Death and Bereavement Within the Point of View of Roadside Memorials in the Book - Annotated Bibliography Example

Should Roadside Memorials be Banned? An Annotated Bibliography n.a. (2005). “Row Over Dead Boy Memorial; Council Remove Roadside Tributes” Birmingham Evening Mail, 11. This article presents several of the negative responses of the victims’ loved ones to the attempt to ban roadside memorials. Some of them are claiming that it is not prohibited by the law to put flowers, posters, or pictures at the roadside. They claim that the policymakers’ reason that the memorial was a disturbance was untruthful. It is not the case, they say, since there are memorials which had been existing for months now but did not cause any problems whatsoever. They express repulsion and resentment to the banning of roadside memorials. The actual accounts of these protests are relevant to the framing of the debate. (2) n.a. (2008). “Our View; Roadside Memorials Deliver a Message” The Gympie Times, 10. This article talks about the efforts to police the installation of road memorials. The discussion is brief but it is able to present clearly the two sides of the debate. The Gympie Regional Council, in particular, is ambivalent in its position in the debate. Although proposing to eliminate the roadside memorials that have burgeoned at the sites of different vehicular accidents the Council seems to excuse these roadside memorials as well. Hence, the councilors attempted to put into effect the statute prohibiting the roadside memorials, but simultaneously it will allow flowers or crosses provided that they are looked after and do not cause road dangers. This article demonstrates that the banning of roadside memorials is not an easy decision to make. (3) n.a. (2011). “Roadside Visibility Issues” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 80(3), 24+ This article presents a comprehensive discussion of the several factors that contribute to the hazards of roadside memorials for motorists. Some of the identified factors are visibility and environmental conditions. The author depicts how governmental organizations, like the National Fire Protection Association’s Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, try to lessen the accidents caused by roadside memorials by obliging ambulances and fire trucks in the United States to put signs in different sites and retroreflective markings. This article is relevant to the currently study due to its overarching premise that issues of roadside safety are complicated. Roadside memorials may be one of the reasons for these vehicular accidents but there are other factors to take into account. This article could be use to support the arguments for keeping roadside memorials. (4) Backhaus, G. & Murungi, J. (2008). Symbolic Landscapes. Baltimore, MD: Springer. This book describes the symbolic sites of the ‘informal’ roadside memorials that have begun to emerge recently, marking rural, suburban, and metropolitan sceneries. Roadside memorials, according to the author, are usually considered as ‘spur-of-the-moment’ occurrence. Nevertheless, the author argues that these places do not merely commemorate a tragedy but, in instances when group or community solidarity is observed as disintegrating and where the concept of the extended family is weakened through globalized labor markets, are important sites of tradition not merely for grief but for a kind of authentication of a sense of belongingness usually nonexistent in contemporary, daily lives. Hence, the author strongly approves of the installation of roadside memorials. (5) Churchill, Anthony (2007). Roadside Memorials and Traffic Safety. Canada: University of Calgary. This book gathered and analyzed information concerning the impacts of roadside memorials facilitating improved regulations and guidelines towards enhancing road security. Several features of roadside memorials are examined. Primarily, a survey is conducted with cities and drivers in Alberta to identify behaviors, beluefs, and values of these groups. Furthermore, impacts on accidents are studied employing before and after accident information at places with a roadside memorial. The author found out that roadside memorials are positively received by drivers, and are believed by most drivers to encourage safer driving practices. These results substantiate the importance of roadside memorials. (6) Delgado, Melvin (2003). Death at an Early Age and the Urban Scene: The Case for Memorial Murals and Community Healing. Westport, CT: Praeger. This book explains the various hazards posed by roadside memorials. For instance, memorials are frequently installed in roads that are especially perilous, and may lead to more fatalities—individuals being killed as they stop to see, examine, and read the documents. Roadside memorials, as well, can bring about an aggravation of quarrel within communities. This book is relevant to the current study due to its argument that the dangers brought about by roadside memorials can be lessened by using the services of social workers. In its discussion it took into account the issue of racial affiliation or ethnic relations to demonstrate the diversity of people’s perception of roadside memorials. (7) Doss, Erika (2008). The Emotional Life of Contemporary Public Memorials: Towards a Theory of Temporary Memorials. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. This book shows that roadside memorials had already received criticisms in the distant past. Eighteenth century bishops and governors attempted to prohibit these roadside memorials, anxious that new dwellers will be frightened of them and be forced to leave, or that the tradition represent a risk to the official religious and political power or influence. However, these roadside memorials were persistently constructed and, particularly in the 20th century, grew in number alongside the development of public roads and automobiles. This book is a valuable addition to the literature on the history and progress of roadside memorials, and how they were viewed by the people over time. (8) Everett, Holly (2002). Roadside Crosses in Contemporary Memorial Culture. