On Death without Dignity

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introductory Precis: Jack Elinson, Ph.D.

Introduction

Technology, Meaning, and Death
Meaning of death or death of meaning

Death and Denial in Modern America

Technological Medicine, The Technocratic Physician and Human Dying

Individualism, Fellowship, and Dying
The non-communal environment
Dying and loss of fellowship

Modern Dying and Social Organization of the Hospital
The hospital as total institution
Patient alienation within the hospital

The Stigma of Dying
Identity problems: Beyond the looking-glass
The stigma of dying: Scenarios of personal terror
Sexuality and dying: Fertile ground for stigma
As the new self emerges

Approaching Omega: The Roller Coaster of Dying
The course of dying and societal forces

A Concluding Statement on Technology and the Social Isolation of Dying

A Methodological Note

Index