Sociocultural Aspects
Learning Activities
Activity: Additional Questions for Self-awareness Exercise
My Life History of Death: A Timeline
This activity can be a tool for further exploration of the personal attitudes you hold toward death. It might also be useful in (a) identifying your personal issues surrounding unresolved grief, and (b) examining your own pattern of grieving. Take a moment to recall the earlier activity, My First Recollection of Death. Next, look at the timeline that appears in this activity. At either end of the timeline, fill in your date of birth and the current date. Then make a series of vertical lines across it for each death that affected you and write the name of who or what died in chronological order. Ask yourself the list of questions in turn for each death and write down your answers on a separate piece of paper.
Date of Birth: _01/25/00 | Current Date: _9/18/22
⦁ How did you feel? I felt devastated and hopeless when my grandfather passed away.
⦁ How did you act? I acted strong and supportive for my family.
⦁ How did other people seem to feel? Other people felt sad too.
⦁ How did others act? They acted sad and cried and hugged a lot.
⦁ How did members of your family react to the death? My family members’ reaction to the death was full of surprise.
Look at your timeline. Think about your personal pattern of feeling and acting in response to significant deaths in your life.
Do you feel that your pattern was a healthy one?
NO ______, YES ______. If no, explain.
Did the pattern of feeling and acting change over time?
NO ______, YES ______. If yes, explain.
Yes, over time my family and I came to accept the death. We were still sad but found peace in reminiscing about all the good times.
Considering the deaths you identified on your timeline, do you experience any unresolved grief reactions to them at the current time? NO ______, YES ______. If yes, explain.
Reprinted from: Donald P. Irish, Kathleen F. Lundquist, Vivian Jenkins Nelsen, eds. Ethnic variations in dying, death, and grief: diversity in universality” Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1993. Permission: Taylor & Francis Group.
Death Anxiety Scale (DAS)
Death, especially in our dominant culture, is frequently treated as a taboo topic in conversation. To some extent, this tendency reflects both our public and personal anxiety about it. The purpose of this activity is to provide you with insights into your feelings about death. Read each of the 13 statements in the scale. Respond to each item by circling the appropriate letter.
True False
T F 1. I am very much afraid to die
T F 2. The thought of death seldom enters my mind.
T F 3. It does not make me nervous when people talk about death.
T F 4. I dread thinking about having to have an operation.
T F 5. I am not at all afraid to die.
T F 6. I am not particularly afraid of getting cancer.
T F 7. I am often distressed by the way time flies so very rapidly.
T F 8. I fear dying a painful death.
T F 9. The subject of life after death troubles me greatly.
T F 10. I am really scared of having a heart attack.
T F 11. I often think about how short life really is.
T F 12. I shudder when I hear people talking about World War III. T F 13. The sight of a dead body is horrifying to me.
© Design by Donald Templar, Ph.D., 1970. Adapted by permission.
Death Awareness Questionnaire
Read each item in this questionnaire and answer it by circling the response(s) of your choice.
⦁ How many people whom you knew personally have died in the past two years?
None 1-3 4-7 8+
⦁ How many of those people died as a result of ___________
Chronic Illness None 1-3 4-7 8+
Accident None 1-3 4-7 8+
Suicide None 1-3 4-7 8+
Homicide None 1-3 4-7 8+
War None 1-3 4-7 8+
Other None 1-3 4-7 8+
⦁ How many funerals have you attended in the past two years?
None 1-3 4-7 8+
⦁ How often have you visited someone’s grave, other than during a burial service, during the past two years?
Never 1-3 times 4-7 times 8 + times
⦁ How often do you think about your own death?
Never Hardly ever Monthly Weekly Daily
⦁ Have you ever felt that you were close to dying?
No Yes
⦁ Have you taken out life insurance for yourself?
No Yes
⦁ Have you made arrangements to donate your body or organs after your death?
No Yes
⦁ Which seems more tragic, a sudden death or slow death?
Sudden Slow Equal Depends
10. Which two deaths seem to be the most tragic?
Infant Child Young Middle-aged person person
11. Which two deaths seem to be the least tragic? Elderly person Depends
Infant Child Young Middle-aged person person Elderly person Depends
⦁ Which seems more tragic, the death of a man or woman?
Man Woman Equal Depends
⦁ Which kind of death seems most tragic?
Natural Chronic Accident Suicide War Depends causes illness
⦁ Have you taken out a will for yourself?
No Yes
⦁ Have you joined a memorial society or other pre-death plan?
No Yes
⦁ Have you arranged for someone to handle your affairs following your death?
No Yes
⦁ Do you want a funeral/memorial service?
No Yes
⦁ Do you want a member of the clergy to officiate at your funeral/memorial service?
No Yes Not applicable
⦁ Would you object to having an autopsy performed on your body?
No Yes
⦁ Where would you want to die?
At home In hospital In a hospice At work Depends
⦁ What disposition would you choose for your body?
Burial Cremation Donation Depends
⦁ Where would you choose to have your funeral/memorial service held?
At home In a Funeral Other Depends Not
religious home applicable site
⦁ Do you want to select the clergy person who would officiate at your funeral/memorial service?
No Yes Depends Not applicable
⦁ Do you want an elaborate funeral/memorial service?
No Yes Depends Not applicable
⦁ Regarding viewing of your body, would you want to have the casket open?
No Yes Depends No viewing
⦁ How many people who were dying have you visited or talked with during the past two years?
None 1-2 3-4 5+
⦁ Have you witnessed someone die?
No Yes
⦁ Have you touched a dead body?
No Yes
⦁ What identifies a person as being dead?
No heartbeat No brainwaves Other
⦁ If you were dying, would you want to be aware of your condition?
No Yes Depends
⦁ With only six months left to live, how would you spend your time?
Withdrawing into myself Living in the present
Focusing on people Arranging my affairs
Denying my prognosis Fulfilling dreams
Completing projects Focusing on my faith
Other
⦁ How might you react to a terminal prognosis?
Deny it Accept it Fight it Depends
⦁ If you were to have a chronic, terminal illness, how do you think you would endure the pain?
In silence Talk about it Medicate it Depends
⦁ If you were dying, would you want young children under 10 to visit you? No Yes Depends
⦁ Do you discern that your responses, in some degree, reflect your class/racial/religious/ethnic background?
No Yes If yes, in what manner? Yes, because a lot of my answers were based on my cultural and religious beliefs regarding death and after life.
⦁ Have you prepared a Living Will for yourself?
No Yes Intend to do so
© Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. Used with permission.
