An Empirical Phenomenological Study of the Meaning of Death: A Case Study of Women in Mashad City

Thinking about death and its resulting consequences is among common concerns of man’s life and due to his natural inclination towards perpetuation of life, man always tries to isolate death. Since death is an irreversible experience, man can getclose to death only by observing the death of others and can understand its meaning on the basis of belief systems that justify death. A phenomenological analysis of the subjective experiences that eight participant women had of death indicates that first of all there are three concepts or central subjects in subjective experiences of death: Image of Death, Desirable Death, and Acceptance of Death. Secondly, among common aspects of subjective experiences of death, the most important of them are acceptance of death, faith in the hereafter, thinking about death, fear of death and inclination towards long life. Among the main distinctive aspects of subjective experiences of death, the most important of them are difference in image of death (differences in selection of time, place and kind of dying). Thirdly, the main outstanding distinction in conceptions of death is related to the influence of religion on the conception of death. Family plays a crucial role in creation of this understanding. People have different images of death on the basis of social backgrounds of their families and consequently kind of socialization.