The relationship between sociology and death is long-standing. Early foundational texts, such as Durkheim’s (1897) Suicide, shaped sociology as a discipline, helping to establish its broad ontological power and demonstrate its methodological processes. It was towards the turn of the twentieth century, however, that saw research into death, dying and bereavement increase rapidly, with the range of academic contributions expanding significantly in both number and reach. This recent rise in scholarly engagement with death mirrors an increase in broader public engagement, evident in the growing popularity of death cafes, and increased political involvement in this area, shown through the recent end of life bill.

Despite this growing interest, there is still an imbalance in contributions from different disciplines within death studies as a multidisciplinary field. For much of the twentieth century and thus far in the twenty-first century, knowledge production in death, dying and bereavement has been dominated by research and theory from what Rose (1990) identifies as the ‘psy-disciplines’ (psychiatry, psychology etc.), which tend to be concerned with individualistic and medicalised discourse. Over time, these powerful accounts have seeped into popular thought and become the accepted ways of understanding dying, death and bereavement, promoting the idea of ‘normal’ grief and presenting loss and bereavement as a process to progress through. For example, Stroebe, Schut and Boerner (2017) note that science and practice seem deeply stuck in the widely known ‘stages of grief’ theory (originally attributed to Kubler-Ross, 1969), which maintains a prominent position within the public domain.

This framing of death, dying and bereavement has multi-layered ideological consequences that shape our understandings and limit the knowledge that is possible, reaffirming the idea that bereavement is a time-bound and individualised endeavour. Psychologically driven narratives are constrained by the tendency to pathologise grief, treating it as a condition to be ‘treated’ rather than recognizing it as a natural part of life. This in turn fails to fully acknowledge the social aspects of death, including the culturally, temporally and relationally embedded nature of death and bereavement. As the COVID-19 pandemic so starkly reminded us, however, the social conditions under which death occurs are fundamental in shaping how it is experienced both in the immediacy of the moment, and in the longer term. As a discipline that explores ‘how society is organised and how we experience life’ (BSA, 2024), sociology is thus well placed to comment on death as an experience so essential to the human condition.

Yet the sociology of death studies is often disconnected from other sociological fields and perceived as a niche category of study. If death studies is to extend beyond the disciplinary periphery, it must fully re-engage with mainstream sociology, highlighting the use of a sociology of death, dying and bereavement to do so. This would empower sociology to reinsert itself within broader death studies, enabling a rebalance of the disciplinary scales and the generation of a more holistic understanding of death, dying and bereavement.

The latest publication as part of the British Sociological Association’s ‘Sociological Futures’ Series seeks to respond to this call for action. Titled ‘Death, Dying and Bereavement: New Sociological Perspectives’, this co-edited book aims to reinvigorate and reimagine the sociology of death, dying and bereavement, bringing together a range of scholars to demonstrate how sociology can publicly and conclusively re-engage with debates in thanatology and highlight the value of putting social meanings back into public narratives of death. As Co-Editors, we have collectively created a text that reaffirms the relevance and influence of sociological research into death, dying and bereavement, restating the importance of sociology for death studies more broadly with practical and theoretical examples. Marking the end of our time as Co-Convenors of the Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement study group, this edited collection presents an important opportunity for sociologists to reflect upon the future of their discipline, as well as its contribution to the study of death, dying and bereavement. Crucial to this, and each of the chapters presented, is consideration of where sociology might be heading in terms of topics to be studied and gaps to be addressed.

The book is structured into three parts: ‘Theory’, ‘Dying’ and ‘After Death’. To broaden the scope of discussion, we have purposely sought to spotlight authors from a range of career stages and locations, featuring work from across the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Romania, India and Japan. Topics range from setting out new theoretical ground to discussing the impact of policy changes on dying, as well as considering the impact of climate changes and how this might alter how we bury our dead. What unites the chapters is a call for sociologists to respond in some way to an issue, problem or gap in knowledge, as identified by the authors in this collection. Taken together, these chapters make clear how sociology can progress as a discipline and make space within death studies for a more nuanced approach to understanding death, dying and bereavement.

Overall then, the aim of this edited collection is twofold. First, through a consolidation of ideas we seek to revive sociological discussion of death, dying and bereavement, outlining a way forward that empowers sociology to reassert its contribution to the field of death studies. Second, by making clear the widespread application of sociology within studies of death, dying and bereavement, we seek to highlight the value of mainstream sociology engaging more readily with an experience so embedded in social life. In meeting these aims, we seek to address the ‘deep yearning in academia and in our culture for a more integrated, more whole, more compassionate, more complex approach to grief and loss research’ (Granek, 2013: 286).

References

  • BSA (2024) British Sociological Association website. (last accessed February 2025).
  • Durkheim, E. (1897) Suicide: A Study in Sociology. London, UK: Routledge.
  • Granek, L. (2010) Grief as pathology: The evolution of grief theory in psychology from Freud to the present. History of Psychology, 13(1): 46–73.
  • Kubler-Ross, E. (1969) On Death and Dying. New York: Springer.
  • Rose, N. (1990) Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self. London: Routledge.
  • Stroebe, M., Schut, H., and Boerner, K. (2017) Cautioning health-care professionals. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 74(4): 455–473.

Sharon Mallon is a senior lecturer in mental health at the University of Staffordshire, UK. She is an experienced qualitative researcher who specialises in projects focused on bereavement and mental health, particularly suicide postvention and prevention, the gendered, social approaches to understanding death by suicide and the wider impact of suicide bereavement on different bereaved groups. She has also developed a strong interest in the emotional impact of researching sensitive subjects on researchers. She was awarded her PhD for a qualitative study of young adults’ suicides from the perspective of their friends. She is co-editor of Preventing and Responding to Student Suicide: A Practical Guide for FE and HE Settings (Jessica Kingsley, 2021), Narratives of COVID: Loss, Dying, Death and Grief during COVID-19 (Kindle Direct Publishing, 2021) and Unpacking Sensitive Research: Epistemological and Methodological Implications (Routledge, 2022).

Laura Towers is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Sociology Department at the University of Manchester, UK, and a Visiting Research Fellow to the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, UK. In a project titled ‘Storying the Unspeakable: Narrating the Experiences of Siblings Bereaved by Suicide’, Laura is using a relational approach to consider how siblings bereaved by suicide understand and make sense of their loss over time through narratives of personal experience. She also recently carried out research in partnership with Hospice UK, looking at people’s experiences at work when caring for someone who is dying. Overall, Laura is keen to explore the social nature of grief, loss and bereavement, emphasising the longevity of these experiences. She was co-convenor of the British Sociological Association’s Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement Study Group between 2017 and 2022.