Death is something we all eventually experience in our life. Most people encounter death
and grief in their private lives, for others this is also a part of their profession. One of work
placements, which frequently encounters passing and grief is social work, hence it is crucial
for social workers to posses the ability to not only emphatise with dying people and help
them pass away with dignity, but also to offer support to their grieving family members.
Unfortunately dying is still percieved as a taboo in our society and for this reason many try to
avoid discussing mentioned topic. In addition, knowledge in connection to the process of
dying and the relationship we have with it is key to understanding the importance of
spending quality time with those close to us and focusing on matters, essential to us during
our lifetime. Acknowledging transience of life help us to live fully and to be more present. As
a part of my thesis, I carried out a qualitative research to find out how social work students
perceive death and process of dying, since they will be encountering these two processes in
their field of work quite frequently. In addition to analysing their understanding of the
process of dying, I also wished to research their previous encounters with dying individuals,
on which ocassions they talk with others about death and how well they understand the
grieving process in addition to finding out if they wish to gain any extra knowledge in
connection to the mentioned topics. Findings from my research showed, that the students
accepted death as a part of life, but also percieved it as something negative. Their emotional
responses in connection to death are mostly negative, they believe death is something their
peers and general society still avoid talking about. In their personal process of grieving their
late family members, they search support in their close family and friends, mainly through
talk. They accept funerals as something ordinary, but they also find them stressful and
draining. In addition, they also see grieving as key process in order to accept someone's
passing. Interviewed students expressed wish to gain extra knowledge in connection to
communicating with dying individuals. Based on collected data, I came up with few solutions
and proposals which could be implemented by the Faculty of social work. One of them is
organizing workshops or lectures about death and passing, which would help students
recieve new knowledge about this subject matter. It would be also beneficial to inform wider
society about the mentioned subject, including conversation in the curriculum of primary
schools, to lessen fear and stigma connected to death and dying. Another possible solution
would also be to form a support group, in which students would be given a chance to speak
about thier own encounters with passing of close family members in order to make grieving
process easier and more peaceful.
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