Handbook of Death and Dying

Clifton D. Bryant is Professor of Sociology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia. He has been a faculty member there since 1972 and served as Department Chair from 1972 to 1982. Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, he held full-time faculty teaching appointments at Western Kentucky University (Department Head 1967-1972), Millsaps College (Department Head 1963-1967), and the University of Georgia (1960-1963). He was Visiting Professor at Mississippi State University (Summer 1985) and at the Pennsylvania State University (Summer 1958). His research appointments include Visiting Scientist at the U.S. Army Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Summer 1993), Visiting Research Scholar with the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program Mississippi State University; Summer 1985), and Visiting Research Scholar with Training and Technology Project operated by the Resource Development Office of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Inc. (Summer 1987). His foreign teaching appointments include Visiting Fulbright Professor, Department and Graduate Institute of Sociology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China (1987-1988), and Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Xavier University, The Ateneo, Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, Philippines (1984-1985). He was a participant in the U.S. Department of Education's 1998 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program in the People's Republic of China (Summer 1998) and was also a participant in the U.S. Department of Education's 1993 Fulbright- Hays Seminars Abroad Program in Hungary (Summer, 1993). Dr. Bryant served as President of the Southern Sociological Society (1978-1979) and as President of the Mid-South Sociological Association (1981-1982). He was the recipient of the Mid-South Sociological Association's Distinguished Career Award in 1991 and the Distinguished Book Award in 2001. He is also the recipient of the Southern Sociological Society's 2003 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award. He has been listed in Who's Who in America since 1984 and in Who's Who in the World since 1991. He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Delta, Alpha Kappa Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Alpha Phi Omega. Dr. Bryant was founder and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Sociological Symposium (1968-1980). He was also the founder of Deviant Behavior and served as Editor-in-Chief of that journal from 1978 to 1991. He continues to serve as Chair of the Editorial Policy Board for the journal. He was editor of the Southern Sociologist (1970-1974). He has served as a member of the editorial board of Criminology (1978-1981), Associate Editor of Sociological Forum (1979-1980), Associate Editor of Sociological Spectrum (1981- 1985), member of the Board of Advisory Editors of Sociological Inquiry (1981-1985) and also Associate Editor of that journal (1997-2000). He was a member of the Board of Editors of Society and Animals (1997-1999) and was Associate Editor for a special issue of Marriage and Family Relations (Fall 1982). He is the author of Sexual Deviancy and Social Proscription; Khaki-Collar Crime: Deviant Behavior in Military Context; and Deviant Behavior: Occupational and Organizational Bases; editor of The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior (four volumes); Deviant Behavior: Readings in the Sociology of Norm Violations; The Rural Work Force: Nonagricultural Occupations in America; Sexual Deviance in Sexual Context; The Social Dimensions of Work; and coeditor of Social Problems Today: Dilemmas and Dimensions; Deviance and the Family; and Introductory Sociology: Selected Readings for the College Scene. He has published articles in a number of professional journals, including Social Forces, Society, Sociological Inquiry, Sociology and Social Research, Rural Sociology, Sociological Forum, American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of Sex Research, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Journal of Leisure Sciences, Sociological Spectrum, The Rural Sociologist, Psychological Reports, Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, World Leisure and Recreation, Hort Technology, Anthrozoos, Applied Behavioral Science Review, Man and Environmental Systems, The Southern Sociologist, and Deviant Behavior. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Mississippi, did advanced graduate work at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and received his Ph.D. degree from Louisiana State University.

