What. Please describe a main takeaway from the lecture and reading this week. Please be specific on what this was and use references.
So What. Why is this takeaway important as it connects to your social work practice and to your own learning. Be specific and use examples to support/justify the “why.” 
Now What. In thinking about your cultural reflections in a few weeks, what is a culture or religion that stands out to you as important – what would you want to learn more about.
SOCW5318 – DEATH & DYING
AGENDA
• What is death
• Important terminology
• Cross-cultural considerations of death
• DSM-V and cultural sensitivity (persistent complex bereavement disorder)
MEDICAL VS LEGAL DEFINITIONS OF DEATH
Medical definition of death
• The irreversible cessation of all vital functions especially as indicated by permanent stoppage of the heart,
respiration, and brain activity : the end of life
Legal definition of death
• A permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions : the end of life
WHAT IS DEATH?
Definition of brain death
• final cessation of activity in the central nervous system especially as indicated by a flat
electroencephalogram (EEG) for a predetermined length of time
Definition of whole brain death
• ruling out other conditions that might appear similar to death such as a deep coma.
• some insist that the cessation of brain activity must occur both in the cortex and in the brainstem
Definition of cortical brain standard
• Irreversible loss of capacity
• Permanent coma – declared dead (alive under whole brain standard)
“DEATH-WELCOMING” OR “DEATH DENYING”
• Death as a transition
• Death as a boundary (end, denial)
• What do you think North American culture supports?
• What does your family support?
• How do you view death?
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
• People are actively responsive to and creators of the social structures and processes in their lives
• Society: A group of people who share a common culture, territory, and identity
• Culture: is the conceptual system that structures the way people view the world – it is the particular set
of beliefs, norms, and values that influence ideas about the nature of relationships, the way people live their
lives and the way people organize their world
• It’s also important to not generalize about societies, cultures, faiths and how they practice death
awareness, how they manage grief and loss, and their own burial or funeral rites.
DSMV-V DEFINITION OF CULTURE
• Culture refers to systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across
generations. Culture includes language, religion and spirituality, family structures, life-cycle stages, ceremonial
rituals, and customs, as well as moral and legal systems.
• Cultures are open, dynamic systems that undergo continuous change over time; in the contemporary world,
most individuals and groups are exposed to multiple cultures, which they use to fashion their own identities
and make sense of experience.
• Culture is a multifactorial set of overlapping systems made up of many components beyond race and ethnicity,
including gender identity, sexual orientation, and even generational cohort and occupational group.
• The views and practices associated with the confluence of these cultural characteristics affect how all
participants in the health care process-patients and their relatives, as well as clinicians, administrators, and
policy makers-understand illness and engage in care.
INTERSECTIONALITY
• Individuals belong to multiple social categories/identities
• Interconnectedness of social categorizations (race, class, gender)
• Overlapping experiences of discrimination as well as power and privilege
CULTURAL HUMILITY & CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Cultural Humility
• Dynamic and lifelong process
• Focusing on self-reflection and personal critique to acknowledge one’s own biases and assumptions
• Understanding the complexity of identities
• Never be fully competent about the nature of your client’s experiences
• Genuine attempts to understand a person’s identities – with an awareness of the self
• Desire to repair power dynamics (e.g., North American conceptualizations of death)
Cultural Competence
• Knowledge and awareness of beliefs, practices, and cultural values of diverse populations
• Engage with knowledge
Table 11.1 Religious Beliefs about Death, Dying and Funerals