ETHICAL ORIENTATIONS AND DIGNIFIED DEATH

Dignified death is regarded commonly as a recent social phenomenon as a consequence of technological development in medical sciences; the phenomenon emerging in developed countries. Two cases were provided to demonstrate that dignified deaths have been occurring in Nepal as well as in traditional destitute Japan. A difference between the presented cases of dignified death in the developing countries and the cases in the developed countries hinges upon the relationship the dying perceive vis-a-vis the group they belong to; in the former the core of dignity is none other than their altruistic self-sacrifice for the continuation of their group, whereas in the latter no such valued group seems to exist. Two types of ethical orientations were postulated to account for the difference, and the coping behavior of Japanese-American patients with cancer is shown by the denial of the existence of cancer.