Division of Social Work

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Division of Social Work

Bart Phelps MSW, LCSW Spring 2011 – Social Work 245 / 01

Death, Grief and Growth

Tuesday 3:00 pm-5:50 pm

Class: 1014 Mariposa Hall Office: MRP 5045 Hours:

Tuesday 2-3:00 p.m.

Tel: 916-764-1442

Email (preferred)

Course Description:

Social Work 245 is a course designed to provide opportunities for students to conduct an investigation of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors associated with death, dying and the grieving process. Terminal illness and suicide and its impact on families, individuals and communities, euthanasia, last rites, legal aspects, death anxiety, cross-cultural beliefs and various theoretical and philosophical views on the phenomenon of death are explored. Philosophical, theoretical and practice perspectives will be explored.

Course Outcomes:

The students will, through written assignments/projects/exams/ and outside readings understand, integrate, and apply knowledge on the following:

1.  Introduction to Thanatology

·  background of the study of death and dying;

·  methodological considerations;

·  evaluate the usefulness of death education and thanatology;

2.  Attitudes toward Death

·  identify historical antecedents of current Western attitudes toward death;

·  contrast cross cultural views of the relationship between life and death;

·  discuss personal and social assumptions about loss and death;

·  explain how attitudes concerning death are expressed in mass media, language, and the arts;

·  discuss what factors have influenced emotional and physical distancing from death;

3.  The Fear of Death

·  discuss psychoanalytic theory perspectives;

·  explain theories of trauma and separation;

·  understand existential theories and give examples;

·  describe learning theory explanations;

4.  Learning about Death: Socio-cultural Influences

·  describe the components of a mature concept about death;

·  discuss the relationship of early experiences with death and understanding death;

·  contrast societal response to death using functionalist, symbolic interactionism, conflict theory and social learning theory

·  describe how varieties of subcultures develop diverse approaches to understanding death and contribute to death customs and mourning rituals;

5.  Dying as a Process

·  understand the Kubler-Ross stage model;

·  discuss Weisman’s series of small deaths model;

·  Explain Bluebond-Langer and dying children;

·  Evaluate alternative models of dying process;

·  Delineate between various death trajectories;

·  Understand and be able to discuss what dying people want

6.  Caring for the Terminally Ill

·  describe the philosophies and programs of hospice as an approach to caring for the dying;

·  assess the benefits and risks of alternative therapies;

·  weigh the personal and social costs of terminal illnesses;

·  provide examples of losses that occur through institutionalization of the dying process;

7.  Death and the Family

·  describe children’s perceptions of illness and death;

·  identify factors influencing children’s experience of grief;

·  contrast approaches of various grief support groups;

·  illustrate ways to help children cope with death;

·  distinguish the factors influencing the response to a death of a parent;

·  discuss various types of bereavement (i.e. parental, spouse, child, relative);

·  discuss individual and family adjustment and re-organization;

·  contrast “normal” and “morbid” death reactions;

8.  Volitional Deaths

·  identify potential suicide victims and suicidal ideations;

·  explain risk factors associated with suicide;

·  discuss the history of suicide and theoretical typologies and compare causal theories;

·  contrast diverse cultural beliefs about suicide;

·  identify myths about suicide;

·  describe suicide intervention techniques;

9.  Technology and Death

·  describe benefits and costs of truth-telling in terminal cases;

·  explain issues regarding competencies;

·  contrast four approaches to the definition of death;

·  discuss euthanasia and ethical considerations of one’s “right-to-die”;

·  define self-determination and informed consent;

·  name at least five medical technologies that may prolong lifespan;

10.  Last Rites, Interment and Death Rituals

·  describe the psychosocial aspects and function of rituals;

·  contrast costs of various funeral and interment rituals;

·  discuss the historical changes in U.S. death rituals;

·  compare diversity of cultural approaches to death rituals;

11.  Morbidity and Mortality Risks

·  describe risks of death for various age groups, genders, racial groups;

·  evaluate the impact of AIDS and other emerging diseases;

·  discuss the impact of disasters on those who survive;

·  identify the effects of war and its aftermath on combatants and noncombatants;

12.  Legalities of Death

·  describe the role of the coroner and medical examiner;

·  appraise one’s own death in terms of advance directives;

·  identify the types, content, and purpose of wills and living wills;

·  discuss the stipulations in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act;

·  describe the legal stages with respect to legal matters pertaining to a terminally ill person.