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press. This volume is relevant to the current study because it presents data from an extensive participant-observation on the benefits and hazards of roadside memorials. The author attests to the persistent installation and demolition of roadside memorial in her homeland Austin, Texas. The author recounted the stories of those individuals and families who had lost loved ones in vehicular accidents. She recaptured the emotions of these people and their longing to commemorate the memories of their loved ones by putting up roadside memorial. However, the physical, psychological, and emotional hazards that roadside memorials bring to the people who see it are also taken into account. (9) Hoekstra, Nate (2007). “Should State Regulate Roadside Memorials?” Daily Herald, 25. This article describes the effort of the several legislators in the United States to implement the banning of roadside memorials, but at the same time granting some leeway for victims’ loved ones. A Hinsdale Republican, Senator Kirk Dillard, said that temporary roadside memorials would not be prohibited. The agenda has two objectives: first is to pay tribute to fatalities of a road collision, and, second is to caution motorists of the hazards of unsafe driving practices. Dillard shows some optimism over the possibility of banning roadside memorials while also satisfying the need of the victims’ families to publicly express their grief. (10) Gibson, M. (2011). “Death and Grief in the Landscape: Private Memorials in Public Space” Cultural Studies Review 17(1), 146+ This article talks about casual, private commemoration traditions that memorialize death sites in public places. It puts emphasis on evolving traditions of public manifestations of death and bereavement. By commemorating the sites with symbols of death and mourning, roadside memorials raise awareness of the places that have witnessed human fatalities. Different cases of non-official constructed roadside memorials are presented to explain the characteristic of private commemoration traditions in public places. However, according to the author, these roadside memorials can be psychologically distressing since public places are given an air of death or mourning which could cause mental stress to passers-by. This could be one justification for the regulation of roadside memorial installations. (11) Radford, Benjamin (2001). “Religion on the Roadside: Traffic Fatality Markers Generate Controversy” Free Inquiry, 22(1), 59. This article confirms assumptions that roadside memorials are becoming an actual blight rather than a cultural heritage all over the United States. There are already cases of roadside memorial demolitions in America, such as those of Portland, Oregon, because residents complained that these commemorative installations are not suitable on public highways. The response of legislators to these protests is varied. There are some, like Senator Marilyn Shannon, who fought to legalize religious memorials, while others proposed policies and regulations for the constructions of these roadside memorials. This article will be used for the current study for its elaborate discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of roadside memorials in the point of view of the American people. (12) Smith, Robert James (1999). “Roadside Memorials—Some Australian Examples” Folklore, 103. This article describes roadside memorials in Australia and the richness of the country’s commemorative practices. It provides some insights on the difficulties of studying the general features of roadside memorials as a major traditional practice in Australia. These difficulties are created by the fact that there is an inadequate availability of empirical findings or literature on the subject. Hence, the author suggests that an effective research methodology in this arena is the comparative one, gathering data from large numbers of circumstances. It also presents official documents of all vehicular accidents over the span of five years. This information will be important in the identification of the potential repercussions of regulating erection of roadside memorials in Australia. (13) Sotonoff, Jamie. “Public Display of Grief Despite the Controversy, More Roadside Memorials are Popping Up on Suburban Roads” Daily Herald, p.1. The author in this article claims that the temporary and crude memorials give solace to victims’ friends and families, but there are still those who complain about their presence. By making use of first-hand accounts, the author shows that there are those who think that roadside memorials are unattractive, distracting, and gloomy to motorists. Yet, these roadside memorials are mushrooming. Grief therapists claim that public expression of sadness or bereavement is natural. But some people are concerned about the roadside memorials that remain intact for several years. They are questioning if it is still acceptable, and asking whether there is a particular, appropriate time to demolish these memorials. (14) Suter, Keith. (2010). “Roadside Memorials: Sacred Places in a Secular Era” Contemporary Review, 292(1696), 51+ This article explores the resurgence of a traditional practice—the installation of unplanned memorials to individuals who passed away all of a sudden in peacetime. It also explores the expressions of the roadside memorials. It sums up with several recommendations on how to clarify the emergent trend. However, the most relevant issue discussed is the debate whether roadside memorials are important or only hazardous to society generally. If for instance, drivers reduce speed to take a glimpse of the memorials then they may result in other accidents. Likewise for personnel of highway emergency service being told over and over again of a particular misfortune where in they had to work may set off all kinds of mental problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). (15) Wagner, Deborah Lynn (2008). Death, memory, and space: A rural community response to roadside memorials. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Microform. This book tries to determine how locals react to rituals of death and bereavement within the point of view of roadside memorials. It tries to gain knowledge of a particular aspect, the roadside memorial from the point of view of the people who may take part in them every day. This book is important to the current study because it includes a discussion of how locals of a rural district understand the importance of roadside memorials. It gives diverse insights on the locals’ interpretation of the installation of roadside memorials and its practical implication for them. This book demonstrates the imbalance between the cultural importance and practical roles of roadside memorials. Read More