Glennys Howarth - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Glennys Howarth

Research paper thumbnail of The Changing Face of Death: historical accounts of death, dying and disposal

Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - Preface M.Johnson - Introduction P.C.Jupp - Expres... more Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - Preface M.Johnson - Introduction P.C.Jupp - Expressions of Loss in Early Seventeenth-Century England C.Gittings - 'A Kind of Lawful Adultery': English Attitudes to the Remarriage of Widows 1500-1800 S.Collins - The Funeral Trade in Hanoverian England 1714-1760 J.Litten - Memento Mori: the Function and Meaning of Breton Ossuaries 1450-1750 E.Musgrave - The Green Ground J.Pinfold - Enon Chapel: No Way for the Dead P.C.Jupp - The Origins and Progress of Cemetery Establishment in Britain J.Rugg - The Professionalisation of the Funeral Industry G.Howarth - Hindu Cremations in Britain S.White - Changing English Attitudes to Death in the Two World Wars A.Wilkinson - The Death of a King: Elvis Presley 1935-1977 C.King - Actuarial Visions of Death: Life, Death and Chance in the Modern World L.Prior - Index

Research paper thumbnail of Professionalising the Funeral Industry in England 1700–1960

The Changing Face of Death, 1997

In 1689, coffin maker William Russell undertook to provide clients with all the requirements for ... more In 1689, coffin maker William Russell undertook to provide clients with all the requirements for a funeral.1 Gaining the blessing of the College of Arms whose heralds he proposed to employ, Russell seized the initiative for the embryonic undertaking profession. The trade has since flourished; presently enjoying a virtual monopoly of funeral services. This chapter will explore the undertaking industry as part of a process which commercialised death. The economic exploitation of death rites is discussed in relation to Victorian funerals and the nineteenth-century reform movement, with its central concern for public health and sanitation. The consequences for the funeral industry and the mechanisms it employed to ensure its survival are examined in a consideration of twentieth-century innovation.

Research paper thumbnail of Is There a British Way of Death?

The Unknown Country: Death in Australia, Britain and the USA, 1997

If we are to consider singularly ‘British’ deathways we ought to be describing rituals common to ... more If we are to consider singularly ‘British’ deathways we ought to be describing rituals common to three distinct countries and cultures: Scotland, Wales and England. Yet whilst there are many common legal and bureaucratic procedures required at death, commonality is not so clear in the case of cultural rituals. As in many other areas of political, social and economic processes, so in death the three countries which constitute Britain are assumed to share the cultural characteristics of the dominant country — that is, England. In death, as in life, however, this assumption is perverse since Scotland and Wales maintain traditional, national and regional rituals.

Research paper thumbnail of The Sociology of the Body

Meeting the Needs of our Clients Creatively, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Issues raised by community living staff caring for people with intellectual disability approaching the end of life

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

The aim of this study was to explore the current status of end-oflife care and dying of people wi... more The aim of this study was to explore the current status of end-oflife care and dying of people with intellectual disability as experienced by staff of community living services in Australia. Method: Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with staff, guided by grounded theory methodology. Results: The presentation reports on fi ve identifi ed key issues: knowledge of dying, ethical values, the where of the caring, the how of the caring, and post-death caring. The presentation also details how these issues occurred in relationship to the partners involved,including the dying person, fellow clients, family, external health services and the coroner. Conclusions: End-of-life care represents a complex interaction between the care issues and the partners involved in care. A sophisticated staff skill set is required to ensure that community living services can offer people with intellectual disability quality care at the end of their life.

Research paper thumbnail of The Rebirth of Death: continuing relationships with the dead

Research paper thumbnail of Grieving in Public

Research paper thumbnail of Sociology of Death, Dying and Grief

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical issues for community living staff in end-of-life care of people with intellectual disability

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

Aim: Increasingly in Australia, elderly people with intellectual disability who are dying receive... more Aim: Increasingly in Australia, elderly people with intellectual disability who are dying receive end-of-life care from staff in community living settings. Care in these settings is typically guided by a social justice ethical framework. The aim of this study was to explore how community living staff offer care in the context of this framework. Method: Guided by grounded theory methodology, this presentation draws upon focus group and individual interview data with community-living care staff. Results: The presentation describes how staff face challenging ethical dilemmas when the predominant social justice framework competes against a range of alternative positions including their own personal past experiences, colleagues with different ethical orientations, and legal requirements; all occurring on a landscape where the fi nality of death approaches. Conclusions: The presentation concludes with the proposal that competing ethical positions may compromise the quality of end-of-life care offered to people with intellectual disability, and threaten the social justice ethical framework so important to the achievement of equitable care for this potentially marginalized group.

