Representations of death : a social psychological perspective

Introduction : an analysis of contemporary deathways ; The study of death : a social psychological perspective ; Researching death : an urban ethnography ; Medicine and bureaucracy ; Commerce and ritual ; The body ; Social representations of death ; Social representations of loss ; Re-presenting death

Drawing upon the ethnography of mortuary practices in the 1990's, this book takes the reader through the medical, bureaucratic, commercial and ritual aspects of death. It makes extensive use of conversations with staff in hospitals, registry offices, funeral rooms and cemeteries.