Thanatology: Sociology of Funeral Service Flashcards
A funeral rite that is adjusted to the needs and wants of those directly involved; one of which has been altered to suit the trends of the times
Adaptive Funeral Rite
A household or family unit created by one male and one female and the children from their previous marriages and may include children from the present marriage
Blended Family
The creation of a system which governs through departments and subdivisions managed by sets of officials following an inflexible routine
Bureaucratizaion
An instrumental action dealing with death, that is also expressional and that may or may not be charged with symbolic content expressing, among other things, the attitudes of the participants and possible onlookers who may be regarded as co-beneficiaries
Ceremony (Ritual)
A social grouping in which members possess roughly equivalent culturally valued attributes
Class
Two unrelated adults of the opposite sex sharing the same living quarters
Cohabitants
Living or happening in the same period
Contemporary
The emotional attitude that all cultures are equal and pertinent
Cultural Relitivism
Like abstract patterns of and for living and dying, which are identifiable in all cultures
Cultural Universal
Consists of abstract patters (the rules, ideas, beliefs shared by members of society) of and for the living and dying, which are learned directly or indirectly
Culture
Social behavior as dictated by the tradition of the people
Customs
Pertaining to demography; the science of vital statistics, or of birth, deaths, marriages, etch. of populations
Demographic
Male and female have equal rights, duties, and governing power
Egalitarian
The method by which the social values are internalized (learned)
Enculturation (Socialization)
Any of the basic divisions or groups of mankind, distinguished by customs, characteristics, languages, rather than physical characteristics of race
Ethnic
The emotional attitude that one’s own race, nation, group, or culture is superior to all others
Ethnocentrism
A household or family unit consisting of father and mother, all their children (except married daughters), their son’s wives and children (except married daughters)
Extended (Joint) Family
The family into which one is born
Family of Orientation
The family established by one’s marriage and the production of children
Family of Procreation
Behaviors which are construed as somewhat less compulsive than mores of the same society, and do not call for a strong reaction from the society if violated
Folkways
Rites with the body present
Funeral
An all-inclusive term used to encompass all funerals and/or memorial services
Funeral Rite
A process involving all activities associated with final disposition
Funeralization
A funeral rite that is in essence devoid of religious connotation
Humanistic Funeral Rite
Any disposition of a human remains which is completely devoid of any form of funeral rite at the time of disposition
Immediate Disposition
Individual crafting of products is replaced by manufacture of good utilizing mass production techniques
Industrialization
A must-behavior not necessarily a basic or important pattern of a people, but one which is enforced by those governing; a rule of action prescribed by an authority able to enforce its will
Law
The mother rules the family; a woman holding a position analogous to that of a patriarch
Matriarchal
Funeral rites with the body not present
Memorial Service
The state or quality of being mobile; the ability to move from place to place readily, or to move from class to class, either up or down
Mobility
Of or characteristic of the present or recent times; not ancient, often used to designate certain contemporary tendencies
Modern
A household or family unit created by related nuclear families and/or friendship
Modified Extended Family
Must-Behavior; the basic and important patterns of ideas and acts of a people as related to treatment of the dead, which calls for a strong reaction from the society if violated
Mores
The tendency of off-spring to move away from the area in which they were born
Neo-localism
A funeral rite which deviates from the normal or prescribed circumstances of established custom
Non-Traditional Funeral Rite
A household or family unit consisting of one man and one woman married to each other and their children, if any
Nuclear Family
The father rules the family; the power is passed to the oldest male child
Patricarchal
A culture developed before the invention of writing, and hence, leaving no written record
Primitive Funeral Rite
A culturally entrenched pattern of behavior made up of:
- Sacred beliefs
- Emotional feelings accompanying the beliefs and
- Overt conduct presumably implementing the beliefs and feelings
Religion
Any event performed in a solemn and prescribed manner
Rite
Ceremonies centering around transition in life from one status to another
Rites of Passage
An instrumental action dealing with death, that is also expressional and that may or may not be charged with symbolic content expressing, among other things, the attitudes of the participants and possible onlookers who may be regarded as co-beneficiaries
Ritual (Ceremony)
Specified methods of procedure
Rules
A household or family unit consisting of one adult, either male or female, and his/her children
Single Parent Family
An event which allows those who have something in common with each other to deal with one another in regard to that which they share
Social Function
Categorization of people by money, prestige and power; a ranking of social status in groups such as upper, middle, and lower class
Social Stratification
The method by which the social values are internalized
Socialization (Enculturation)
A group of persons forming a single community with some interests in common
Society
The science of social groups; the processes that tend to maintain or change these forms of organizations and the relations between groups and individuals
Sociology
A division, or smaller identifiable unit of culture, connected to that culture by common traits, having unique traits to itself
Subculture
Things to which socially created meaning is given
Symbol
Must-behavior which dictates the individual must abstain from certain acts dealing with death
Taboos
A funeral rite that follows a prescribed ritual or ceremony dictated either by religious belief or social custom
Traditional Funeral Rite
The change from rural to urban in character
Urbanization
