Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introductory Précis: 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
