Death, Grief, and Mourning

A Feminist “Nutt” Point of View by Shannon Nutt

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on Feminism and Religion project

This is the first blog post I have written, so the concept of being a blogger is a little foreign to me.  But I... more This is the first blog post I have written, so the concept of being a blogger is a little foreign to me.  But I will just jump in!

I grew up in a religious house that became far more religious after my mother passed away from brain cancer when I was thirteen.  My single father became heavily involved in the Lutheran Church, thinking this was the best way to raise his two daughters.  I was happy to go to church and get the structure that the church provided.  I was also grateful that I went to a church that had a female pastor.  Lacking a mother, it was nice to have a strong female role model who was breaking into the “boys’ club” that was the church.  Having found a postitive, female role model, I was really upset when I heard very conservative members of other churches and my own family say that women have no business speaking or leading people in church.

Where do Cats Go?: Reflections on Death Post Patriarchal Christianity by Sara Frykenberg

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion project.

The reason I am speaking about death today is two-fold.  First, I have been somewhat preoccupied with the concept... more The reason I am speaking about death today is two-fold.  First, I have been somewhat preoccupied with the concept of death since entering a new decade of my life.  I no longer believe in the evangelical vision of heaven I learned about in my youth; but as an uncomfortable “un”-Christian, I also have no satisfactory vision to replace it.  Or rather, there are many visions I find appealing, but none that I “believe in,” as I had believed in heaven.  My family is getting older, my parents have been sick in the last few years, and I often feel that I have more to lose now than I used to.

My second reason for considering death today is that last Wednesday, Mimi, our family cat of 24 years—yes, 24—passed away.  After spending all nine of her lives living, Mimi could no longer eat and was suffering.  My mother had her put down after we all said goodbye; we held a funeral for her and buried her among the lilies in our yard, her home.

Potential Lives, Impossible Deaths: Afghanistan, Civilian Casualties and the Politics of Intelligibility

by Thomas Gregory

The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in recent years as the International... more The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in recent years as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has tried to put down the Taliban insurgency. Reports of civilian casualties are, however, frequently dismissed as being examples of Taliban propaganda or blamed on the actions of enemy fighters, while the tragic loss of civilians is rarely marked or even acknowledged within the dominant frames of war. At first glance, the fact that civilians are so easily expendable appears to be at odds with the humanitarian intentions underpinning the war. However, I argue that the rhetoric of humanitarianism operates to preclude Afghans from appearing as recognizable human beings, foreclosing the possibility that they possess a life worthy of protection. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, I will trace the ways in which Afghans have been reduced to the status of absolute victims, denied the very essence of their humanity and therefore a publically grievable death. By effectively constructing them as the living-dead, existing in a state of abeyance, Afghans have been exposed to a deathly logic in which their lives are expendable in the quest to make them liveable once again.

La guerra non più nobile. Trasformazioni del lutto e destrutturazione del mito della bella morte nell’Italia postfascista, in L. Klinkhammer e O. Janz (a cura di), La morte per la patria. La celebrazione dei caduti dal Risorgimento alla Repubblica, Donzelli, Roma 2008, pp. 213-240.

by Guri Schwarz

Constructed communication of grieving in America after September eleventh

by Roy Schwartzman

Schwartzman, R., & Tibbles, D. (2009). Constructed communication of grieving in America after September eleventh. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 1, 35-48.

Lamoure J., Stovel J. Varenicline and Suicidal Ideations. How Common is It?. Cdn J of CME 2012; 24(2): 14

by Dr. Joel Lamoure

Lamoure J., Stovel J. Varenicline and Suicidal Ideations. How Common is It?. Cdn J of CME 2012; 24(2): 14
Dr Joel Lamoure

In Canada, varenicline is currently indicated for smoking cessation in conjunction with counselling.1 There have been... more In Canada, varenicline is currently indicated for smoking cessation in conjunction with counselling.1 There have been numerous reports of increased suicidal ideation in patients taking varenicline, and in patients that are quitting smok- ing. This has resulted in the Health Canada Advisory warning health- care providers about the increased risk of serious neuropsychiatric adverse events in those patients taking varenicline. Specifically, depressed mood, agitation, hostili- ty, changes in behaviour, suicidal ideation and suicide, as well as worsening of pre-existing psychi- atric illness have been observed.2 This scenario is very reminiscent for me of the mid 1980’s when fluoxe- tine was first launched in the USA.

