Death, Dying, and Bereavement in a Changing World

Alan R. Kemp is Professor of Sociology at Pierce College where he teaches a course on death, dying, and bereavement. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Award at Pierce and the 2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two other textbooks: Abuse in the Family: An Introduction and Abuse in Society: An Introduction. He is both an ordained member of the clergy and a licensed mental health professional. He was recognized by the National Association of Social Workers as a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work. For five years he worked with military families under contract with the U.S. Air Force, including work in its "family advocacy" program. He is himself a Vietnam veteran who was among the last American advisors serving on patrol with Vietnamese forces aboard Swift Boats (PCFs). During work on the second edition of this book, his wife, Claudia, was diagnosed with metastatic renal cell cnacer, for which she was not successfully treated. He cared for her at home with the support of hospice until shortly before she passed.

• Preface; PART I: Introduction and Context; Chapter 1: Lifting the Pall; Chapter 2: Death and Dying in a Rapidly Changing World; Chapter 3: For Everything There Is a Season; Chapter 4: Coureurs de Bois; PART II: Death; Chapter 5: The Grim Reaper through Time; Chapter 6: The Grim Reaper Today; Chapter 7: Traumatic Death; PART III: Dying; Chapter 8: In the Valley of the Shadow; Chapter 9: Intensive Caring; PART IV: Bereavement, Grief, and Mourning; Chapter 10: Life After Loss; Chapter 11: When Grief Goes Awry; PART V: Legal and Ethical Borderlands; Chapter 12: Physician-Assisted Death; Chapter 13: Withdrawing Life Support and Organ Transplantation; PART VI: Into the Future; Chapter 14: Life after Life; Chapter 15: The Road Ahead; Glossary; References; Index