Organ Donation

[Peterson, Douglas]

I saw a poster at MPA about 4 years ago (2000 - I think) on the topic of organ donation which revealed some very interested cross-cultural and religious issues.� My memory is that some cultures and religious groups hold to a belief that organ donation mutilates the body and prevents it from being retuned to the earth (dust to dust?) which can harm the immortal sole so they will not take part in it.� During the conversation the researcher noted that this belief held true even though clergy had informed them that this was not true.� I can't even find my MPA booklet to find the authors name - I'm sorry.   Please keep encouraging people to sign donor forms on their DL but in many states it is necessary to inform your family of your intent, so they don't override your wishes.� My wife's best friend from high school is now in her 12th year living with a donor heart and speaks publicly about her wedding (which was postponed when her own heart failed), her funeral which was planned because the doctors said she would not regain consciousness and if she did, she survive until a donor could be found (a quite funny story is of her fianc�' calling the funeral home to cancel and apologizing to the director for having to cancel and then realizing he wasn't sorry for canceling at all).   Doug   Doug Peterson Associate Professor of Psychology The University of South Dakota Vermillion SD 57069 (605) 677-5295 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   -----Original Message----- From: Miguel Roig [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:44 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: Re: On Ways of Dying   At 06:47 PM 3/11/2004 -0500, you wrote: Carol, I can't imagine any plea more worth spreading on any listserve than that everyone who can, should become organ donors. Know that your daughter will surely be in the thoughts of all on TIPS who read your story. I second Beth's reply.  Not too long ago, and I forget the context in which it occurred, we were talking informally about organ donation in one of my classes and after a short discussion I proceeded to ask the class how many students had signed their driver licenses for organ donation. I immediately recognized, after asking, that students felt uncomfortable about the question. Realizing that no hands were going to be raised (and none were raised) I proceeded to give a short pep talk to encourage them to become organ donors. At one point, however, a couple of the students expressed their concerns about becoming organ donors because they suspected that in the event of an accident where they might be on the verge of dying doctors might hasten their death if they knew they were organ donors.  I tried to assure them that such a scenario was unlikely, but I doubt that I was able to convince anyone. I don't really know anything about the psychology of organ donation, but my sense is that there is significant public resistance to becoming organ donors.  What is the nature of this resistance?  Is it perhaps grounded on some on religious beliefs?  Is it ignorance?  Is it based on fears such as those my students expressed?  After a brief search I found this paper which I hope to get at some point: Skowronski, J. J. (1997). On the psychology of organ donation: Attitudinal and situational factors related to the willingness to be an organ donor. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 19, 427-456. But, there must be other literature out there on this topic. Miguel ___________________________________________________________________________ Miguel Roig, Ph.D.                               Associate Professor of Psychology                Notre Dame Division of St. John's College        St. John's University                            300 Howard Avenue                                Staten Island, New York 10301 Voice: (718) 390-4513 Fax: (718) 390-4347 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm On plagiarism and ethical writing: http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism/ ___________________________________________________________________________ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]