by
Lucy Forrest MMus, RMT | July 2000
In preparing for their death, patients with terminal illnesses may express a need to explore and confirm their identity in terms of their familial, social, cultural and ethnic heritage. This article examines the mechanisms which underlie the construction of individual and basic group identity, the latter of which is also referred to as ethnicity. The maintenance and evolution of identity over time and across different places is explored, and the use of music as a means to construct, express and...