Between the living and the dead; Nursing care of dead bodies

How, and at what moment may nurses who perform the last offices perceive the body of the deceased as a person, or a corpse? What is the ontological status of the body in these contexts? In connection with the occurrence of a death the social identityof the deceased seem to be closely tied to the body, the focus for many of the actions and rituals that take place. However, it is important to underline that social identity of the deceased often continue to exist after the disposal of the body. Clear visual and spatial evidence of this are the display of photographs of the deceased relatives, representations that remind us of their existence, and venerated graves visited by the bereaved to show their respect, and to communicate with the dead ones. Inthe recent publication by Hallam, Hockey and Howarth (1999) the authors discuss the many instances of social identity beyond the body. One of the aims of these authors is to unlock the strong conceptual opposition that remain between the cultural categories life and death. In the perspective advocated by Hallam, Hockey and Howarth the strong borders between life and death disappear.