Navigating ethical boundaries in death and mourning: A hybrid analysis toward a globally replicable framework

Background

Death and mourning practices are undergoing rapid transformation due to global crises, digital technologies, and increased cultural entanglement. These shifts generate complex ethical challenges that remain underexplored in contemporary research and practice.

Objective

This study aims to examine the ethical dilemmas and cultural adaptations emerging in death and mourning contexts, and to develop an integrated, globally replicable ethical framework for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Methods

Using a hybrid qualitative design, we conducted a PRISMA-guided literature review of 44 peer-reviewed studies and semi-structured interviews with 19 interdisciplinary experts in palliative care, anthropology, psychology, and digital ethics. A hybrid thematic content analysis (HTCA) identified six core clusters spanning ritual adaptation, digital mourning, ethical review dilemmas, psychosocial-spiritual grief, crisis disruption, and policy gaps.

Results

Findings reveal tensions between traditional mourning rituals and institutional constraints; ethical limitations of procedural consent frameworks; the cultural dissonance of AI-based grief technologies; and the absence of integrated training in cultural and spiritual grief competencies. These insights informed the construction of a Global Replicable Ethical Framework for Death and Mourning Studies (GREF-DMS), consisting of five interconnected components for applied use.

Conclusion

This study contributes a novel framework that bridges ethical theory, digital innovation, and cultural praxis in mourning contexts. It offers practical and scalable pathways to enhance ethical sensitivity, interdisciplinary collaboration, and culturally grounded responses to grief in diverse global settings.