Research paper thumbnail of AIDS and undertakers: The business of risk management

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 09581599308406903, Dec 13, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Viewing the body after a traumatic death

Bmj British Medical Journal, Apr 30, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Experiences of community living staff assisting people with intellectual disability to know about dying as the end of life approaches

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

The aim of this study was to explore community living staff experiences of engaging people with i... more The aim of this study was to explore community living staff experiences of engaging people with intellectual disability to know about dying and death. Method: Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with a range of staff, including those who had not yet experienced a client death, those who had experienced sudden client deaths, and those who had experienced client deaths pre-dated by extensive end-of-life care. Results: The presentation will report on both the staff 'in-principle' beliefs and 'in-practice' engagement with clients to know about dying and death. The infl uence of staff experience, client capacity to understand, and the opportunities for engagement will be discussed. These results will be presented against a landscape demonstrating that people with intellectual disability have been, and will continue to be, exposed to death. Conclusions: People with intellectual disability have a right to know about dying and death.

Research paper thumbnail of Aftermath and the Construction of Victimisation: 'The Other Victims of Crime

The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 2000

identity but also about the reach and impact of crime.

Research paper thumbnail of The emergence of new forms of dying in contemporary societies

Death, Dying, and Social Differences, 2011

... that relies on people taking responsibility for their own health by eating a balanced diet, t... more ... that relies on people taking responsibility for their own health by eating a balanced diet, taking sufficient exercise, limiting alcohol intake, quitting smoking, and so ... London: Macmillan. ... WHO issues new health life expectancy rankings: Japan number one in new 'healthy life'system ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Sociology of the Body Glennys Howarth

Meeting the Needs of Our Clients Creatively: The Impact of Art and Culture on Caregiving, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of What is talked about? Community living staff experiences of talking with older people with intellectual disability about dying and death

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

The aim of this study was to explore what community living staff talked about and did with people... more The aim of this study was to explore what community living staff talked about and did with people with intellectual disability (ID) to assist them to understand dying and death. Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and one-to-one interviews were conducted with 22 staff who had talked about any topic relating to dying and death with their clients. There was little evidence that staff talked with, or did things with clients to assist understanding of the end of life, both prior to and after a death. Prior to death staff assisted clients in a limited way to understand about determining wishes in preparation for death, and what dying looks like by observance of its passage. Following a death staff offered limited assistance to clients to understand the immutability of death, and how the dead can be honoured with ritual, and remembered. The findings have implications for why people with ID have only partial understanding of the end of life, the staff skills required to support clients' understanding, and when conversations about the end of life should occur.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘If and when?’: the beliefs and experiences of community living staff in supporting older people with intellectual disability to know about dying

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

The aim of this study was to explore the way in which community living staff engaged with people ... more The aim of this study was to explore the way in which community living staff engaged with people with intellectual disability (ID) about dying and death. Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with staff who had either no experience with client death, experience of a client sudden death, or a client death experience which was pre-dated by a period of end-of-life care. While in principle, staff unanimously supported the belief that people with ID should know about dying, there was limited in-practice engagement with clients about the topic. Engagement varied according to staff experience, client capacity to understand and the nature of the 'opportunity' to engage. Four 'opportunities' were identified: 'when family die', 'incidental opportunities', 'when clients live with someone who is dying' and 'when a client is dying'. Despite limited engagement by staff, people with ID are regularly exposed to dying and death. People with ID have a fundamental right to know about dying and death. Sophisticated staff skills are required to ensure that people with ID can meaningfully engage with end-of-life issues as opportunities arise.

Research paper thumbnail of Euthanasia: Sociological perspectives

British Medical Bulletin, 1996

The potential of medicine to intervene to prolong or shorten the life of those considered to be d... more The potential of medicine to intervene to prolong or shorten the life of those considered to be dying or of those whose life is rated as of little or even negative value has only recently surfaced. It is an issue likely to affect society and the normative social relationships which that society believes it is its duty to promote. It is probable that, covertly, members of the medical profession have long played a role in speeding up the process of dying, with or without the consent of affected individuals.The openness, however, with which the moral issues involved in hastening or prolonging life by medical means are now discussed is a late 20th century phenomenon. Sociologists are beginning to study the circumstances surrounding the issues and the wider societal implications of possible changes in the law, professional practices and normative values. Their work may well begin to influence public policy as well as private practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director

The British Journal of Sociology, 1997

... Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director Author: Glennys Howarth ISBN: 0-89503-345... more ... Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director Author: Glennys Howarth ISBN: 0-89503-345-3 Page Count: 232 Copyright: 1996 Add to Cart: Paper Price: $56.95 Postage and handling rates and options displayed at checkout. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Death, Dying and Bereavement

The British Journal of Sociology, 1995

Research paper thumbnail of The Changing Face of Death: historical accounts of death, dying and disposal

Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - Preface M.Johnson - Introduction P.C.Jupp - Expres... more Acknowledgements - Notes on the Contributors - Preface M.Johnson - Introduction P.C.Jupp - Expressions of Loss in Early Seventeenth-Century England C.Gittings - 'A Kind of Lawful Adultery': English Attitudes to the Remarriage of Widows 1500-1800 S.Collins - The Funeral Trade in Hanoverian England 1714-1760 J.Litten - Memento Mori: the Function and Meaning of Breton Ossuaries 1450-1750 E.Musgrave - The Green Ground J.Pinfold - Enon Chapel: No Way for the Dead P.C.Jupp - The Origins and Progress of Cemetery Establishment in Britain J.Rugg - The Professionalisation of the Funeral Industry G.Howarth - Hindu Cremations in Britain S.White - Changing English Attitudes to Death in the Two World Wars A.Wilkinson - The Death of a King: Elvis Presley 1935-1977 C.King - Actuarial Visions of Death: Life, Death and Chance in the Modern World L.Prior - Index

Research paper thumbnail of Professionalising the Funeral Industry in England 1700–1960

The Changing Face of Death, 1997

In 1689, coffin maker William Russell undertook to provide clients with all the requirements for ... more In 1689, coffin maker William Russell undertook to provide clients with all the requirements for a funeral.1 Gaining the blessing of the College of Arms whose heralds he proposed to employ, Russell seized the initiative for the embryonic undertaking profession. The trade has since flourished; presently enjoying a virtual monopoly of funeral services. This chapter will explore the undertaking industry as part of a process which commercialised death. The economic exploitation of death rites is discussed in relation to Victorian funerals and the nineteenth-century reform movement, with its central concern for public health and sanitation. The consequences for the funeral industry and the mechanisms it employed to ensure its survival are examined in a consideration of twentieth-century innovation.

Research paper thumbnail of Is There a British Way of Death?

The Unknown Country: Death in Australia, Britain and the USA, 1997

If we are to consider singularly ‘British’ deathways we ought to be describing rituals common to ... more If we are to consider singularly ‘British’ deathways we ought to be describing rituals common to three distinct countries and cultures: Scotland, Wales and England. Yet whilst there are many common legal and bureaucratic procedures required at death, commonality is not so clear in the case of cultural rituals. As in many other areas of political, social and economic processes, so in death the three countries which constitute Britain are assumed to share the cultural characteristics of the dominant country — that is, England. In death, as in life, however, this assumption is perverse since Scotland and Wales maintain traditional, national and regional rituals.

Research paper thumbnail of The Sociology of the Body

Meeting the Needs of our Clients Creatively, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Issues raised by community living staff caring for people with intellectual disability approaching the end of life

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

The aim of this study was to explore the current status of end-oflife care and dying of people wi... more The aim of this study was to explore the current status of end-oflife care and dying of people with intellectual disability as experienced by staff of community living services in Australia. Method: Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with staff, guided by grounded theory methodology. Results: The presentation reports on fi ve identifi ed key issues: knowledge of dying, ethical values, the where of the caring, the how of the caring, and post-death caring. The presentation also details how these issues occurred in relationship to the partners involved,including the dying person, fellow clients, family, external health services and the coroner. Conclusions: End-of-life care represents a complex interaction between the care issues and the partners involved in care. A sophisticated staff skill set is required to ensure that community living services can offer people with intellectual disability quality care at the end of their life.

Research paper thumbnail of The Rebirth of Death: continuing relationships with the dead

Research paper thumbnail of Grieving in Public

Research paper thumbnail of Sociology of Death, Dying and Grief

Research paper thumbnail of Ethical issues for community living staff in end-of-life care of people with intellectual disability

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

Aim: Increasingly in Australia, elderly people with intellectual disability who are dying receive... more Aim: Increasingly in Australia, elderly people with intellectual disability who are dying receive end-of-life care from staff in community living settings. Care in these settings is typically guided by a social justice ethical framework. The aim of this study was to explore how community living staff offer care in the context of this framework. Method: Guided by grounded theory methodology, this presentation draws upon focus group and individual interview data with community-living care staff. Results: The presentation describes how staff face challenging ethical dilemmas when the predominant social justice framework competes against a range of alternative positions including their own personal past experiences, colleagues with different ethical orientations, and legal requirements; all occurring on a landscape where the fi nality of death approaches. Conclusions: The presentation concludes with the proposal that competing ethical positions may compromise the quality of end-of-life care offered to people with intellectual disability, and threaten the social justice ethical framework so important to the achievement of equitable care for this potentially marginalized group.