VOLUME ONE: THE PRESENCE OF DEATH Preface: A Thanatological Odyssey Death in Legal Context Introduction PART I DEATH IN CULTURAL CONTEXT CONFRONTING DEATH The Universal Fear of Death and the Cultural Response - Calvin Conzelus Moore and John B. Williamson Historical Changes in the Meaning of Death in the Western Tradition - William R. Wood and John B. Williamson Dealing With Death: Western Philosophical Strategies - Michael R. Taylor Death Denial: Hiding and Camouflaging Death - Bert Hayslip, Jr. Death, Dying, and the Dead in Popular Culture - Keith F. Durkin The Death Awareness Movement: Description, History, and Analysis - Kenneth J. Doka KEEPING THE DEAD ALIVE The Spiritualist Movement: Bringing the Dead Back - Charles F. Emmons Reincarnation: The Technology of Death - Jane Dillon Hosts and Ghosts: The Dead as Visitors in Cross-Cultural Perspective - Clifton D. Bryant Ghosts: The Dead Among Us - Charles F. Emmons The Malevolent "Undead": Cross-Cultural Perspectives - Keith P. Jacobi TRANSCENDING DEATH: RELIGIOUS AFTER-DEATH BELIEFS Spirituality - John D. Morgan Religion and the Mediation of Death Fear - Michael R. Leming Christian Beliefs Concerning Death and Life After Death - Donald E. Gowan Near-Death Experiences as Secular Eschatology - Tillman Rodabough and Kyle Cole DEATH AND SOCIAL EXCHANGE Life Insurance as Social Exchange Mechanism - Dennis L. Peck Full Military Honors": Ceremonial Interment as Sacred Compact - Timothy W. Wolfe and Clifton D. Bryant Symbolic Immortality and Social Theory: The Relevance of an Underutilized Concept - Lee Garth Vigilant and John B. Williamson PART II DEATH IN SOCIAL CONTEXT: VARIANTS IN MORALITY AND MEANING THE SOCIAL MODES OF DEATH: THE IMPORT OF CONTEXT AND CIRCUMSTANCES Historical and Epidemiological Trends in Mortality in the United States - Vicki L. Lamb Global Mortality Rates: Variations and Their Consequences for the Experience of Dying - Clive Seale To Die, by Mistake: Accidental Deaths - Lee Garth Vigilant and John B. Williamson Megadeaths: Individual Reactions and Social Responses to Massive Loss of Life - Jerome Rosenberg and Dennis L. Peck On the Role and Meaning of Death in Terrorism - Lee Garth Vigilant and John B. Williamson Death Attributed to Medical Error - Jerry T. McKnight and Pat Norton Homicidal Death - Steven A. Egger and Kim Egger PRE-PERSONALITY DEATHS Pre-Personality Pregnancy Losses: Miscarriages, Stillbirths, and Abortions - Jack P. Carter Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - Charles A. Corr and Donna M. Corr DEATH AS SOCIAL ENTITY: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF DEATH The Evolution of the Legal Definition of Death - Tillman Rodabough Death Education - Charles A. Corr and Donna M. Corr DEATH AS INTERMISSION: THE CONTINUATION OF IDENTITY The Postself in Social Context - Jack Kamerman PART III DEATH AND SOCIAL CONTROVERSY SUICIDE Historical Suicide - Alan H. Marks Suicide and Suicide Trends in the United States, 1900-1999 - Dennis L. Peck Suicide Survivors: The Aftermath of Suicide and Suicidal Behavior - John L. McIntosh Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Suicide - David Lester CAPITAL PUNISHMENT A History of Execution Methods in the United States - Trina N. Seitz Capital Punishment in the United States - Stephanie Picolo Manzi Military Executions - J. Robert Lilly ABORTION The Abortion Issue in the United States - Michael C. Kearl THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC Dying of AIDS and Social Stigmatization - Robin D. Moremen EUTHANASIA Medical Euthanasia - Gail C. Walker ABORTION The Abortion Issue in the United States - Michael C. Kearl Physician-Assisted Death - Monika Ardelt PART IV PASSING AWAY: DYING AS SOCIAL PROCESS DEATH AS SOCIAL PROCESS: THE APPROACH OF DEATH Death Awareness and Adjustment Across the Life Span - Bert Hayslip, Jr., and Robert O. Hansson Dying as Deviance: An