concepts
type: Collection
type: ConceptGroup
member: spontaneous shrines

reactions to bereavement
type: Concept
narrower: spontaneous shrines

spontaneous shrines
type: Concept
broader: reactions to bereavement
definition: Leaving flowers, candles, teddy bears, hearts, or cards on sites where people died a violent death has become a regular practice since the 1990s, at least in the Western world. In academia, it has become custom to refer to such commemorative sites as “spontaneous shrines,” a term coined by Jack Santino. [Source: Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience; Spontaneous Shrines]