Social values and decision making: a generation in the lifeboat

The author introduced the "Lifeboat"exercise as a death-and-dying teaching technique in an article that appeared in the first volume of Death Studies (J. A.Thorson, 1978). It is a classroom exercise designed to illustrate the varying levels of social value placed on terminally ill patients. Using "Lifeboat" with different groups in succeeding years, the author has seen changes in the ways that individuals playing different roles are perceived by the audience. These reactions may indicate changes in social values.