Ritual and dying: a cultural analysis of social support for caregivers.
This study examines the role of social support in the process of caring for someone dying at home. Based on data from in-depth ethnographic interviews with 16 caregivers, it employs a cultural analysis to draw parallels with rituals of transition. Ritual provides a broad context of meanings and routines for securing the doubts and unknowns of individual experience. The way social support is provided plays a key role in the caregiver's transition to bereavement.
Sankar
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Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D003643:Death; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support