The Changing Profile of Social Death

The concept of social death is explored as an unexpected product of the progression toward the general improvement in life quality in old age. Social death is defined as becoming a nonperson. The manipulation of the terminally or critically ill patient by medical professionals enforces the separatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives européennes de sociologie. European journal of sociology. 1991-01, Vol.32 (1), p.172-196
Main Authors: Mulkay, Michael, Ernst, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Aging
Children
Death
Elderly
Ethnography
Homes
Mortality
NOTES CRITIQUES
Older adults
Parents
Social life
Social Participation
Victorians
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Summary:The concept of social death is explored as an unexpected product of the progression toward the general improvement in life quality in old age. Social death is defined as becoming a nonperson. The manipulation of the terminally or critically ill patient by medical professionals enforces the separation between social & biological death, often with biological death coming well after death of the social entity. The effects of age & gender on social death are discussed within the context of British sociology. Entering the medically defined death sequence does not necessarily trigger social death, while the background for the death sequence is crucial (hospital vs residential homes). Elderly women bear a special death propensity, remaining relatively isolated. Collective pretense characterizes parents' attitudes toward the social death of children with terminal illness. 42 References. J. Sadler
ISSN:0003-9756
1474-0583
DOI:10.1017/S0003975600006214