1
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
School of Social Work
Graduate/ Undergraduate Social Work Program
Social Aspects of Death and Dying
GERO 4336.01/5336.01
Course Outline
Spring 2013
This course is an approved BSW and MSW elective course.
3 Credits
Prerequisite: Admission to Graduate/Undergraduate Programs
Instructor: Dr. Rosalie V. Otters
Office Hours: Monday 1 to 4; Tues. 9 to 12, Wed. 9 to 12; by appointment
Email: rvotters@ualr.edu
Office Phone: 501-569-3012
I. DESCRIPTION OF COURSE
We who are studying gerontology and social work seek to apply our knowledge with the
skills and values of a helping profession. The multidisciplinary study of death
(thanatology) deals with questions that are at the basis of self-identity: Our creation and
development, who we are now, and where we are going. It is also a study of the passage
of time: Our past, present and future. But studying death can never be a "spectator
sport"; we are all in this together. There are many diverse social, philosophical and
theological theories concerning the passage of death, for both ourselves and those around
us. We will study contributions from medicine, the humanities and the social sciences as
well as organized religion and personal spirituality, seeking to better understand and
appreciate ourselves even as we seek to help others in a time of great change and
potential stress.
Unit I: Cultural Issues of Dying and Death, covers the many recent changes in Western
culture, as well as its influence on other cultures.
Unit II: Life Course and Social Institutions, reviews the life course perspective in
relationship to the structures of society. The life course perspective is central to a
developmental, ecological perspective used in both applied gerontology and social work.
Unit III: Personal Perspectives on Death and Dying, emphasizes the human commonality
of the dying, death and bereavement process.
Unit IV: Ethical Issues, considers end-of-life decisions, euthanasia and suicide, as well
as the institutional decisions our society makes, especially in health care. Including endof-life care (NASW); other ethical codes.
2
Unit V: Grief, Bereavement and Beyond, reviews ritualistic preparations and body
disbursement, survivor loss and grief as well as our hopes for the future.
This course will be taught through a combination of lecture and discussion, video/DVD
clips and discussion, online quizzes and discussion, journaling, guest speakers and/or
community site visitation, as well as student presentations. Blackboard 9.1 will be used
for all communication, submission, quizzes, journaling.
II.
OBJECTIVES OF COURSE
Objective 1: Development of a generalist, ecological, strengths perspective toward
helping others as a professional gerontologist and/or social worker (quizzes, short
assignments, journaling, presentations/paper or take home final).
Objective 2: Understanding and application of the dying, death and bereavement process
to the student's own life. This develops the student's use of self as a "tool" in the helping
process (journaling).
Objective 3: Knowledge of the diverse cultural issues involved in the dying, death and
bereavement process (quizzes, short assignments).
Objective 4: Development of a life course perspective on the dying, death and
bereavement process (quizzes, short assignments, journaling, presentations/ paper or take
home final).
Objective 5: Development of critical thinking regarding the many ethical issues at the
end-of-life both for the individual and society (quizzes, short assignments, journaling,
presentation/paper or take home final).
Objective 6: Ability to understand and apply micro, mezzo and macro models to the
dying, death and bereavement process (quizzes, short assignments, presentations/paper or
take home final).
Objective 7: Case planning tools for working with older adults and their families--including advance directives, funeral planning, obituaries, consideration of grief issues,
cultural/ religious/spiritual attitudes, institutional systems (quizzes, short assignments,
presentations/paper or take home final).
III.
UNITS, CONTENT, and REQUIRED READING ASSIGNMENTS
Unit I: Cultural Issues: Dying and Death
Week 1: Attitudes Toward Death: A Climate of Change
3
Chapter 1, DeSpeider
Week 2: Learning About Death: The Influence of Sociocultural Forces
Chapter 2, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Article 1
(Grief in Age of Facebook, # 1)
(Roadside Memorial Policies in the United States, #3)
(Proliferation of Postselves in American Civic/ Popular Culture, # 2)
NOTE: All Annual Editions Articles are numbered from the 2012/13 edition.