Research paper thumbnail of AIDS and undertakers: The business of risk management

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 09581599308406903, Dec 13, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Viewing the body after a traumatic death

Bmj British Medical Journal, Apr 30, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Experiences of community living staff assisting people with intellectual disability to know about dying as the end of life approaches

Iassid 2012 a World of Potential Proceedings of the International Association For the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities 2012 World Congress, 2012

The aim of this study was to explore community living staff experiences of engaging people with i... more The aim of this study was to explore community living staff experiences of engaging people with intellectual disability to know about dying and death. Method: Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with a range of staff, including those who had not yet experienced a client death, those who had experienced sudden client deaths, and those who had experienced client deaths pre-dated by extensive end-of-life care. Results: The presentation will report on both the staff 'in-principle' beliefs and 'in-practice' engagement with clients to know about dying and death. The infl uence of staff experience, client capacity to understand, and the opportunities for engagement will be discussed. These results will be presented against a landscape demonstrating that people with intellectual disability have been, and will continue to be, exposed to death. Conclusions: People with intellectual disability have a right to know about dying and death.

Research paper thumbnail of Aftermath and the Construction of Victimisation: 'The Other Victims of Crime

The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 2000

identity but also about the reach and impact of crime.

Research paper thumbnail of The emergence of new forms of dying in contemporary societies

Death, Dying, and Social Differences, 2011

... that relies on people taking responsibility for their own health by eating a balanced diet, t... more ... that relies on people taking responsibility for their own health by eating a balanced diet, taking sufficient exercise, limiting alcohol intake, quitting smoking, and so ... London: Macmillan. ... WHO issues new health life expectancy rankings: Japan number one in new 'healthy life'system ...

Research paper thumbnail of The Sociology of the Body Glennys Howarth

Meeting the Needs of Our Clients Creatively: The Impact of Art and Culture on Caregiving, 1999

Research paper thumbnail of What is talked about? Community living staff experiences of talking with older people with intellectual disability about dying and death

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

The aim of this study was to explore what community living staff talked about and did with people... more The aim of this study was to explore what community living staff talked about and did with people with intellectual disability (ID) to assist them to understand dying and death. Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and one-to-one interviews were conducted with 22 staff who had talked about any topic relating to dying and death with their clients. There was little evidence that staff talked with, or did things with clients to assist understanding of the end of life, both prior to and after a death. Prior to death staff assisted clients in a limited way to understand about determining wishes in preparation for death, and what dying looks like by observance of its passage. Following a death staff offered limited assistance to clients to understand the immutability of death, and how the dead can be honoured with ritual, and remembered. The findings have implications for why people with ID have only partial understanding of the end of life, the staff skills required to support clients' understanding, and when conversations about the end of life should occur.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘If and when?’: the beliefs and experiences of community living staff in supporting older people with intellectual disability to know about dying

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2013

The aim of this study was to explore the way in which community living staff engaged with people ... more The aim of this study was to explore the way in which community living staff engaged with people with intellectual disability (ID) about dying and death. Guided by grounded theory methodology, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with staff who had either no experience with client death, experience of a client sudden death, or a client death experience which was pre-dated by a period of end-of-life care. While in principle, staff unanimously supported the belief that people with ID should know about dying, there was limited in-practice engagement with clients about the topic. Engagement varied according to staff experience, client capacity to understand and the nature of the 'opportunity' to engage. Four 'opportunities' were identified: 'when family die', 'incidental opportunities', 'when clients live with someone who is dying' and 'when a client is dying'. Despite limited engagement by staff, people with ID are regularly exposed to dying and death. People with ID have a fundamental right to know about dying and death. Sophisticated staff skills are required to ensure that people with ID can meaningfully engage with end-of-life issues as opportunities arise.

Research paper thumbnail of Euthanasia: Sociological perspectives

British Medical Bulletin, 1996

The potential of medicine to intervene to prolong or shorten the life of those considered to be d... more The potential of medicine to intervene to prolong or shorten the life of those considered to be dying or of those whose life is rated as of little or even negative value has only recently surfaced. It is an issue likely to affect society and the normative social relationships which that society believes it is its duty to promote. It is probable that, covertly, members of the medical profession have long played a role in speeding up the process of dying, with or without the consent of affected individuals.The openness, however, with which the moral issues involved in hastening or prolonging life by medical means are now discussed is a late 20th century phenomenon. Sociologists are beginning to study the circumstances surrounding the issues and the wider societal implications of possible changes in the law, professional practices and normative values. Their work may well begin to influence public policy as well as private practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director

The British Journal of Sociology, 1997

... Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director Author: Glennys Howarth ISBN: 0-89503-345... more ... Last Rites: The Work of the Modern Funeral Director Author: Glennys Howarth ISBN: 0-89503-345-3 Page Count: 232 Copyright: 1996 Add to Cart: Paper Price: $56.95 Postage and handling rates and options displayed at checkout. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Death, Dying and Bereavement

The British Journal of Sociology, 1995