Sociological Perspective On Euthanasia

In a society in which technology gives us the power to prolong life, moral questions about when and how people should die are starting to be more pressing than ever. Now removed from everyday experience, death seems almost unnatural. Societal conditions in the past prepared our ancestors to accept death, but in modern times, youth culture and progressive medical technology foster a desire for a youthful immortality and a detachment from the natural process. Medical, and legal experts around the world continue to debate the meaning of death and whether it can be administered. Sociologists, on the other hand, are beginning to study the circumstances surrounding the issues and the wider societal implications of possible changes in the law, professional practices and normative values. To fully understand the sociological perspective, a closer look at the history of euthanasia, the types of euthanasia that exist, the arguments that are for it and against it, legislation

Passive euthanasia is defined as the withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten a terminally ill patient’s death. It occurs when the patient dies because the medical professionals either don’t do something necessary to keep the patient alive or when they stop doing something that is keeping the patient alive. For example, this would include such things as switching off life-support machines, disconnecting a feeding tube, not carrying out a life-extending operation or drugs. Active euthanasia contrarily occurs when the medical professionals, or even another person not necessarily having the power to take a life, deliberately does something to cause the patient’s death. This would include injecting the patient with poison or using an overdose of painkillers or sleeping agents. It is usually more controversial and more likely to involve religious, moral, and ethical