Week 3: Perspectives on Death: Cultural and Historical
Chapter 3, DeSpeider (omit pp. 125 to 131)
Annual Editions Articles
(Criteria for Good Death, # 5),
(Vet Hospice: Ways to Nurture Pets…#24)
(How Different Religions Pay Their Final Respects, #31)
Unit II: Life Course and Social Institutions
Week 4: Death Systems: Mortality and Society
Chapter 4, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Articles
(Helping Military Kids…#8)
(Examination of Potential Role of Pet Ownership….#23)
Week 5: Health Care: Patients, Staff, and Institutions
Chapter 5, DeSpeider
Annual Editions
(Brain Death Guidelines…#4)
(Death and Dying across Cultures, #12)
Unit III: Personal Perspectives on Death and Dying
Note chapter numbers!
Week 6: Facing Death: Living with Life-Threatening Illness
Chapter 7, DeSpeider
Annual Editions
(Dying on the Streets…#11)
(I was a Doctor….# 29)
Week 7: Risks, Perils, and Traumatic Death
Chapter 13, DeSpeider
Annual Editions
(Cherished Pet Dies, #22)
(Teaching Children about Death and Grief #7)
Unit IV: Ethical Issues
4
Note chapter numbers!
Week 8:
End-of-Life Issues and Decisions
Chapter 6, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Articles
(What Living Wills Won't Do…#25)
(Dealing with the Dead, #33)
(End-of-Life Concerns and Care Preferences…, #10)
Arkansas Advanced Directives (see Blackboard)
Week 9: Suicide
Chapter 12, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Articles
(Ethical, Legal and Practical Issues…Suicide…#18),
(Search for Death…..Suicide…#20)
(Effects of Race and Precipitating Event….#17)
Unit V: Grief, Bereavement and Beyond
Week 10: Last Rites: Funerals and Body Disposition
Chapter 8, DeSpeider
Annual Editions
(Building my Father's Coffin, # 32)
(The Contemporary American Funeral, # 30)
Week 11:
Survivors: Understanding the Experience of Loss
Chapter 9, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Articles
(Grieving Process, #34)
(Disenfranchised Grief. #35)
(Challenging the Paradigm….#36)
Week 12:
Death in the Lives of Children and Adolescents
Chapter 10, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Article
(Death in Disney Films. #6)
Week 13:
Death in the Lives of Adults
Chapter 11, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Article
(Needs of Elderly Patients….#9)
Oral Presentations, all written presentations due (graduates)
Week 14:
Beyond Death/After Life (Note chapter number!)
Chapter 14, DeSpeider
Annual Editions Article
(Hallucinations or Real?...#13)
Oral Presentations (graduates)
5
Week 15:
IV.
Oral Presentations (graduates)
Take Home Final (undergraduates)
TECHNIQUES OF INSTRUCTION
All students are required to have access to a personal computer. If you do not own a
computer, computers are available for your use throughout the UALR campus (Cyber
Café, Donaghey Student Union, Student Lounge, School of Social Work, Computing
Services Lab, Ottenheimer Library).
There will be a variety of teaching methods that will be utilized including: both instructor
and student-lead lectures and discussions; self-reflection and ethical dilemma papers,
video based discussions; written reports , a possible field trip and/or speaker
We will use Blackboard for all e-mail communication, PowerPoints and journal articles.
Plan to check your Blackboard several times a week for postings. Assignments should
be submitted on time through Blackboard. Class work CANNOT be made up without
an authorized excuse (as from ULAR, a doctor’s note, the court, etc.). In extraordinary
circumstances it is up to the discretion of the instructor to allow other arrangements for
assignments.
It is important to read the weekly assignments before class.
V.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
DeSpelder & Strickland. The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying (2011.)
Dickinson & Leming. Dying, Death and Bereavement: Annual Editions (2012/13)
Both of these texts can also be gotten through e texts (see CourseSmart.com), online
texts which are cheaper and can be used for a set number of days; you can copy up to
150% of the online text. You may also get these texts through online book services, either
new or used. Compare the prices.
VI.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
See Blackboard:
Short Assignments (all students)
Journals (all students)
Bibliotherapy: oral presentations and paper (graduates)
Final Reflection and Exam Paper (undergraduates)
VII.
METHOD OF EVALUATION
Students are accountable for all assigned readings, which should be read previously to
6
class. Please submit papers through Blackboard. If there are field opportunities, you will
be given the choice of a written assignment in lieu of the field experience.
Late work is not accepted unless you have previously made an arrangement with the
instructor and only with approved documentation. Redone assignments are at the
discretion of the instructor and for partial credit.
Note: A writing grade is included as part of all written work, usually 20% of total grade.
