PSYC 3570 Final: Chapter-notes
10 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Scholar who attempted to identify basic themes in attitudes toward death over an extended period. Had already made substantial contributions to the history of family life and the social construction of childhood. His influential work energized the study of death from a historical perspective. Attempted to reconstruct the history of european death attitudes. Drew most observations from burial practices and rituals surrounding the end of life. The defense of society against untamed nature. Death was primarily a community event in the earliest human societies. The community or tribe could be seriously weakened by the loss of its members. Ritualization was a way of protecting fragile human society from the uncontrollable perils of nature and gods. About a thousand years into the christian era, people became more aware of themselves as individuals and this was associated with vulnerability. The hour of death became the most important hour of life .
