Introduction

Human beings perceive death as a thing of mystery. Although death is universal, culture has significantly influenced behaviors associated with expressing grief. Both the Western societies and Eastern societies have developed ways to cope with death respectfully. Societies believe in souls and an afterlife, and all rituals that are involved when a person dies. In modern Americans, the use of modern technology in the health care sectors allow us to live longer, but we die with less mental calmness compared to people in the past generations. The fear and despair we develop towards death are because of the expected pain and hopelessness of life after death. Lee (2009), asserts that since the mid-19th century, death has gradually changed to be perceived as forbidden. Most healthcare providers have little knowledge of rituals of each culture; however, it is significant to understand fundamental perspectives of different cultures regarding preparations and responds to death. The paper will examine differences between Western perspective towards death and dying and those in Eastern societies.

Differences between Western and Eastern Societies towards Death and Dying

In Western societies, once a dying person knew his end was near, he/she was expected to prepare for his death. While the dead was considered to live a diminishing life, their most advantageous state was sleep. From the 1950s, people stopped perceiving death as beautiful or natural. Currently, death has become medicalized. People anticipate the dying person to die away from home. According to Lee (2009), people die in hospitals while under intensive medical care. The role of physicians is to sanitize dying so that survivors of the deceased could accept the tragic situation. According to views of contemporary society, death is an immense admission of defeat. Lee (2009) argues that people tend to ignore the scandal they failed to prevent. Besides, society behaves like nothing has happened and force the bereaved not to say a word. In Western societies, physicians depend on information from neurologist and electroencephalography to pronounce death for comatose patients. When a person dies, the survivors are expected to grieve shortly. In the case of a prolonged grief, the situation is perceived as a sign of depression.

Regarding the contemporary American funeral, its basic structure includes the following stages. First, after a person has died, the corpse is taken immediately to the funeral parlor. The second stage is embalming, where the corpse is treated to forestall decomposition. Third, the family, relatives, and friends are allowed to view the cosmetically restored corpse before disposing of by burial. The burial ceremony is usually presided over by religious experts.

Conversely, in Eastern societies such as China, death is perceived as a natural part of a person’s life span. People always have a negative perception of death, and they prefer to avoid mentioning it since it is a taboo. According to the Chinese culture, one is forbidden from talking about death to people on their death beds because they believe that you might jinx their fate. Moreover, paying respect to the elder and the dead is regarded as significant. In the case of individuals who died as bachelors or bachelorette, they are not paid respect because they are not elders. Similarly, children would not prepare their funerals, and they would be left at funeral homes with no typical Chinese death ritual. However, it is upon the family members to bury them in silence.

The structure of Chinese funeral rites include the following components. First, the family of the deceased wail and past up banners to inform the public of the demise of their loved one. Second, family members are required to wear mourning attires including white clothes. Third, they ritually bathe the corpse and make food offerings. Fourth, family members have an obligation to pay money to ritual specialists to expel the corpse from the community. Fifth, before the burial, the music is played to accompany the corpse and appease the spirit. Lastly, the body of the deceased is sealed in a coffin and expelled from the community.

A Case of Death and Dying in Western Society

One of the famous cases of death and dying in the U.S. that demonstrated the problem of the Western viewpoint was the Pennsylvania assisted suicide. Barbara Mancini, a 57-year-old lady, allegedly handed her dying father a bottle of morphine because he had told her that he wanted to die (The Associated Press, 2013). Joe Yourshaw, a 93-year-old father, was diagnosed with end-stage diabetes and heart conditions before his death four days after taking morphine. Although states such as Oregon, Vermont, and Washington advocate for assisted suicide, most states in the U.S. ban the practice. According to groups that support death with dignity law, such act could have an adverse impact on baby boomers caring for their aging and dying family members (The Associated Press, 2013). It is important for authorities to examine such deaths to understand the motive behind the act.

Changing Cultural Beliefs towards Death and Dying in Western Societies

First, physicians should encourage, invite and involve families of the terminally ill patients in the discussion regarding end-of-life care. Hebert, Moore, and Rooney (2011) state that the relational autonomy of the family influences the meaning of life. Second, people can be encouraged to use social media as a tool to approach death. The use of social media allows people to be open and proud of their illness. The platform enables more frequent and lower-stakes discussions about dying compared to other traditional groups. Moreover, terminally ill patients can use the platform to share their illness experience. For instance, tweeting helps them rationalize things since it serves as a therapeutic process. Lastly, with social media, patient’s followers have the chance to encourage her/him to talk openly about the disease. Third, focusing on openness, dialogue and therapeutic relief from existential anxiety will help in understanding death. Moreover, the use of mass media images and interpretation of death and dying inspires the deconstruction of death. Discussions on griefs and loss of someone would result in the integration with the bereaved.

References

Hebert, K., Moore, H., & Rooney, J. (2011). The nurse advocate in end-of-life care. The Ochsner Journal, 11(4), 325-329.

Lee, S. K. (2009). East Asian attitudes toward death—A search for the ways to help East Asian Elderly dying in contemporary America. The Permanente Journal, 13(3), 55-60.

Palgi, P., & Abramovitch, H. (1984). Death: A cross-cultural perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology, 13(1), 385-417.

The Associated Press. (2013). Pennsylvania assisted suicide case becomes latest lightning rod for controversial issue. Daily News. Retrieved on June 18, 2017 from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/pennsylvania-case-latest-assisted-suicide-controversy-article-1.1430947

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