Update on the Relationship Between Terminal Patients and Medical Settings - Charles Edgley DEATH AS SOCIAL PROCESS: DYING The Dying Process - Graves E. Enck On Coming to Terms With Death and Dying: Neglected Dimensions of Identity Work - Kent L. Sandstrom THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT OF DEATH THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC Dying of AIDS and Social Stigmatization - Robin D. Moremen EUTHANASIA Medical Euthanasia - Gail C. Walker Death in Two Settings: The Acute Care Facility and Hospice - Sarah Brabant The History of the Hospice Approach - Michael R. Leming Dying in a Total Institution: The Case of Death in Prison - Francis D. Glamser and Donald A. Cabana Formal and Informal Caregiving at the End of Life - Pamela J. Kovacs and David P. Fauri VOLUME TWO: THE RESPONSE TO DEATH Before the Funeral The Death Notification Process - Alan E. Stewart and Janice Harris Lord The Autopsy - James Claude Upshaw Downs A Social History of Embalming - Melissa Johnson Williams The Organizational Resonse to Death Fallen Soldiers - Morten G. Ender, Paul T. Bartone, Thomas A. Kolditz Death-Related Works Systems Outside the Funeral Home - Watson Rogers II, Clifton D. Bryant Funeralization in the United States The American Family and the Processing of Death Prior to the 20th Century - Paul David Nygard and Catherine H. Reilly The Evolution of the Funeral Home and the Occupation of Funeral Driector - Jerome J. Salomone The American Funeral - Bert Hayslip, Jr., Kenneth W. Sewell, Russell B. Riddle Black Funeralization and Culturally Grounded Services - James L. Moore III and Clifton D. Bryant On the Economics of Death in the United States - Dwayne A. Banks Funerlization in Cross-Cultural Perspective The Funeral and the Funeral Industry in the United Kingdom - Brian Parsons Practices Surrounding the Dead in French-Speaking Belgium - Florence Vandendorpe Practices Surrounding the Dead in French-Speaking Belgium - Florence Vandendorpe The Native American Way of Death - Gerry R. Cox The Hindu Way of Death - Anantanand Rambachan The Muslim Way of Death - Dawood H. Sultan The Japanese Way of Death - Hikaru Suzuki The Taoist (Chinese) Way of Death - Linda Sun Crowder The Jewish Way of Death - Ruben Schindler Postfuneralization Activities Obituaries - Joyce E. Williams Gracing God's Acres: Some Notes on a Typology of Cemetery Visitation in Western Cultures - Joseph E. Boyle Impromptu Memorials to the Dead - Jon K. Reid Death and Community Responses: Comfort Community and Culture - Willam J. Hauser and AnneMarie Scarisbrick-Hauser Monuments in Motion: Gravemarkers, Cemeteries, and Memorials as Material Form and Context - Ann M. Palkovich and Ann Korologos Bazaronne PART VI Body Disposition Disposing of the Dead: Elysium as Real Estate The History of the American Cemetery and Some Reflections on teh Meaning of Death - Vicky M. MacLean and Joyce E. Willams Pet Burial in the United States - David D. Witt Disposing of the Dead: Options and Alternatives Cremation - Douglas J. Davies Body Recycling - Kelly A. Joyce and John B. Williamson The Iceman Cometh: The Cryonics Movements and Frozen Immortality - Clifton D. Bryant and Willam E. Snizek Disposing of the Dead: Minor Modes - DeAnn K. Gauthier, Nancy K. Chaudior, and Rhonda D. Evans Disposing of the Dead: Other Times, Other Places The Social History of the European Cemetery - Harold Mytum Body Disposition in Cross-Cultural Context: Prehistoric and Modern Non-Western Societies - Keith P. Jacobi Mummification and Mummies in Ancient Egypt - Peter Lacovara adn John Baines PART VII:THANATOLOGICAL AFTERMATH Grief and Bereavement The Evolution of Mourning and the Bereavement Role in the United States: Middle- and Upper-Class Americans - David E. Balk Social Dimensions of Grief - Maria I. Vera The Experience of Grief and Bereavement - Robert A. Neimeyer and Lois A. Gamino