Recent studies in the United States suggest that, in many varied ways, people have broken through the historic taboos about death and are attempting to arrange certain aspects of the idealized “good death.” For example, bereavement practicesonce highly socially structuredare becoming increasingly varied and therapeutic. More and more people are actively addressing the inevitability of death by making wills, leaving “living wills” (health care proxies that explain their feelings about the use of life-support equipment), donating organs, and providing instructions for family members about funerals, cremations, and burials. Given medical and technological advances and a breakthrough in open discussion and negotiation regarding death and dying, it is more possible than ever that “good deaths” can become a social norm in the United States (M. LaGanga 1999; J.Riley 1992).