ABSTRACT
About 15 years ago death was referred to as a taboo topic in psychology (Feifel, 1963). Writing in this area was extremely sparse, highly clinical, speculative and theoretical. Actual research was virtually unknown. The last decade, however, has witnessed a complete reversal of emphasis. Since Kubler-Ross' initial work (1969), there has been an outpouring of popular and technical literature on death and dying that speaks to the deep concern of people with these issues. Motives for this heightened interest in death are probably many and varied, but the fact that the current interest in death appears to have begun at the height of the Vietnam war, which kept death before us daily, suggests the possibility of more than a chance relationship between the two.