Therefore students will get both a content grade (80%) and a writing grade (20%) to
equal 100% of the grade for each written work.
Writing grades include the following: Good spelling, grammar, sentence construction,
logical and critical thinking.
APA Style (6th edition) is used in this class for all written work, which includes grammar,
spelling, sentence construction, use of citations/references. Plagiarism is taken seriously
in this class. You will be given the opportunity to check paper drafts in SafeAssign (see
Blackboard tools) for major papers. If you do not correct this work you will earn a
zero grade for the paper. Plagiarism includes work that is extensively copied from
another source even if you cite the source (see APA Style for quotation directions).
You can buy APA Style (6th edition) or review APA requirements online by accessing
apa.org
At this website there is a Tutorial and also Frequently Asked Questions which may help.
There is also a Guide to Grammar and Writing which you can find online. This website
may be helpful as you write. See http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Content grade: Organization, examples/descriptions as needed, conceptual
understanding, following directions, complete answers.
VIII. GRADING
This class will be based on a point system, where 600 points = 100%.
Grading:
Short Assignments (3)
Points
150
Percentage
25%
Quizzes (4)
200
33%
Journal
100
17%
150
(150)
25%
(25%)
Final Reflection and Exam
(undergraduates)
Oral Presentation/Paper (graduates)
7
_____
600
_____
100%
GRADING SCALE
This class will be based on a point system, where 600 points = 100%.
The grading scale for the Graduate program is as follows:
Percentage
92-100
82-91
72-81
0-71
Points
600- 552
551- 492
491- 432
<432
Grade
A
B
C
F
The grading scale for the Undergraduate program:
Percentage
92-100
82-91
72-81
62-71
0-71
Points
600- 552
551- 492
491- 432
431- 372
<371
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Points needed for each grade: (out of 600 points = 100%). Check your points periodically on
Blackboard.
NOTE: You need the points to get the grade!
IX. CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY
Learning in a professional program is based in large part on the interaction that occurs
between the instructor and students in the classroom. Regular attendance at class is an
expected professional responsibility of the student. Absences of greater than 20
percent of the total class time may constitute grounds for course failure.
This is a learning experience for professional social worker and gerontologists; therefore
students are expected to contact the instructor before class, as for any work absence. In
order to get consideration for make-up work, students will provide proper documentation.
Excessive lateness to class will be included in the calculation of absences. Students who
are absent must inform the instructor of the absence, preferably before the class time.
After discussion with the student the instructor will determine whether the absence will
be excused. Only students who miss an assignment due to an emergency, illness or very
extenuating circumstance will be allowed to make them up. There is no credit for class
group assignments which are missed in any part. This includes all lecture and instructions
for the assignment.
8
Cell Phone and Laptop Use
Please turn-off all cell phones or place your phone on vibrate before entering class.
While we understand the necessity for some students to rely on cell phones, it is a
distraction and annoyance when it unexpectedly rings during a class session.
Laptops are to be only used to enhance your on-task class experience. Otherwise they are
not to be used in this classroom.
X.
HONOR CODE
All students registered for courses in the School of Social Work are expected to adhere to
the rights, responsibilities, and behavior as articulated in both the UALR Student
Handbook and the NASW (National Association of Social Workers) Code of Ethics. An
essential feature of these codes is a commitment to maintaining intellectual integrity and
academic honesty. This commitment insures that a student of the School of Social Work
will neither knowingly give nor receive any inappropriate assistance in academic work,
thereby affirming personal honor and integrity.
Students are required to cite the use of any materials written by others in all written
assignments. Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's ideas or work as one's
own. This includes using ideas, words, or phrases without proper attribution.
Students found plagiarizing are subject to the penalties outlined in the Student
Handbook, which may include a failing grade for the work in question or for the
entire course.
For more information on plagiarism and proper citation see the web sites listed below.
You are expected to read and review these cites and make sure that you know how to
properly annotate the ideas or work of others. If you need help please see me or obtain
assistance from the Writing Center.
http://www.ualr.edu/copyright/articles/?ID=5
http://www.ualr.edu/copyright/articles/?ID=4
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml#plagiarized
http://www.ualr.edu/copyright/?ID=2
http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/infoethics/index.html
XI.
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES
Students with Disabilities: It is the policy of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design
of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of
9
achievement–such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of noncaptioned videos–please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also
welcome to contact the Disability Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For
more information, visit the DRC website at http://ualr.edu/disability/.