Social norms are those rules or guidelines for behavior that are expected in given situations. Values are those beliefs and attitudes that different people have based on what they have been taught or have experienced. They are totally subjective and ideological. Values can also be distinguished through cultural norms. As you can see these three aspects are considered in how the meaning of death and grief are determined.
Different societies deal with death and grief differently.
We live in a nation that denies death and avoids discussion thereof. Not all cultures are the same, though. Although I do not have empirical research on all cultures there have been some studies I ran across. In the book Death, Society, and Human Experience , Robert J. Kastenbaum wrote about the similarities and differences among Sweden and the United States. He also drew upon South Africa and Western societies.