Death Systems Mortality and Society Exam Questions Chapter 4

The Last Dance: Encountering Death & Dying, 11e (DeSpelder)

Chapter 4 Death Systems: Mortality and Society

1) Which of the following are components of a "death system," as described by Robert Kastenbaum?

1. Places

2. Times

3. Objects

4. Regulations

A) 1, 3, and 4

B) 1, 2, and 4

C) 1, 2, and 3

D) 2, 3, and 4

2) Which of the following are functions of a "death system"?

1. Preventing death

2. Making sense of the death

3. Disposing of the dead

4. Utilizing the environment

A) 1, 2, and 3

B) 1, 2, and 4

C) 1, 3, and 4

D) 2, 3, and 4

3) What does the death certificate do?

1. Verifies identification of deceased

2. Affects disposition of property rights

3. Identifies the mode of death

4. Aids in crime detection

A) 1, 2, and 3

B) 1, 3, and 4

C) 1, 2, and 4

D) 2, 3, and 4

4) What is considered the most important legal procedure following a death?

A) Obituary

B) Death notice

C) Official registration of death

D) Coroner's report

5) The most important legal procedure following a death is considered to be the

A) official registration of the death.

B) publishing of the death notice.

C) reading of the will of the deceased.

D) distribution of property of the deceased.

6) The modes of death recognized by law include all of the following categories EXCEPT

A) accident.

B) homicide.

C) mature death.

D) suicide.

7) What are the different modes of death on a typical death certificate?

A) Accidental, suspicious, homicidal, and natural

B) Intentional, suspicious, homicidal, and natural

C) Accidental, suicidal, homicidal, and natural

D) Suicidal, unintentional, homicidal, and natural

8) When death occurs in suspicious circumstances or is sudden and there is no physician to sign the death certificate, who determines and certifies the cause of death?

A) Attending police officer

B) Coroner

C) Next of kin

D) Funeral director

9) A significant difference between a medical examiner and a coroner is that the

A) coroner is responsible for suicide prevention efforts whereas the medical examiner is not.

B) coroner must have specialized training in forensic pathology.

C) coroner is usually an elected official whereas the medical examiner is usually appointed.

D) coroners are qualified medical doctors.

10) What is the application of medical knowledge to questions of law?

A) Medico-legalization

B) Court appointed medical examination

C) Forensic pathology

D) Thanatechnological

11) What is the coroner or medical examiner also known as?

A) A death investigator

B) The bondsman

C) U.S. Standards officer

D) Deputy

12) When can an autopsy be performed?

1. When required by law

2. After consent of the next of kin is obtained

3. When the deceased has made a body donation

4. When the research hospital needs a subject

A) 1, 2, and 3

B) 1, 2, and 4

C) 2, 3, and 4

D) 1, 3, and 4

13) Except when required by law, an autopsy can be performed only after

A) the funeral director has been contacted by family and the funeral plans are in place.

B) the cause of death is determined and the corpse is deemed not contagious.

C) the next of kin's consent.

D) the provisions of the Informed Anatomical Donor form are in place.

14) Which of the following items is NOT matched correctly?

A) Murder: the deliberate intentional killing of another human being

B) Voluntary manslaughter: the killing of another human being in performance of a public duty

C) Involuntary manslaughter: the unintentional killing of another human being as a result of criminal carelessness

D) Noncriminal homicide: the killing of another human being involving self-defense

15) In a study of more than 300 homicides in a major American city, it was found that more than half of the

A) suspects had experienced significant social disadvantages.

B) suspects were released before reaching trial.

C) cases resulted from domestic violence.

D) cases were directly tied to financial gain.

16) In a study of more than 300 homicides in a major American city, it was found that

A) the more affluent the victim, the more likely the killer would be punished.

B) the more violent the method of killing, the more likely the killer would be punished.

C) the more intimate the relationship between killer and victim, the less likely the killer would be punished.

D) the more affluent the killer, the less likely the killer would be punished.

17) A person who kills a member of his or her family is usually judged by society to be

A) not as threatening as someone who kills a stranger.

B) not responsible for the act due to insanity.

C) subject to the same code of justice as anyone else.

D) a major threat to the public at large.

18) How does the separation of civil and criminal law affect the modern system of justice?

A) Modern law views the accused as having a problem with a particular person.

B) Modern law views violence as an outgrowth of social and psychological problems rather than as individual acts.

C) Modern law considers the accused and the victim as equals in the legal equation.

D) Modern law views homicide as an act committed against the state rather than against an individual.

19) Research indicates that capital punishment is

A) an exception to the notion that killing solves problems.

B) an effective deterrent for criminal behavior.

C) the strong penalty needed to make the criminal justice system work.

D) not an effective deterrent to murder.

20) Devices such as a "life-preserving" coffin refers to a container that is

A) hermetically sealed.

B) elaborate and memorable with photos.

C) equipped to ensure very slow decay of the corpse.

D) equipped with a signaling device.

21) The coffin bell-pull device was invented to

A) warn the community about impending disasters.

B) prevent premature burial.

C) hasten death from plagues.

D) assist undertakers during burial.

22) Historically, death has been ascertained by the absence of

A) heartbeat and breathing.