Textbooks

Required:
The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying, 8th Edition

Course Outline / Schedule of Readings / Assignments

Week 1
01/25/11 / Introductions / Overview of Coursework and Assignments
Formation of Presentation
Documentary: The Young and the Dead
Week 2 / Attitudes Towards Death; Learning About Death
02/01/11 / Last Dance - Chapters 1 and 2
Complete Formation of Presentation Groups and Topic Selection
Week 3 / Perspectives on Death; Death Systems
02/08/11 / Last Dance – Chapters 3 and 4
Week 4 / Health Care; End-of-Life Issues and Decisions. Guest Speaker
02/15/11 / Last Dance – Chapters 5 and 6
Week 5 / Facing Death; Last Rites
02/22/11 / Last Dance – Chapters 7 and 8
Week 6 / Film: Fearless
03/01/11
Week 7 / Eulogy Exercise/ Understand the concept of Loss (class discussion)
03/08/11
Mid-term Writing Assignment Due: Lossography
Week 8 / Survivors
03/15/10 / Last Dance – Chapter 9
Death in the Lives of Children and Adolescents, Death in the Lives of Adults
*Discuss Lossographies. Last Dance Chapters 10 & 11
Week 9 / Spring Break 3/21-3/25
Week 10
03/29/11 / Death in the Lives of Adults
Week 11 / Suicide; Film: The Bridge
04/05/11 / Last Dance – Chapters 12 and 13
Week 12 / The path Ahead: Personal and Social Choices
4/12/11 / Last Dance – Chapters 14 and 15
Week 13 / Presentation #1
04/19/11 / Presentation #2
Week 14 / Presentation #3
04/26/11 / Presentation #4
Week 15 / Exam
05/03/1
Week 16 / Presentation #5
05/10/11 / Presentation #6
Final Paper Due in Class
Week 17 / Finals’ Week
No Class – Happy Summer!

TEACHING METHODS:

Learning activities will include readings, writing, discussion, interactive lectures, speakers, audiovisual resources, and experiential exercises. The class will be organized as a learning laboratory using lecture, class discussion, and guest speakers.

Cooperative and collaborative learning are dependent upon student preparation and participation. Students are expected to have read all assigned readings prior to class sessions. Students are expected to participate in cooperative and collaborative learning exercises in class.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Ø  Students should turn off cell phones during class.

Ø  Lap top use in the class is limited to note taking only.

Ø  Written work must conform to APA format. Serious deficiencies in areas such as spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and coherent organization will result in lower grades. Students are encouraged to use the writing lab—or other available writing programs-- if writing problems emerge.

Ø  Plagiarism (claiming the work of someone else as your own) will result in a grade of FAIL for the course.

Ø  Where appropriate, the following criteria are used to evaluate assignments:

Effective use of knowledge: the integration of concepts, theories, models, and information from readings, lectures, and class discussions is used in a way that demonstrates integration and understanding.

The inclusion of personal points of view along with rationale, logic, and examples. Generalization of ideas, observations, concepts, and experiences are carefully supported with empirical data, conceptual work generated by authors, practitioners, or researchers.

Organization: thesis in introduction, smooth relationship between ideas and between paragraphs, and overall structure, integrative concluding section. Careful planning is evident in the organization.

Clarity: understandability, good style and form. Central ideas are concrete and clear.

Correct syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Sentences and paragraphs are clear, unified, and coherent.

Ø  Students are reminded to retain a duplicate copy of all their written assignments prior to submitting them for grading in the event of accidental loss or destruction.

Ø  Students’ interest, time, commitment to the course, as well as personal/professional development is highly valued. There is no substitute or make-up for attendance and participation. Missing more than three (3) scheduled class sessions will result in failing the course

Ø  Students are expected to have completed assignments for the course by the scheduled due date. If special circumstances arise, the instructor may grant an extension on the due date. This must be arranged with the instructor prior to the date the assignment is due. If students need help or have questions, they are encouraged to contact the instructor during office hours or by email.

It is expected that developing social workers become familiar with and adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics. This code should guide you both in field and in the classroom.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

A. Attendance and Participation

1. You are expected to be in class on time and to remain for the entire class session.

2. Attendance sign-in sheets will be circulated during each class session. It is your responsibility to sign-in.

3. Active and prepared class discussion is expected and required.

- Class participation is assessed by the observation and experience of:
1. Content Mastery: Understanding of the facts, concepts, and theories in the assigned readings.

