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Media constructions of dying alone: a form of 'bad death'

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  • Seale, Clive

Abstract

In this study, newspaper accounts of people who die alone are analysed, drawing on a sample of 90 articles in the anglophone press that appeared in October 1999. Dying alone is represented as a fearful fate and a moral affair, often being the outcome of an undesirable personal character, either of the deceased or of onlookers, or involving the failings of society at large. It is frequently portrayed as occurring to people who are either geographically or socially distant from 'home', so that an imagined community of readers is encouraged to contemplate a death alone as the consequence of personal or societal breakdown. A degree of stigmatisation, sometimes of those who die alone, sometimes of those perceived to have caused this event, was evident. The negative evaluation of death alone parallels that found in some traditional societies where a death far from home is considered 'bad'. Dying alone contrasts significantly with the sociable, 'good', confessional deaths of newspaper columnists and other media celebrities facing terminal illness.

Suggested Citation

  • Seale, Clive, 2004. "Media constructions of dying alone: a form of 'bad death'," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(5), pages 967-974, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:58:y:2004:i:5:p:967-974
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    Cited by:

    1. Gott, M. & Small, Neil & Barnes, Sarah & Payne, Sheila & Seamark, David, 2008. "Older people's views of a good death in heart failure: Implications for palliative care provision," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1113-1121, October.
    2. Chabot, Boudewijn E. & Goedhart, Arnold, 2009. "A survey of self-directed dying attended by proxies in the Dutch population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1745-1751, May.
    3. Lang, Alexander, 2020. "The good death and the institutionalisation of dying: An interpretive analysis of the Austrian discourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    4. Lang, Alexander & Frankus, Elisabeth & Heimerl, Katharina, 2022. "The perspective of professional caregivers working in generalist palliative care on ‘good dying’: An integrative review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    5. Lindqvist, Olav & Tishelman, Carol, 2015. "Room for Death – International museum-visitors’ preferences regarding the end of their life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1-8.

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