B) consciousness.

C) brain waves.

D) heartbeat and brain waves.

23) All of the following are methods of determining clinical death EXCEPT

A) cessation of heartbeat.

B) cessation of breathing.

C) decomposition of the body's cells.

D) establishing brain death.

24) In death, the rigidity of muscles is defined as

A) cellular mortis.

B) algor mortis.

C) livor mortis.

D) rigor mortis.

25) An irreversible process of deterioration in the body's systems and organs is

A) clinical decomposition.

B) cellular death.

C) electro-encephalographic death.

D) brain death.

26) Who outlined the four levels that must be addressed concerning the definition and determination of death?

A) Robert Veatch

B) Christiaan Barnard

C) Karen Gervais

D) Jurō Wada

27) Under what circumstances would the irreversible loss of flow of vital fluids approach to defining death be unclear?

A) When a patient has lost a lot of blood

B) When a patient's vital functions are artificially sustained by machines

C) When a patient has undergone an amputation

D) When a patient has a near-death experience

28) Which of the following are included in Veatch's four approaches to defining and determining death?

1. Irreversible loss of flow of vital fluids

2. Irreversible loss of the soul from the body

3. Irreversible loss of communication with a higher spirit

4. Irreversible loss of the capacity for bodily integration

A) 1, 2, and 3

B) 1, 2, and 4

C) 2, 3, and 4

D) 1, 3, and 4

29) In the approach to defining death based on irreversible loss of the soul from the body, what is commonly believed to be related to the soul?

A) Breath or heart

B) Feelings or emotions

C) Physical movement

D) Thought process

30) The Uniform Determination of Death Act was proposed by the

A) American Bar Association.

B) President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine.

C) Harvard Medical School Ad Hoc Committee to Examine Brain Death.

D) American Medical Association.

31) According to the Uniform Determination of Death Act, an individual is dead when he/she has irreversible

1. cessation of the capacity for bodily integration.

2. circulatory and respiratory cessation.

3. absence of functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem.

4. cessation of the capacity for consciousness.

A) 1 and 2

B) 1 and 3

C) 2 and 3

D) 2 and 4

32) The most important factor in determining if someone is a suitable candidate for an organ transplant is

A) emotional stability.

B) he or she has a reasonable likelihood of recovery with a transplant.

C) he or she has an ability to deal with stress.

D) age.

33) Where and when was the first ‘breathing lung' transplant performed?

A) South Africa, 1967

B) United States, 2012

C) Japan, 2001

D) United Kingdom, 1989

34) According to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, organ donation can be made by

A) the United Network for Organ Sharing.

B) the Centers for Rare Diseases to further research.

C) a decision made by the hospital ethics committee.

D) the next of kin unless there was a known objection by the deceased.

35) The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was revised in what year to simplify organ donation?

A) 1968

B) 1984

C) 1998

D) 2006

36) What date was the National Organ Transplant Act Enacted and by whom?

A) 2008 by registered medical ethicists appointed by the president of the United States

B) 1991 by the Surgeon General

C) 1989 by UNOS and OPTN

D) 1984 by the U.S. Congress

37) In the text, what are "ick" and "jinx" factors related to?

A) Organ donation

B) Autopsies

C) Japan's brain death debate

D) Cemeteries in your neighborhood

38) Under the provisions of the National Organ Transplantation Act, it is currently illegal to buy or sell human organs and tissues except

A) eyes.

B) bone marrow.

C) hair.

D) blood.

39) Organ donors are declared dead by the criteria of

A) cardiac or brain death rules.

B) presumed consent rules.

C) directed donation rules.

D) organ transplant center rules.

40) Until quite recently, the style used by physicians in Japan for giving information to their patients was called?

A) "Open door"

B) "Closed door"

C) "Free-will"

D) "Need-to-know"

41) What accounts for the reluctance to actively pursue organ transplantation in Japan?

A) Japanese physicians' practice "open door" medicine.

B) Japanese are concerned about keeping the body intact.

C) The criteria for brain death are applied too strictly.

D) Death is viewed as a medically determined phenomenon.

42) What does the debate in Japan regarding brain death and organ transplantation illustrate?

A) how culture influences attitudes and practices related to dying and death

B) the difficulty of getting a law passed

C) the confusion surrounding brain death and organ transplantation

D) how important the issue of defining death is

43) Death certificates aid in crime detection.

44) An autopsy may help resolve questions about malpractice.

45) Homicide is separated into two categories, criminal and noncriminal.

46) State laws differ in how they distinguish categories of manslaughter.

47) Involuntary manslaughter is a type of criminal homicide.

48) Apart from certain crimes on which the Supreme Court has not ruled, the only capital crime in the United States is murder.

49) The first kidney transplant was from one identical twin to another in 1954.

50) In 1976, the first successful heart transplant occurred in the United States.

51) There is currently no shortage of organs for transplant.

52) The United Network for Organ Sharing is under contract with the federal government to maintain lists of people waiting for transplants.

53) MatchingDonors.com is a government certified website for organ transplantations.

54) Under the National Organ Transplant Act, it is legal to sell human organs if the recipient is in a terminal condition.

55) Many Japanese place greater symbolic importance on the heart over the brain.