Last Rites Funerals And Body Disposition Notes

Last Rites: funerals and body disposition - Funeral rites have been characterized as “the most significant of the rites of passage in our progress from womb to tomb.” As you begin to think about the significance of funerals, consider these questions: Who does the funeral serve, the living or the dead? What is the purpose, socially and psychologically, of last rites? How do the ceremonies that a community enacts to mark the passing of one of its members express, through symbol and metaphor, how death is perceived within a particular social group? Consider the following description of the royal funeral for Alexander the Great. - The hearse itself took two years to build and took the form of an Ionic temple, roofed with gold, inside which Alexander’s mummy was enclosed in a golden sarcophagus over which was draped his purple cloak. Golden nets prevented the profane gaze from falling on it and no fewer than 64 mules were needed to drag the hearse on its lengthy processional route. - Funeral ritual “permits meaningful action at a chaotic time” and “offers cues as to what we are supposed to feel and models how we are to mourn.”Thus, funerals can have an effect on how we grieve. Learning the technique of ritual is likened to learning to play a musical instrument: “Once we master the scales and chords and gain sufficient dexterity in the use of our fingers, we can play the piano in such a manner as to release our aesthetic feelings. This inner ecstasy of performance is open to those who practice ritual as well.” - In contrast to cultures that view the funeral as a means to prepare the dead for a successful migration to the afterworld, funerals in the United States are focused mainly on the welfare of survivors. Funerals provide a setting wherein the bereaved family makes a public statement that one of its members has died. The wider community uses the occasion to respond with sympathy and support for the bereaved. Vanderlyn Pine points out that the funeral historically has addressed four major social functions - It serves to acknowledge and commemorate a person’s death - It provides a setting for the disposition of the dead body - It assists in reorienting the bereaved to their lives, which have been ruptured by the death - It demonstrates reciprocal economic and social obligations between the bereaved and their social world. - Deathwatch (also known as the “death vigil” or “sitting up”). As death nears, relatives and friends gather to say farewells and show respect for the dying person, as well as to give support and care to his or her family. Historically, a deathwatch might continue for hours, days, or even weeks or months. - Preparation of the deceased. Involves various tasks associated with preparing the corpse for ultimate disposition, usually burial or cremation. - Wake (also known as “visitation” or “calling hours”). Traditionally held on the night after death occurs, this practice involves laying out the corpse and keeping a watch or “wake” over it. Historically, wakes were observed as a safeguard against premature burial, as an opportunity to pay respects to the deceased, and, in some cultures, as an occasion for lively festivities focused on allaying fears by “rousing the ghost.” - With changes in the social patterns of mourning, the traditional wake has been transformed into the practice of setting aside time for viewing of the body prior to the funeral service. As with traditional wakes, the modern visitation offers opportunities for social interactions that can be healing in the aftermath of loss. - Funeral. As the centerpiece of the ritual surrounding death, the funeral is a rite of passage for both the deceased and his or her survivors. Services are usually held in a mortuary chapel or church, although they may be held in the home or at the gravesite. The body may or may not be present; if it is present, the casket may be open or closed. Funeral services typically include music, prayers, readings from scripture or other poetry or prose, a eulogy honoring the life of the deceased, and, less frequently, a funeral sermon focusing on the role of death in human life in general. In modern times, funerals are usually held within a few days after death, and they are increasingly scheduled in the evening or on weekends so mourners who work during the week can attend the service. - Procession. Traditionally, funerals include a procession conveying the corpse from the site of the funeral to the place of burial. It is considered an honor to be among the friends and relatives chosen to carry the deceased’s body to its final resting place. Funerals for national leaders and other notables may include a lengthy procession, or cortege, in which the corpse is attended by honorary pallbearers. - Committal. A ceremony held at the grave or crematorium, the committal service is held after, or sometimes in lieu of, the funeral service. When it follows a funeral service, it usually consists of a brief ceremony focusing on disposition of the deceased’s remains. - Disposal of the corpse. In modern societies, disposition usually means burial or cremation. Psychosocial aspects of last rites - just as people gather to commemorate other major transitions in a person’s life, such as birth and marriage, funerals and memorial services are rites of passage that honor a person’s life in a community and acknowledge his or her passing from that community. Funerals and memorial services provide a framework that allows survivors to support one another as they cope with their loss and express their grief. The presence of death rites in every human culture suggests that they serve innate human needs. Thomas Lynch, author of The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, makes the observation that “funerals are the way we close the gap between the death that happens and the death that matters.” Mutual support - When people learn about the death of a person who is significant to them, they tend to gather together, closing ranks to provide support and comfort in their mutual bereavement. This emotional and social support is directed primarily toward the bereaved family. When a small child asked her mother why they were going to visit a bereaved