Drug-related Deaths and the ‘Special Deaths’ of Late Modernity

Guy, Philip; Holloway, Margaret

doi:10.1177/0038038507074717

Cited by 45 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Where this is lacking, due to social censure in the wider environment, and/or disrupted due to lack of communication within the more immediate family, then emotional isolation may result (Grace, 2012;Simone, 2012;Wright and Coyle, 1996). Guy and Holloway (2007) have suggested that the social censuring of such deaths has, in part, to do with their lack of predictability and capacity to be managed, in contrast to most other forms of dying, which are subject to particular procedures and pathways and, as such, capable of being managed (see below). However, with substance misuse deaths, any attempt to construct a coherent and meaningful dying trajectory may be inhibited by popular myths and negative stereotyping of substance misuse, including images and assumptions attached to the user, which take little account of the person behind the image.…”

Section: Stigmatised Deaths and Devalued Griefmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature on dying and bereavement in contemporary western societies has identified some deaths as being especially difficult to grieve due to circumstances and characteristics which place the death beyond the bounds of normal expectation and acceptability (Guy, 2007;Seale, 2004). These include deaths which are considered to be 'out of time' and therefore unpredictable, disruptive and hard to manage.…”

Section: Norms About Dying and Grievingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bereavement Following Substance Misuse

2016

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Bereavement following a drug and/or alcohol-related death has been largely neglected in research and service provision, despite its global prevalence and potentially devastating consequences for those concerned. Whilst researchers have drawn attention to the suffering experienced by families worldwide in coping with a member's substance misuse, this article highlights the predicament of families bereaved following a substance misuse death. To this end, it reviews literature drawn from addiction and bereavement research that sheds light on this type of loss. The article also considers how general bereavement theory may illuminate bereavement following a substance misuse death. We argue that available frames of reference reflect not only a lack of focus on this type of loss, but also a tendency to reproduce rather than interrogate normative assumptions of bereavement following 'bad deaths'. The article concludes by considering how findings from existing literature can guide future research.

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Section: Stigmatised Deaths and Devalued Griefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Norms About Dying and Grievingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bereavement Following Substance Misuse

2016

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“…Gossip about the cause of death (was it suicide, an accident or an overdose?) that may be relatively confined in a pub or bar becomes on social media visible for all to join in, to speculate further and to cause pain to the deceased's close family; this is most likely with "bad" deaths (Guy & Holloway, 2007) after which gossip and speculation can stigmatise the surviving family as much as the death itself.…”

Section: Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

New mourners, old mourners: online memorial culture as a chapter in the history of mourning

Walter

2014

New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia

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How does online mourning differ from offline mourning? Throughout history, demographic, social and technological changes have altered mourners' social relationships with both the living and the dead, and hence their experiences of grief. Online technologies comprise the latest chapter in this story; earlier chapters include family/community mourning (preindustrial), private mourning (twentieth century) and public mourning (turn of the millennium). Pervasive social media in which users generate their own content have significantly shifted mourners' social interactions and the norms that govern them, partly in new directions (such as enfranchising previously stigmatised griefs; more potential for conflict between mourners and others) but partly returning to something more like the relationships of the preindustrial village (such as everyday awareness of mortality, greater use of religious imagery, more potential for conflict among mourners). Online, mourners can experience both greater freedom to be themselves and increased social pressure to conform to group norms as to who should be mourned and how.Online memorial culture is both a form of online culture, and a form of mourning and memorialising. This article examines it as the latter, sketching a brief history of mourning in order to show how online mourning both differs from, and does not differ from, offline mourning. Specifically, I will show how demographic, social and technological changes in recent centuries have changed mourners' social relationships with both the living and the dead, and hence their experiences of grief; online technologies comprise the latest chapter in this story. The first (1990s) generation of specialised online groups and virtual cemeteries changed surprisingly little, but from the mid-2000s social media's user generated content, together with its mobile technology-enabled pervasiveness, has been as significant as urbanisation and industrialisation in changing mourners' social relationships, not least in partially reverting to pre-industrial modes of mourning.

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“…() have challenged this, highlighting how family members have their own needs for support as they struggle to cope with what alcohol or drugs are doing to their family (Barnard ; UKDPC, ). When users die, families ‘frequently attract public interest and media attention, but supporting the bereaved in their grief is rarely of paramount concern’ (Guy & Holloway , p. 86). Some drug and alcohol treatment agencies work with families but typically lose contact once the client has died; bereavement agencies rarely have expertise in drug and alcohol issues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compassion or stigma? How adults bereaved by alcohol or drugs experience services

Walter

Ford

Templeton

et al. 2015

Health Soc Care Community

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What is known about this topic• Compassion is central to good health and social care.• Scandals have highlighted lack of compassion, especially towards stigmatised and/or vulnerable service users.• Structural reforms to services can undermine or enhance compassion. What this paper adds• Stigma and 'othering' undermine compassion.• Compassion, stigma and professionalism may be linked theoretically.• Irrespective of structural reform, small acts of kindness based on symbolic kinship reduce service users' experiences of stigma. AbstractHow to promote compassionate care within public services is a concern in several countries; specifically, some British healthcare scandals highlight poor care for service users who may readily be stigmatised as 'other'. The article therefore aims to understand better the relationship between stigma and compassion. As people bereaved by a drug-or alcohol-related death often experience stigma, the article draws on findings from a major British study, conducted during 2012-2015 by the authors, of people bereaved in this way, in order to see how service provision can be improved. One hundred and six bereaved family members were interviewed in depth about their experiences of loss and support. Thematic analysis developed theoretical understandings of participants' lived experiences. This article analyses our data on how bereaved people experienced stigma and kindness from practitioners of all kinds. We found that stigma can be mitigated by small acts of kindness from those encountered after the death. Stigma entails stereotyping, othering and disgust, each of which has emotional and cognitive aspects; kindness entails identification and fellow feeling; professionalism has classically entailed emotional detachment, but interviewees found cold professionalism as disturbing as explicit disgust. Drawing on theories concerning the end of life, bereavement and emotional labour, the article analyses the relationship between stigma, kindness and professionalism, and identifies some strategies to counter stigmatisation and foster compassion.

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Drug-related Deaths and the ‘Special Deaths’ of Late Modernity

Cited by 45 publications

References 22 publications

Bereavement Following Substance Misuse

Bereavement Following Substance Misuse

New mourners, old mourners: online memorial culture as a chapter in the history of mourning

Compassion or stigma? How adults bereaved by alcohol or drugs experience services

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