2. Communication Skills: Ability to inform others in an intelligent manner, communicating ideas clearly and persuasively. Ability to listen to others and understand what they have said.

3. Synthesis and Integration: Ability to articulate connections between various readings and ideas.

4. Value: Ability of identify value content in class readings and discussions, and to articulate your own position in relationship to your own value base and to explain that position on some hierarchy of value.

5. Relevance: When participating in class: Is my question and or comment enhancing my or someone else’s learning? Does my question or comment further the discussion and or illustrate a critical point?

B. Grading

1. / Mid-term Assignment / 20 points
2. / Eulogy Assignment / 15 points
3. / Oral Classroom Presentation / 25 points
4. / Final Paper / 25points
5. / Attendance / 8 points
6. / Participation / 7 points
Total possible points / 100 points

Grading Scale

A / = / 100 points / - / 94 points
A- / = / 92 points / - / 90 points
B+ / = / 89 points / - / 87 points
B / = / 86 points / - / 83 points
B- / = / 82 points / - / 80 points
C+ / = / 79 points / - / 76 points
C / = / 75 points / - / 73 points
C- / = / 72 points / - / 70 points
D+ / = / 69 points / - / 67 points
D / = / 66 points / - / 64 points
D- / = / 63 points / - / 60 points
F / = / 59 points / - / below

Late papers will lose 10 points for each day after due date. Due dates are identified in the Course Schedule. No late final papers will be accepted.

Electronic submission of assignments is not permitted unless approval has been granted by the instructor.

On days of student presentations, you will have 20 points deducted if you are absent.

An “I” (incomplete) will be given only when the student attends all classes and requests an “I” grade due to a legitimate reason for a delay in completing assignments. All appropriate paperwork must be completed to authorize the incomplete grade.

The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus, reading assignments and requirements during the semester, if needed. Ample notice of requirements will be given.

Students with special learning needs should discuss their needs with the instructor as soon as possible. Students with documented special learning needs, can obtain accommodations for course materials, testing facilities, and equipment by contacting the Office of Disability Services (916) 278-6955. The instructor should be advised of these accommodations as soon as possible.

Assignments

Mid-term Assignment: Writing Your Lossography - due Week 7 20 pts possible

A.  A Lossography is an essay that details the death and loss events in your life, along with your present understanding of how each experience has influenced your attitudes and beliefs. Begin by recalling your past experiences with death and dying. Note who in your life has influenced your attitudes toward death.

B.  Use the first activity in this section, Childhood Loss Memories, to focus on some of your earliest memories of loss and death.

C.  After you have completed this exercise, turn to the next activity,  Questionnaire: Loss Inventory, to brainstorm and record other death and loss events in your life. Think about your past experiences with loss. Remember that loss events include other losses in life, as well as those related to death. Some of the topics students have written about include the experience of the loss of health through a serious illness, the loss of a relationship through divorce, the loss of country through emigration, and the loss of the child-bearing experience through infertility. Later, as you sit down to write your paper, you can select the important loss events in your life and make connections to your beliefs and behavior today.

D.  As an example of the “Lossography,” read the following two excerpts about prior loss events and how these students connected them to their present beliefs and behaviors:

“In examining my somewhat wishy-washy feelings about ground burial, I began to get an idea of where the conflicting notions came from in my experience. Pictures of my mother’s response to digging up a long-buried goldfish join with the childhood rhyme, ‘The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout.’ No wonder I am not centered about ground burial.”

“When my little sister died at birth, I was four. During the previous months I had been prepped to be a ‘big brother.’ My parents came home from the hospital and picked me up at my grandparents. I asked, ‘Where is my baby?’ My parents responded, “She didn’t live long enough to come home.’ I never asked another question. For years I was sure that she didn’t come home because I couldn’t be a good enough big brother for her and really didn’t want the job anyway. While I was writing my paper, I called my mom and dad to ask them about my baby sister’s death. They told me the details. When I asked them how I reacted, they said that I never talked about her. They thought that ‘no questions meant no problems.’ I can see now that my reluctance to ask questions of other survivors might have come from that childhood experience.”