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"Individuals bereaved by the drug- or alcohol-related death of a family member represent a sizeable group worldwide. Families Bereaved by Alcohol or Drugs is the long-awaited result of an important and ambitious research project into the experiences commonly encountered by members of this stigmatized and vulnerable group. Based on focus groups with the practitioners and service personnel who support grieving relatives following the loss of a loved one to alcohol or drugs, as well as interviews with the largest qualitative sample of adults bereaved by substance use that has been reported to date, this much-needed contribution to research on addiction and bereavement identifies four major reasons why grief following this tragic kind of death is particularly difficult. By examining the experiences of a wide range of stakeholders, including practitioners and policymakers in health, social care and the criminal justice system, the research contained within this book underscores the large number of organizations that play a role in the implementation of official procedure following a drug- or alcohol-related death and identifies significant gaps in the system that bereaved individuals must negotiate. Grounded in extensive and rigorous academic research, Families Bereaved by Alcohol or Drugs is essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of mental health and addiction, social work and social studies, psychology, family studies and bereavement. The book should also be of interest to anyone with a professional interest in bereavement or substance use."--Provided by publisher

Drawing on the 'affective turn' in the social sciences, this paper demonstrates the value of studying responses to death and loss in illuminating the role of the body and emotions in managing identities in contemporary societies. Looking across cultures at an experience that may threaten identity and continuity of being provides a broader, more complex and nuanced picture of social identity and participation in society. In focusing on societies with contrasting models of identity, it considers the implications of an emphasis on individualism in Britain and interdependency in Japan for rebuilding identity in each context. Drawing on qualitative interviews with British and Japanese mourners, the paper illustrates how continuing relationships with deceased loved ones were key to mourners' attempts to repair shattered identities. In particular, it examines the affective nature of post-mortem relationships and the way mourners managed these through situated 'affective practices'. In breaching the boundaries between the living and the dead, these practices revealed intersubjective, dynamic and shifting experiences of embodiment and identity that may be obscured by more dominant cultural scripts. As such, these practices raise ontological and epistemological questions about how mourning and social being are theorized.

This article explores the co-constructed nature of interview narratives in the context of a qualitative bereavement study and the implications of adopting a `collaborative paradigm'. This approach encompasses the emotional impact of the interview on the researcher as much as the participant. It considers the importance of and difficulties encountered in engaging with this aspect. It argues that not only is this essential to achieving an ethical stance, but an invaluable methodological tool for enhancing an understanding of one's findings. Only when I was able to `appreciate' the nature and extent of my own part in narrative constructions did I start to `hear' and `appreciate' more fully the meanings that were being shaped. This process was intimately related to the cultivation of an ethical stance, something that cannot be a once and for all position. Rather it develops from an ongoing reflexive engagement with the research endeavour.

This paper reports on a pilot study examining funeral welfare for citizens from low income backgrounds. Through a review of funeral welfare provision in twelve capitalist democratic countries it seeks to inform the current system of state support in Britain, arguing that insufficient attention has been given to funeral costs as a policy issue. Mindful of the British welfare state's original 'cradle to grave' ethos, such attention is ever more pressing in light of rising funeral costs, an ageing population and projected increases in the death rate. Arguing that funeral costs are an issue of income support, the paper draws on Esping-Andersen's threefold welfare-regime typology to situate the British system within a comparative study of funeral welfare that identifies similarities and differences both within and between the three welfare-regime types. On the basis of an empirical example, the paper further argues that systems of funeral welfare reflect the relationship between culture, politics and local practice. The findings indicate that the British system is hampered by a discourse of welfare dependency rather than entitlement, which stigmatises those who need support with funeral costs at a time when they are under pressure to ensure that the deceased person receives a 'dignified' send-off.