Shakespeare's Continuity Through the Daughter

by Dianne Hunter

Poetics of Melancholy and Psychic Possession in Ted Hughes's Birthday Letters and Other Haunted Texts

by Dianne Hunter

Objects Dissolving in Time

by Dianne Hunter

Nader, K. O., & Layne, C. M. (2009, September). Maladaptive Grieving in Children and Adolescents: Discovering Developmentally-linked Differences in the Manifestation of Grief. Traumatic Stress Points, 23(5), 12-16.

by Christopher Layne

Our article on child and adolescent grief begins on p. 13.  Please use the appropriate reference citation if you cite this article. Thanks

A longitudinal study of bereavement phenomena in recently widowed elderly men

by Gerard Byrne

Ghosts in the Machine: Do the Dead Live On in Facebook?

by Patrick Stokes

Philosophy and Technology, special issue on 'Personal Identity After the Information Revolution' (Online early: http://www.springerlink.com/content/v258545u7v4h6407/)

Of the many ways in which identity is constructed and performed online, few are as strongly 'anchored' to existing... more Of the many ways in which identity is constructed and performed online, few are as strongly 'anchored' to existing offline relationships as in online social networks like Facebook and Myspace. These profiles extend our practical, psychological and even corporeal identity in ways that give them considerable phenomenal presence in the lives of spatially distant people. This raises interesting questions about the persistence of identity when these online profiles survive the deaths of the users
behind them, via the practice of 'memorialising' social network profile pages. I situate these practices within a phenomenology of grief that accounts for the ways in which the dead can persist as moral patients, and show how online survival this case illuminates an important difference between persons and selves within contemporary philosophy of personal identity. Ultimately, the online persistence of the dead helps bring into view a deep ontological contradiction implicit in our dealings with death: the dead both live on as objects of duty and yet completely cease to exist.

Ghosts in the Machine: Do the Dead Live On in Facebook?

by Patrick Stokes

Philosophy and Technology, special issue on 'Personal Identity After the Information Revolution' (Online early: http://www.springerlink.com/content/v258545u7v4h6407/)

Of the many ways in which identity is constructed and performed online, few are as strongly 'anchored' to existing... more Of the many ways in which identity is constructed and performed online, few are as strongly 'anchored' to existing offline relationships as in online social networks like Facebook and Myspace. These profiles extend our practical, psychological and even corporeal identity in ways that give them considerable phenomenal presence in the lives of spatially distant people. This raises interesting questions about the persistence of identity when these online profiles survive the deaths of the users
behind them, via the practice of 'memorialising' social network profile pages. I situate these practices within a phenomenology of grief that accounts for the ways in which the dead can persist as moral patients, and show how online survival this case illuminates an important difference between persons and selves within contemporary philosophy of personal identity. Ultimately, the online persistence of the dead helps bring into view a deep ontological contradiction implicit in our dealings with death: the dead both live on as objects of duty and yet completely cease to exist.

Morgues et prise en charge de la mort au Sud-Bénin

by Joël Noret

published in Cahiers d'Etudes africaines, 176, 2004

Healing the Pain of Grief

by Daniel Keeran MSW

by Daniel Keeran, MSW, RMHC-S

GRIEF COUNSELING THEORY AND SKILLS COURSE ONLINE

In this practical online course you will learn what to say to help someone who is grieving and needs healing to move forward in life. The course text and assignments are included in tuition and are sent to you immediately as a PDF attached email file with a hard copy sent by regular mail. To Register visit http://www.counseling-skills.com

This article is an excerpt from the chapter entitled “Grief Counseling Skills” in Effective Counseling Skills: the... more This article is an excerpt from the chapter entitled “Grief Counseling Skills” in Effective Counseling Skills: the practical wording of therapeutic statements and processes. More practical skills are found in the following press release http://prlog.org/11645786

Daniel Keeran, MSW, has been a professional counselor and therapist for over 30 years. He has provided counseling and training to thousands of professionals and the public through his private practice, seminars, and online training courses.

To order the best-selling training manual "Effective Counseling Skills" go to http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Counseling-Skills-therapeutic-statements/dp/1442177993