Thanatology
Thanatology is the study of death and encompasses a broad range of topics, including the circumstances surrounding individual deaths, the grief experienced by loved ones, and societal attitudes toward death. This interdisciplinary field integrates knowledge from areas such as medicine, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, focusing on the holistic care of dying individuals and their families. A significant aspect of thanatology is palliative care, which aims to address not only physical pain but also psychosocial and spiritual needs during the dying process.
Historically, discussions about death were often considered taboo, but influential figures like Cicely Saunders and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross helped to bring these topics into public discourse and professional practice, particularly through the hospice movement. Hospice care emphasizes the importance of quality of life for the dying, aiming to create a supportive environment for individuals and their families. Contemporary thanatology also addresses complex issues that arise with advances in medical technology, such as end-of-life decisions and cultural differences in death and bereavement practices. Organizations like the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) play a vital role in promoting education, resources, and support for professionals working in this sensitive field.
Subject Terms
Thanatology
DEFINITION: Study of death among human beings, including investigation of the circumstances surrounding deaths of individuals, the grief experienced by loved ones, and larger social attitudes toward death.
SIGNIFICANCE: The field of thanatology is interdisciplinary, including such areas of study as religion, medicine, psychology, sociology, psychiatry, social work, anthropology, and pharmacology. Much of the work of thanatologists focuses on palliative care for dying individuals and their families, which involves treating pain and addressing the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual issues related to death.
The term “thanatology” derives from the Greek word for death, thanatos. Thanatology explores how questions about the meaning of life and death affect the dying and their loved ones, recognizing that these questions are relevant to the psychological health of individuals, families, communities, and cultures. Because death is such a broad and complex subject, thanatology relies on holistic knowledge and practice.
Evolution of Thanatology
During the mid-twentieth century, many Americans considered death a taboo topic, to the extent that death was an unacceptable topic for scholarly research, public education, or public discussion. Eventually, however, this attitude was challenged by the initiatives of a number of pioneers, including Cicely Saunders, William Lamers, and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In 1967, Saunders founded St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, England, often credited as being the first hospice. She emphasized that dying is not simply a biomedical or physical event; it also has psychosocial, familial, and spiritual implications. At St. Christopher’s, she tried to create a homelike, family-centered atmosphere that would allow dying persons to live life fully, free from debilitating pain and incapacitating symptoms. In 1974, Lamers founded a hospice in Marin County, California, that viewed home care as the model of hospice treatment and stressed psychosocial care and the use of volunteers.
The hospice movement is based on the recognition that the dying process is part of the normal process of living, and hospice care focuses on enhancing the quality of remaining life. From their beginnings in the mid-1960s, hospice programs expanded quickly; within forty years, more than eight thousand hospices were in operation all around the world. The spread of hospices and the hospice philosophy improved the treatment of dying persons and encouraged the study of the dying process.
The growth of the hospice movement was in part a reaction to medicine-driven care that abandoned those who were no longer responsive to treatment. In addition, the movement resonated with persons who were beginning to question consumerism and those who were seeking a return to nature. Hospice care affirms life and neither hastens nor postpones death. It seeks to preserve and promote the inherent potential for growth wit hin dying individuals and their families during the last phase of life.
In On Death and Dying, first published in 1969, Kübler-Ross wrote of natural death at a time when many people were becoming increasingly averse to the medical profession’s technological and impersonal approach to care of the dying. She posited that dying persons go through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Through case vignettes, she made a powerful plea for humanistic care for dying persons. Although research has found that the five stages she delineated are not characteristic of all dying individuals, Kübler-Ross’s call for humanistic care in the last stage of life is an enduring legacy.
Issues and Resources
Technological advances have raised many issues surrounding death, such as how long people live, when they know that they are dying, and where they typically die. Among the end-of-life decisions that dying persons and their family members often face are decisions regarding advance care plans, life-support options, giving and receiving communications about the dying person’s medical condition, and who will make health-care decisions when the dying person is no longer able to do so. In addition, dying persons and their families may discuss the topics of autopsy, organ donation, and euthanasia. Within a diverse society, culturally meaningful thanatology practice requires a commitment to personal and professional assessment in response to the challenges presented by cultural differences in death, dying, and bereavement.
One resource in the field of thanatology is the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), one of the oldest interdisciplinary professional organizations for persons who work with the dying. Dedicated to promoting excellence in death education, care of the dying, grief counseling, and research in thanatology, ADEC provides information, support, and resources to its multicultural, multidisciplinary membership and, through its members, to the public. ADEC has a two-level program in which individuals can become certified in thanatology or fellows in thanatology. Certification status indicates that a person has special educational training in the field. Fellow status recognizes that a person has met specific knowledge requirements (as measured through a standardized test) and has demonstrated competence in teaching, research, or clinical practice through a professional portfolio. Additionally, thanatology programs are available at educational institutions throughout the world. Most professional thanatologists complete a master's degree or doctorate degree, either in thanatology or a related field such as counseling, psychology, or social work.
Bibliography
Balk, David, ed. Handbook of Thanatology: The Essential Body of Knowledge for the Study of Death, Dying, and Bereavement. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Becvar, Dorothy S. In the Presence of Grief: Helping Family Members Resolve Death, Dying, and Bereavement Issues. New York: Guilford Press, 2001.
Corr, Charles A., Clyde M. Nabe, and Donna M. Corr. Death and Dying, Life and Living. 5th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 2006.
DeSpelder, Lynne Ann, and Albert Lee Strickland. The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. 1969. Reprint. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003.
"The Role of a Thanatologist in Modern Society." Edgewood College, 15 June 2024, online.edgewood.edu/blog/the-role-of-a-thanatologist-in-modern-society/. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.