AbstractThis article reports on a pilot study examining funeral welfare for citizens from low income backgrounds. Through a review of funeral welfare provision in 12 capitalist democratic countries it seeks to inform the current system of state support in Britain, arguing that insufficient attention has been given to funeral costs as a policy issue. Mindful of the British welfare state's original 'cradle to grave' ethos, such attention is ever more pressing in light of rising funeral costs, an ageing population and projected increases in the death rate. Arguing that funeral costs are an issue of income support, the article draws on Esping‐Andersen's threefold welfare‐regime typology to situate the British system within a comparative study of funeral welfare that identifies similarities and differences both within and between the three welfare‐regime types. On the basis of an empirical example, the article further argues that systems of funeral welfare reflect the relationship between culture, politics and local practice. The findings indicate that the British system is hampered by a discourse of welfare dependency rather than entitlement, which stigmatises those who need support with funeral costs at a time when they are under pressure to ensure that the deceased person receives a 'dignified' send‐off.

In this article, we review current advocacy services for people with dementia in England and Wales (provided, respectively, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Mental Health Act 1983/2007 and the Care Act 2014) through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We examine what a human rights' approach to advocacy support would entail, and whether current frameworks in England and Wales are adequate for this approach and provide a sufficient safeguard. First, we consider how the human rights of persons with dementia have become increasingly important and the extent to which the CRPD provides an opportunity to bolster safeguards and protection. Second, we discuss cause and case advocacy, and how these advocacy models could be shaped by the CRPD to promote the rights of persons with dementia at each stage of the disease. Third, we highlight current dilemmas and challenges in the provision of advocacy support in England and Wales by focusing on case law, commissioning of services and current practice. In particular, we analyse how the different legislative schemes have given rise to some confusion about the various advocacy provisions, as well as potential for overlap and discrepancies between different regimes. We also highlight the need for further research to address important gaps in knowledge, including the scale of need, patterns of referral and attitudes to advocacy services. The article concludes by highlighting how advocacy support could be recalibrated as a universal right to promote the aims and aspirations of the CRPD, and how education is needed to address the stigma of dementia and promote the benefits of advocacy in protecting the rights of those with dementia.

In this article, we review current advocacy services for people with dementia in England and Wales (provided, respectively, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Mental Health Act 1983/2007 and the Care Act 2014) through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We examine what a human rights' approach to advocacy support would entail, and whether current frameworks in England and Wales are adequate for this approach and provide a sufficient safeguard. First, we consider how the human rights of persons with dementia have become increasingly important and the extent to which the CRPD provides an opportunity to bolster safeguards and protection. Second, we discuss cause and case advocacy, and how these advocacy models could be shaped by the CRPD to promote the rights of persons with dementia at each stage of the disease. Third, we highlight current dilemmas and challenges in the provision of advocacy support in England and Wales by focusing on case law, commissioning of services and current practice. In particular, we analyse how the different legislative schemes have given rise to some confusion about the various advocacy provisions, as well as potential for overlap and discrepancies between different regimes. We also highlight the need for further research to address important gaps in knowledge, including the scale of need, patterns of referral and attitudes to advocacy services. The article concludes by highlighting how advocacy support could be recalibrated as a universal right to promote the aims and aspirations of the CRPD, and how education is needed to address the stigma of dementia and promote the benefits of advocacy in protecting the rights of those with dementia.

AbstractThere is a long tradition in the assessment of UK social policy of examining benefit entitlement and access, yet little attention has been paid towards benefits associated with bereavement and, in particular, what happens for those people who cannot afford a funeral and require state assistance. This is despite the fact that every year approximately one in ten deaths in the UK results in a claim to the Department for Work and Pensions' Funeral Payment for a contribution towards funeral costs. Beyond a paper in this journal over ten years ago, no research has been conducted into how the scheme is administered and what happens to those people who claim. Drawing on a study with both successful and unsuccessful Funeral Payment claimants, funeral directors and key stakeholders, this paper evaluates the Funeral Payment in terms of eligibility and entitlement, and timing and cost. It argues that closer attention needs to be paid to the issue of financial support for funerals to avoid the evolution of an unwieldy system at a time when the UK death rate is predicted to rise owing to the ageing of the population.