world, taking the AIDS pandemic as a specific challenge (chapter 8). Chapter 9 covers issues related to dying and death in Romania. In chapter 10 the focus is on the various functions and uses of names in a cross-cultural context. Roadside memorials as a pivotal healing strategy are the topic of chapter 11. Chapters 12 and 13 focus on spiritual experience with loss. The final chapter presents some conclusions, and in the Epilogue, Mary Ann Morgan honors the life, career, dying, death, and achievements of John (Jack) Morgan. The "Final Word" includes the words of Pittu Laungani, from a book published just weeks before his death in February 2007. Intended Audience: This work is for anyone interested in or working in death and bereavement issues, particularly academics, educators, librarians, chaplains, clergy, funeral service directors, hospice care providers and volunteers, palliative care providers, nurses, immigration officers, psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists, and counselors, especially bereavement counselors.

Pittu Laungani (deceased) was Senior Research Fellow at Manchester University, England, and honorary Professor of Psychology at Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey University, Bombay, India. Dr. Laungani specialized in multicultural education and counselling, especially grief counselling. He published more than 100 learned articles and was a much sought-after speaker. In addition to his academic work, he was a recognized novelist and playwright. Dr. Laungani was on the editorial boards of Medicine and Law, International Journal of Group Tensions, and International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. John D. Morgan (deceased) was a pioneer in the death awareness movement. Jack Morgan brought to the podium a wide range of topics in the field of death and bereavement, drawn from his work as educator, author, lecturer, and program organizer. In 1997 he received an award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling for his work in death education. Dr. Morgan spoke extensively throughout the world, edited 18 books, and was Series Editor for the Death Value, and Meaning Series (Baywood), now in more than 40 volumes. Stephen Palmer, Ph.D., is an Honorary Professor of Psychology and Founder Director of the Coaching Psychology Unit at City University, London, England. He is also Director of the Centre for Stress Management, London. He has written more than 150 academic papers and book chapters and written or edited more than 35 books on a range of topics, including suicide reduction, stress management coaching, coaching psychology, counseling, and psychotherapy. He is Editor of the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education and U.K. Coordinating Editor of the International Coaching Psychology Review. Dr. Palmer has received awards for his contributions to counseling psychology and psychotherapy.