Packet- Orientation to Funeral Directing Flashcards
A specialized function of organization and direction of a memorial to a personality according to custom and tradition of the community and in compliance with state law.
Contemporary Funeral Service
Serve the living by caring for their dead in some dignified fashion.
Purpose of a Funeral Service
- Good physical health
- Good moral fiber
- Objective attitude toward death
- Introspective
- Must not reflect the stereotypical undertaker
- Strict confidentiality
- Sincere desire to serve the public and a sense of pride and personal satisfaction
- Must have a normal social life
Characteristics of a Good Funeral Director
To be able to endure long working hours.
Good Physical Health
Supporting a solid reputation in the community that the funeral director wishes to serve.
Good Moral Fiber
Even though death is a subjective experience for most human beings….defense mechanism.
Objective Attitude Toward Death
That is to have a complete knowledge of one’s own self. This is a prerequisite to helping others.
Must be Introspective
Must have a sense of humor, a well-developed personality.
Must not Reflect the Stereotypical Undertaker
When dealing with the public, especially during the arrangement conference.
Strict Confidentiality
Never be ashamed of being a funeral director. Be passionate and proud in funeral service.
Must have a Sincere Desire to Serve the Public and a Sense of Pride and Personal Satisfaction
Must get away from funeral service occasionally.
Must Have a Normal Social Life
The primary purpose is to service the living. This is a service industry, not a business. The merchandising of funeral goods will always be secondary to service.
Funeral Service Purpose
It is inborn in the human person; almost instinctive that society has some kind of ceremony or ritual at the time of death and some form of disposition, religious or otherwise.
No Society Worth the Name Society has ever left their dead where they died.
Based on dignity and tradition usually associated with some form of organized religion. Even those that have rejected organized religion have embraced some form of humanistic eithic that extends dignity to the disposition of loved ones.
The Ritual of Funeral Service is Universal
This percentage of people today have no church affiliation and the number is growing.
50%
An opportunity for the bereaved to accept the reality of death. It meets certain basic needs of the community, especially the bereaved.
Funeral Service Provides:
- Provides the bereaved with a period of gradual transition
- Provides an opportunity for the bereaved to express emotion.
- Provides and opportunity for the bereaved to receive the comfort and solace of religious or humanistic belief.
What is the need Fulfiled by Contemporary Funeral Service?
In which they gradually bridge the gap from death back to life, to normalcy. In the future, for a funeral to survive had have meaning, it must become a personalized experience.
Provides the Bereaved with a Period of Gradual Transition
A way to honor the life and person of the deceased which will allow the family to grieve and give significance to a life that has been lost. The funeral director will be called upon to take a more active role.
Personalized Experience
Resonable expression of grief is healthy. The therapeutic value of the funeral home experience is that it is a facility where one can let out their emotions. The grief work process is resolving grief over three stages.
Provides an Opportunity for the Bereaved to Express Emotion
- Normalcy
- Death
- Normalcy
Three Stages of Resolving Grief
For most of society, the funeral is still basically a religious experience, but becoming less so, the exception being the African American experience.
Provides an opportunity for the bereaved to receive the comfort and solace of religious or humanistic belief.
- The public views the funeral director and clergy as equal partners in funeral service.
- Every religion promises some kind of afterlife.
Religion and its Relation to Funeral Service
Ocasionally disputes between funeral directors and clergy arise. Such unpleasant situations must be resolved by the person holding primary right of disposition, usually a member of the family. The successful funeral director will always avoid such situations by anticipating potential problem areas and take action in advance.
The Public Views the Funeral Director and Clergy as Equal Partners in Funeral Service
What there is after death varies considerably from one religion to another. The fact tht the soul goes on is significant because it offers comfort to the bereaved.
Every Religion Promises some kind of Afterlife
For any funeral director to tell a bereaved family that embalmed or placing the body in a gasketed casket or air tight, water tight vault will cause the remains to last indefiniately constitutes a _____. (FTC Regulations).
Fraud
- Affirms that death is not the ultimate end of an individual
- Affirms the Supreme Being is infinite
- Affirms that the human person is the highest expression of creation
- Ritualized funeral service provides an opportunity for the bereaved to share the support of society.
What is the Traditional Prupose of Religion in Funeral Service?
That there is some kind of immortality for the soul or personality.
Affirms the Death is not the Ultimate end of an Individual
And it is the will of the Supreme Being that the human being be finite.
