Družbeno-kulturni vidiki smrti in vedenja pri darovanju organov po smrti
Socio-cultural aspects of death and post-mortem organ donation behaviours : doktorska disertacija

english

doktorska dela

2022

Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

This doctoral dissertation explored the relationship between broad socio-cultural aspects of death and individual post-mortem organ donation behaviours (i.e., the decision to register, discussing the decision with significant others and consenting to the organ donation of next of kin). It approached the question of post-mortem organ donation from the perspective of death, whose influence on post-mortem organ donation behaviour has received little research attention.The study employed a qualitative exploratory research design, with secondary data analysis and semi-structured in-depth interviews as the main research methods. The primary study was implemented in Slovenia through a purposive heterogeneous sample of 17 people of varying demographic backgrounds who did not formally declare a decision regarding post-mortem organ donation. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.The findings revealed high public support and an initial willingness towards post-mortem organ donation as a way to utilise dead bodies to prolong the lives of organ failure patients. When post-mortem organ donation was considered a plausible end-of-life decision from the standpoint of death, it became imbued with ambivalence and uncertainty. The findings also pointed to inhibitory factors as indications of the pollution of the death process, meaning that a person is unable to integrate the idea of post-mortem organ donation in their personal understanding of death. Furthermore, death acceptance provided clearer indications of (un)willingness towards post-mortem organ donation, whereas fear of death or death anxiety indicated ambivalence towards this end-of-life decision for oneself or significant others.The most important contribution to the scientific field is the conceptual framework developed to enable researchers to observe the interplay between the wider socio-cultural context and individual end-of-life decision-making. Furthermore, as the first comprehensive study of the shared social reality of death in Slovenia, the dissertation also makes important empirical contributions.

11.05.2023