ABSTRACT
The medicalization of death has emerged as a structural reflection of the specific cultural images and circumstances of contemporary America. Medicalization of death, however, is not only reflective of the dominant images of dying and death in the technocratic social setting, but is one vehicle by which death and dying are transformed into tolerable social realities. The American faith in science and technology and the shared cultural commitment to individualism are seminal forces which underlie the social isolation of dying in America. The escalator social stigma of the dying process is a lamentable outcome of the social isolation of death. While cultural reliance on the technological management of pain and suffering has positively contributed to reducing some of the physical agony of dying, it has simultaneously resulted in a heightening of emotional and social isolation of the dying patient. The emotional, cultural, and social isolation of the dying patient is associated with the loss of self-esteem, identity deterioration, and blemishment.