Affirms that the Supreme Being is Infinite
And therefore should be treated with respect and dignity in disposition. “Temple of the Holy Spirit.”
Affirms that the Human Person is the Highest Expression of Creation
This emotional support is necessary since we are social animals and we need this in resolving grief. Peer group support is healthy. Examples: Fraternal and religious groups.
Ritualized Funeral Service Provides an Opportunity for the Bereaved to Share the Support of Society.
- The deceased or the family may not have a church affiliation
- We must be prepared to provide meaningful services and ceremonies for those families not afffiliated with any church.
Does a Funeral Have to be Religious? NO
- Denies the community their right to affirm the worth and dignity of the deceased.
- Denies the community an opportunity to share a necessary experience - specifically the reality of death.
- Denies the bereaved the opportunity to transgress through grief work back to normalcy with the support of the community.
- Phychologically denies that death has even taken place.
- Direct disposition is the least expensive, safest, but not the most beneficial alternative when all phychological and sociological factors are considered. (for some people)
- Everyone deserves a funeral
What are the Consequences of Direct Disposition Without a Funeral Service?
- Announcement of death
- Some kind of care prior to the disposition
- Ceremony
- Disposition
- Memorialization
Basic Similarities of Funeral Customs
Every society has some kind of announcement of death from drums in the jungle to a classified death notice or obituary.
Announcement of Death
Provision for this is always made: Embalming, washing, anointing, wrapping, shrouding, etc.
Some Kind of Care Prior to the Disposition of the Remains
Varies from traditional culture running the spectrum from traditional religion: Moslem, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian to moderal humanism devoid of any religious context.
Ceremony
Interment, entombment, inurnment. Note: Cremation will vary from 8%- 80% or more, depending on what region in the United States.
Disposition
The act of preserving the memory of the dead formally. Examples: All souls day, memorial day, also the cemetery.
Memorialization
- Religion
- Climate
- Economics
- Ethnic background
- Fraternal organizations
- Sentiment
The Basic Differences in Funeral Customs
Every organized religion has some kind of liturgy attached to funeral service. This will vary from strict Orthodox dogma to the flexibility of the humanistic service.
- It is imperative we develop ways to meet the needs of “non religious” members of the community.
Religion
Varies from cremation in Alaska because of the frozen tundra to rapid interment in the Southern Hemisphere or delayed burial in cold climates like New England or the North Central States.
Climate
In the United States, for the most part, the highest standard of funeral service has been demanded. In the third world economy, direct disposition or cremation with involved religious service is usually the standard.
Economics
In the United States every nationality is represented with its own distingusihing customs. This can be seen among Polish, Italian, Irish, African Americans, Hispanic, Romani
Ethic Background
Each with their own unique ceremonies- Knights of Columbus, Masons, Amerian Legion, Eastern Star, Motorcycle clubs.
Fraternal Organizations
How an individual resolves grief varies according to their background:
- Age
- Educational level
- Mental stability
- Gender
- Local custom
- Ethnic background
- Social status
Sentiment
- It allows for the normal expression of emotion through crying.
- There is a freedom and a medium to verbalize feelings.
- Support for griefwork is provided by friends and family.
- It helps to emphasize the reality of death and more important, the realization that a death has occurred.
- The funeral ceremony provides spiritual support.
- Comfort to the family is always the result of a smooth running and well coordinated funeral.
- Viewing of the deceased helps to establish the reality of the death.
How Phychological Needs of the Family are met by Having a Funeral
Does not necessarily mean church/religious support.
Spiritual Support
- Shock
- Anger
- Change of attitude
- Remorse
- Selt pity
- Irrational thinking
- Fear of the future
- Envy
- Anxiety
- Guilt feelings
Psychological Characteristics of Grief
This can be at God, the deceased, family, doctor, hospital, or the funeral director.
Anger
Had always approached death objectively but not sees it in a true light as a subjective experience.
Change of Attitude
Things said and not said, done and not done.
Remorse
The mind is racing, strange dreams.
Irrational Thinking
This can be of others who are not suffering through grief and loss.
Envy
It it somehow my fault he/she is dead?
Guilt Feelings
- Crying
- Nervous
- Restlessness
- Loss of appetite
- Overeating
Physical Manifestations of Grief
Often an expression of grief, the actual manifestation of grief.
Crying
Constant rapid movement, often no motor control.
Nervous
This can include headaches and indigestion.
Restlessness
