View on Death Essay Example for Free

View on Death Essay Victor Cicirelli filled in the research gap between the areas of gerontology, thanatology, and psychology by conducting a research on the older persons view on death and dying. He published the results of his research in the books titled Older Adults’ Views on Death for the readers to be enlightened and to understand how older adults’ perceptions of death affect their end-of-life decisions. The research gap based from his review of related studies was in the field of thanatology, a branch of learning concerned with death and its dimensions, meanings, and associations. His area of research focused on the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of older persons in relation to death. Cicirelli conducted an empirical study of 109 adults of ages 70 years and older in a community in central Indiana. The population sample was composed of more white people than the African-American citizens in Indiana. Sixteen of the participants were male and the remaining were women. This group was further categorized into five age groups, and by education, socioeconomic status, marital status, employment, and occupational level. He also subdivided the white participants into high and low socioeconomic status groups in order to identify a group similar in education and occupational level to the African-Americans participating in the study. The goal of the research was to identify the variables that affected their views in death. The first phase of Cicirelli’s data gathering used validated instruments and quantitative analysis to relate results to demographic and contextual variables. To get more insights from the older adults, open-ended interviews were conducted. The data analysis using qualitative techniques used to identify research themes and further relate them to the gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of the sample population. Using a creative mix of quantitative interviews with structured response categories as well as open-ended qualitative 32476179_View on Death Page 2 interviews, which allowed the respondents to speak in their own words, Cicirelli forms a web of data, which strengthens his study and adds considerable flesh to the findings. Cicirelli adapted the available and present scales, or developed ones based used in the review of related studies, and quantified the three groups of notions as the foci of the study. First, apprehension and worry of passing away, is ‘‘the anxiety experienced in daily life caused by the anticipation of the state in which one is dead’’ (Cicirelli, 2002). Four dimensions utilized this impression: fear of the dying process, worry of being destroyed, fear of the unknown, and fear for considerable others. Second, contemplations of the dying process scrutinize matters ‘‘that a person in the last stages of a terminal illness might have’’ (Cicirelli, 2002), particularly the feelings of dying they would be expecting to experience if they were in the infirmary with terminal cancer and had five more days to live. Third, the individual adults’ connotation of bereavement ‘‘are primarily cognitive interpretations of objects and events in the environment and occur prior to and serve as stimuli for emotional reactions’’ (Cicirelli, 2002). These hypotheses include 4 multi-item subordinate scales (death as afterlife, as legacy, as extinction, and as motivator). In his first and second major concern in Older Adults’ Views on Death, Cicirelli found a wide range of attitudes toward fear of death, including having little fear of death and dying, to having considerable fear. Most of the citizens have experienced anxiety and worry about their end. People were also worried about the pain, process, dependence, and the unknown dimension death may bring. The fear of death is the inescapable factor in life. Most of the populace feared death and the dying process because they were anticipating the end-of-life. As a consequence, it brings anxiety to a person. Another factor that contributed to the two notions of Cicirelli was the age variations of the participants. On the contrary, the research 32476179_View on Death Page 3 showed that the fear of death and dying process may hit the highest point in the early 80s and the potential greater chances of the acceptance of death in an older person approaches 90 years of age. Unexpectedly, the research participants did not account particular fears of the dying process itself. Many people in this study seem to see death as a quick, painless process, although it is not unusual for these same persons to have knowledge and experience of deaths of close persons whose dying was likely to have been prolonged and painful. The older persons preferred to view the dying process as a metaphor â€Å"sleep,† that leads to a denial of the process itself. Cicirelli also speculated that their refutation is a process older adults’ may employ in foreseeing death. There appeared to be inadequately existing thought given to planning and preparations for the dying process itself. Cicirelli deduced his first and second assumptions that the research participants seemed unrealistic in regards to death and dying process. However, what was more realistic was their worry of being destroyed and the fear of the considerate others. The notion was reinforced when the research participants said they do not want others with them when they die. Family relationships and close friendships remain meaningful to the end of life, and feelings of closeness to living family members, and the number of family members preceding an individual in death seem to be important factors related to older adults’ views of death. They do not want these important people in their lives to see how they die. He comments that older adults may need to be educated about the dying process so that they develop more realistic plans. The third notion of Cicirelli focused on the meanings of death on older people. The author touched on the meanings of different types of death, such as that caused by war, murder, accidents, catastrophes, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and disease. Open-ended 32476179_View on Death Page 4 interviews and sentence completion tasks was developed in which personal meanings for death could include (1) death as legacy, (2) as afterlife, (3) as