Bereavement in Cross-Cultural Perspective - Paul C. Rosenblatt The Social Impact of Survivorhood Widowhood and Its Social Implications - Felix M. Berardo Children and the Death of a Parent - Eric Lichten Parents and the Death of a Child - Sangeeta Singg PART VIII: THE LEGALITIES OF DEATH Death in Legal Contex Living Wills and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care - Carolyn Pevey The Death Certificate: Civil Registration, Medical Certification, and Social Issues - Dennis L. Peck Coroner and Medical Examiner - James Claude Upshaw Downs Death, Succession, and the Testamentory Inheritance The Disposition of Property: Transfers Between the Dead and the Living - Robert K. Miller, Jr., Jeffrey P. Rosenfeld, and Stephen J. McNamee The Last Will and Testament: A Neglected Document in Sociological Research - Clifton D. Bryant and Willaim E. Snizek The Legal Regulation of Death-Related Activities The Regulation of Mortuary Science Education - Todd W. Van Beck Cemetery Regulation in the United States - Robert M. Fells Death and Legal Blame Death and Legal Blame: Wrongful Death - Thomas J. Vesper Negligent Death and Manslaughter - Frances P. Bernat The Dead as Legal Entity "Thanatological Crime": Some Conceptual Notes on Offenses Against the Dead as a Neglected Form of Deviant Behavior - Clifton D. Bryant PART IX: THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION AND THE RESPONSE TO DEATH Art Death in Art - Charles E. Walton Literature Cultural Concern with Death in Literature - Diana Royer Music "Arise, Ye More Than Dead!" Culture, Music, and Death - Robert Kastenbaum Organic Sculpture Dead Zoo Chic: Some Conceptual Notes on Taxidermy in American Social Life - Clifton D. Bryant and Donald J. Shoemaker PART X: THE FUTURE OF DEATH Death in the Future: Prospects and Prognosis - Clifton D. Bryant, Charles Edgley, Michael R. Leming, Dennis L. Peck, and Kent L. Sandstrom

"Well researched with lengthy bibliographies . . . The index is rich with See and See Also references . . . Its multidisciplinary nature makes it an excellent addition to academic collections." -- LIBRARY JOURNAL Researchers and students in many social sciences and humanities disciplines, the health and legal professions, and mortuary science will find the Handbook of Death and Dying valuable. Lay readers will also appreciate the Handbook's wide-ranging coverage of death-related topics. Recommended for academic, health sciences, and large public libraries. -- E-STREAMS "Students, professionals, and scholars in the social sciences and health professions are fortunate to have the 'unwidely corpus of knowledge and literature' on death studies organized and integrated." -- M.K. Hartung * CHOICE * "This is a well-researched and truly scholarly work that will be a classic in thanatology, the study of death and dying, for years to come. The Handbook of Death & Dying is highly recommended for public, academic, undergraduate, graduate, and medical libraries." -- Lynn M. McMain * American Reference Books Annual * "Excellent and highly recommended." -- Booklist Students, professionals, and scholars in the social sciences and health professions are fortunate to have the 'unwieldy corpus of knowledge and literature' on death studies organized and integrated. Highly recommended for all collections. -- CHOICE This is a singular reference tool . . . essential for academic libraries. -- Reference & User Services Quarterly "Sage's two-volume Handbook of Death & Dying, a 2003 RUSA Best Reference, has a place in most reference collections, but it is almost erroneous to call it a handbook. Its scholarly essays are comprehensive and integrate individual concepts. And, like those in any encyclopedia, they have conclusion sections and further reading lists, so it makes sense to keep it in reference. What's more, resources on this topic are hard to come by." -- Mark L. Shores