Read more
Based on a content analysis of writing assignments from a class on death and dying, this book focuses on the manner in which college students use religion to make sense of death and the dying process.
Drawing on research spanning five years, the author considers the attitudes, concerns, and beliefs about death, exploring students' perspectives on the place of religion in end-of-life issues. With attention to questions related to death anxiety, suicide, mass homicide, and the death of young children, the author examines the ways in which students draw on religion to make sense of death, religion's function as both a source of comfort and empowerment and a source of distress, as well as the perceptions of those who resist religion.
As such, Religion, Life, and Death will appeal to social scientists with interests in the sociology of young adults, and the sociology and psychology of religion, death, and dying.
List of contents
1.Introduction. 2.The Link Between Religion, Health, and Death Anxiety. 3.Anticipating Death. 4.Religion and Tragic Deaths: Suicide and Homicide. 5.Religion and Tragic Deaths: The Death of Young Children. 6.Reflections on Life, Death, and Religion. 7.How College Students Use Religion to Comprehend Death. 8. Religious Interpretative Frameworks in the Face of Death.
About the author
Pamela Leong is a professor of sociology at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. Leong is a sociology generalist who is interested in a wide array of sociology sub-disciplines and topics, as well as topics that venture into other academic disciplines. Her most recent research publications include two monographs: Rating Professors Online: How Culture, Technology, and Consumer Expectations Shape Modern Student Evaluations (2020) and Religion, Flesh, and Blood: The Convergence of HIV/AIDS, Black Sexual Expression, and Therapeutic Religion (2015).
Summary
Based on a content analysis of writing assignments from a class on death and dying, this book focuses on the manner in which college students use religion to make sense of death and the dying process.
Report
This important book examines the commonly overlooked experiences of death, loss, and grief among younger people. Leong shows how religion continues to play re-orienting roles in meaning-making for these experiences. Essential reading for all students, teachers, and the families behind them. A brilliant and valuable contribution.