extinction, and (4) as a motivator. All four of these meanings for death were affirmed in varying degrees, and while some differences by age category were found in the strength of the results, the idea of death as relating to an afterlife and contemporary life was confirmed. The derivation of personal meanings involved questions about lifespan expectations, what a person would do given more time than expected, whether they would want to live forever given perfect health and freedom from financial pressures, and whether they thought about death as it came nearer. Cicirelli construed that most people do not desire infinite life, and death as an afterlife was the most meaningful of the four factors explored in the qualitative instrument he developed. Death as meaning a loss of physical function, loss of personal relationships, and offering release from life’s troubles were concepts also found to be meaningful. Aside from his major foci in the book, Cicirelli has suggested quite a few areas for future research that are compelling: religion and people’s attachment to God, and the financial concerns and terminal care. What are extremely clear from Cicirelli’s Older Adults’ Views on Death is that older adults’ perceptions of death, the dying process, and their fears of death are highly variable and influenced by many factors such as human relationships, happenings in life, and age. The wealth of data the book it provided the readers generated different feelings and thoughts as to death and the valuation of life. The personal goals, expectations, and the meaning of the future in the context of Cicirelli became the sources of reactions and sentiments to the timing of death and how to live life to the fullest. 32476179_View on Death Page 5 Fear creates various strings of feelings that were attached to the community. They express fear of pain, fear of sorrow, fear of disease flare-ups, fear of death or disfigurement, fear of different drugs and their side effects afterwards, and other fears that kept on creeping in the veins. Fear is a normative action in response to life’s ups and downs. It is a component that completes the existence of human beings as a part of the community. In effect, the branches of fear that connects us to one another regardless of the different age groups played a vital role in the views of elder people on death. Not only older people are affected by the fear of death and the dying process but also the younger age groups in the community. The awful fear of death comes to every person and haunts the society until the end-of-life happens. The sudden removal of fear especially the fear of death and the dying process in the research participants was a surprise and created an uncomfortable feeling. People think that fear of death is absent because it rarely shows its true face. It is concealed in the faith an individual has—may it be a faith in God or a faith in destiny. The fear of death is a normal circumstance in life. Yet, the research participants were not bothered and overpowered by the fear itself coming to their lives. The astonishment with the strong faith these people have in the midst of uncertainty, and of the unknown became a concealment of the human nature. On the other hand, what was there to fear about if dying was a normal incident in life? Anxiety is linked with the satisfaction and the perception of life. The thought of death as an unavoidable event in our existence created a lighter feeling of joy. The fear of death enslaved the mind that can deteriorate the quality of life a person can have. The fear of death is worst than death itself. It molded a restricted world full of worries and tension. The elimination of anxieties due to the fear of death and the dying process gives a light of hope to continue 32476179_View on Death Page 6 living life to the fullest. The positive outlook of the research participants transformed the negative astonishment and uncomfortable emotion into a favorable and joyous feeling. Hence, the good things in life would be more cherished without the interference of sorrow and fear that abridge pleasures and memorable experiences. However, the moment of joy was tainted with a feeling of disappointment regarding the view of death. It arose when the person’s view of death became was anchored on the encounters and happenings in life. People sometimes have an unrealistic view of death, thinking that whatever happened to a friend or a family member would also happen to them. Some salient aspects of the context referred to the past experiences’ potential to affect the attitudes and perceptions towards their own death and dying. The experience may vary from the loss of dignity in death to the inevitable decay of the bodily material that was imprinted on the memory. People come short of realizing that there are numerous causes of deaths. It does not follow and guarantee an individual that what happened to your friend or parent would also happen to you. It is frustrating to know that people compare their own lives with others, even in the process of death. It is not the fear of death that was dreaded but the loss of life and the opportunities that come with it. The book consisted of refreshing ideas that generated the impression of leaving your fears behind and cherishing every moment in your life. Even as a young adult, the book inspired the readers not to be too consumed on the thought of death. There are many things to enjoy and to contemplate about death. Every person has different and unique encounters. Life must not be preempted and expected as how other people experience life incidences. 32476179_View on Death Page 7 It may be that fleeting or sporadic thoughts of dying and death have the power to maximize the value of life. Acceptance of death may be associated with increased meaning and satisfactions with living . To be adamantly discerning on the mortality of persons is to present an unsettling challenge to completely understand human nature. Thus, the book was not only about death but also the prevailing transitory of human nature and their way of life: people were too much consumed of repression, comparison, and expectations on death that they failed to understand the human existence. Reference: Cicirelli, V. G. (2002). Older Adults views on death. New York: Springer Publishing.