Introduction — Why Death Matters to Policy

Abstract

The study of death has the capacity to bring together a considerable range of policy areas. How we handle dying, death and bereavement, as individuals, groups, organisations and even society, reflects values about our worth and contribution. It mirrors how we see ourselves and our own fragility (Kellehear, 2007). What is more, death shines a light on how we live our lives. Individuals’ experiences of death and the situation of those ‘left behind’ are the product of decisions made across a life course, not merely as one approaches death. While in some respects, given that death is a universal human experience, it may be seen as a great leveller. However, in other respects it is linked to individual characteristics and experiences. For instance, the age of death is linked to wider social policies which affect health, employment, income, participation and individuals’ overall quality of life. It is linked to social class (Howarth, 2007; Marmot, 2010), gender (Austad, 2006) and ethnicity (Holloway, 2007), all of which shape and contextualise people’s lives. History also plays a role in shaping communities and policies, which in turn impact on the resources and quality of services available to dying individuals and those close to them (Monroe et al., 2011). This is related to the prevailing political ideology and party in power, which has implications for rights and responsibilities, the extent to which support is provided by the state or the market, or indeed whether it is provided at all (Dwyer, 2010). Policy affects not only the way people near the end of life are supported but also the financial circumstances of those left behind (Grenier, 2012). As such, social policy has considerable implications for how death is experienced and our understanding of death in the modern world.