1st Edition

Making Sense of Death Spiritual,Pastoral and Personal Aspects of Death,Dying and Bereavement

    The editors of "Making Sense of Death: Spiritual, Pastoral, and Personal Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement" provide stimulating discussions as they ponder the meaning of life and death.This anthology explores the process of meaning-making in the face of death and the roles of religion and spirituality at times of loss; the profound and devastating experience of loss in the death of a spouse or a child; a psychological model of spirituality; the dimensions of spirituality; humor in client-caregiver relationships; the worldview of modernity in contrast to postmodern assumptions; the Buddhist perspective of death, dying, and pastoral care; meaning-making in the virtual reality of cyberspace; individualism and death; and the historical context of Native Americans, the concept of disenfranchised grief, and its detailed application to the Native American experience.It also explores: a qualitative survey on the impact of the shooting deaths of students in Colorado; a team approach with physicians, nursing, social services, and pastoral care; a study of health care professionals, comparing clergy with other health professionals; marginality in spiritual and pastoral care for the dying; a qualitative research study of registered nurses in the northeast United States; and loss and growth in the seasons of life.

    Acknowledgments 

    Preface 

    Introduction Herman H. van der Kloot Meijburg and Robert A. Bendiksen 

    SECTION I Facing the Death of a Loved One

    CHAPTER 1 The Role of Spiritual Experience in Adapting to Bereavement Louis A. Gamino, Larry W. Easterling, and Kenneth W. Sewell

    CHAPTER 2 The Death of a Spouse: A Spiritual and Psychological Crisis Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. DeVries

    CHAPTER 3 For Those Who Stand and Wait Kent Koppelman

    SECTION II Meaning-Making in the Face of Death

    CHAPTER 4 A Taste of Heaven Here on Earth: For the Dying and for the Accompanier Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts 

    CHAPTER 5 Death, Humor, and Spirituality: Strange Bedfellows? Ruth Dean

    CHAPTER 6 Death and the Postmodern Self: Individualism, Religion, and the Transformation of the Modern Self Raymond L. M. Lee

    CHAPTER 7 The Healing Touch of Awareness: A Buddhist Perspective on Death, Dying, and Pastoral Care Arthur O. Ledoux

    SECTION III Extraordinary Death and Loss

    CHAPTER 8 Cyber Cemeteries and Virtual Memorials: Virtual Living Monuments as On-line Outlets for Real Life Mourning and a Celebration of Life Hermann Gruenwald and Le Gruenwald

    CHAPTER 9 Violence is the Dark Side of Spirituality John D. Morgan

    CHAPTER 10 Native American Grief and Loss: Conceptualizations of Disenfranchised Grief and Historical Trauma at Individual and Community Levels Steven R. Byers, Theresa T. Erdkamp, and Lisa Byers

    CHAPTER 11 In the Aftermath of Columbine: Tragedy as Opportunity for  Transformation Kevin Ann Oltjenbruns, Steven R. Byers, and Suzanne Tochterman

    SECTION IV Professional Caregivers and Spirituality

    CHAPTER 12 When a Patient Dies: Meeting Spiritual Needs of the Bereaved in a Health Care Setting Fran Rybarik and Diane Midland

    CHAPTER 13 An Exploratory Study of the Spirituality of Clergy as Compared with Health Care Professionals David W. Adams and Rick Csiernik

    CHAPTER 14 Living, Dying, and Grieving in the Margins Rev. Richard B. Gilbert

    SECTION V Conclusion

    CHAPTER 15 Spirituality in Nursing: Being in a Liminal Space  Cheryl Laskowski

    CHAPTER 16 Spirituality and Loss Gerry R. Cox

    Contributors 

    Index  

     

    Biography

    Gerry R Cox (Author) , Robert A Bendiksen (Author) , Robert G Stevenson (Author)