family, the mother replied, “It’s important for people to know that you care.” What we think we can or cannot do for the bereaved family matters little; what counts is that we show our care and concern. J. Z. Young says, “Probably the very act of coming together symbolizes communication.” Assembling as a community reassures us that we are part of a larger whole, thereby strengthening our individual lives. - Sharing condolences and memories online is another way to support those who are grieving. Often loved ones will turn the deceased’s social media locations into places for memorials and pictures. Most funeral homes will create a web page for the deceased, often with areas for details about any services or viewings, the obituary and life story, and a place to “light a candle” and leave notes with memories, condolences, pictures, or videos. Viewers can subscribe to receive updates and can offer multiple entries. After the funeral, the information may be downloaded for the loved ones to keep. - Gathering at the home of the bereaved is a unique social occasion. Some people stay only a short time, express condolences, and leave. Others, usually relatives or close friends, stay for a longer time, perhaps assisting with the preparation of food, caring for children, helping with funeral arrangements, greeting visitors, and doing whatever else needs doing. Impetus for coping with loss - Announcements, visiting the bereaved, and other after-death rituals are forms of social interaction that provide a potent psychological impetus for realizing a loss. While these social interactions are crucial, it is important to remember that the death of a person is experienced not only within a social setting but also within the psyche of the bereaved individual. When death occurs, an immediate concern of survivors is the disposition of the corpse. This process involves both a mental activity (deciding what is to be done) and a physical activity (carrying out the action decided upon). Making arrangements for the disposition of the body engages survivors in a process that reinforces the recognition that the deceased person is really dead. This acknowledgment occurs whether the survivor actively constructs the coffin and digs the grave or simply talks with someone about funeral arrangements. - The funeral itself offers a range of opportunities for the bereaved to engage in activities that promote expression of grief. Survivors may place items that are significant to the deceased in the casket. The practice of burying grave goods, or funerary artifacts, with the dead is found in many cultures. Jewelry, photographs, rosaries, Bibles or other special books, favorite hats, military medals, stuffed animals, and organizational emblems are among the items commonly placed in caskets. Tobacco, alcohol, and articles related to a favorite activity such as golf or fishing are other examples of grave goods. The placing of such grave goods is a mourning practice that is meaningful to survivors. When a widely known and beloved German funeral director died, family and friends placed various items in his casket, arranging cookies his grandchildren had baked on his stomach to commemorate the fact that he enjoyed eating well. The final disposition of a dead body is surrounded by a web of social, cultural, religious, psychological, and personal considerations that determine how this task is accomplished. Funerals in the United States - Few people personally care for their own dead in modern societies. Most hire professionals—funeral directors or morticians—to provide services and merchandise for conducting a funeral service and handling various tasks involved in caring for the dead. Because we are unfamiliar with these tasks and choices, the funeral business tends to be viewed as a “mystery business.” Critics claim that mortuaries, by their very nature, are in a position to take advantage of their customers. This claim is made despite the fact that most people give funeral directors high marks for the services they provide at a distressing time. Beyond this, it has been noted that, in African American communities, black funeral directors not only are seen as important members of their communities, but often have had key roles in civil rights struggles as well. - To counteract the potential for abuses, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) implemented the Trade Regulation Rule on Funeral Industry Practices in 1984. The Funeral Rule, as it is called, stipulates that funeral service providers must give detailed information about prices and legal requirements to people who are arranging funerals. It requires the disclosure of itemized prices both over the telephone and in writing. Misrepresentations about the disposition of human remains are prohibited, as are certain practices, such as embalming for a fee without prior permission, requiring customers to purchase caskets for a direct cremation, or making the purchase of any funeral good or service conditional on the purchase of any other funeral good or service. The FTC Funeral Rule is the outcome of a historical process that has removed death from the purview of family and friends and placed it in the hands of professionals. Criticisms of funeral practices - Funerals have attracted criticism of various kinds since ancient times. The Greek philosopher Herodotus, in the fourth century BCE, spoke critically about what he called “lavish displays for the dead.” Funeral practices in the United States have received their share of criticism as well. One of the earliest criticisms was directed not just at funeral practices but at the funeral itself. Published in 1926, Bertram Puckle’s Funeral Customs: Their Origin and Development argued that the modern funeral was merely the vestige of a “pagan” superstitious fear of the dead. Like Herodotus, Puckle was especially critical of elaborate ceremonies for the dead. - In 1959, the commercialism and conspicuous display connected with funerals were documented by LeRoy Bowman in The American Funeral: A Study in Guilt, Extravagance, and Sublimity. Bowman was especially interested in the social and psychological value of funerals. He was concerned that modern funerals were overlaid with such ostentation that the essential meaning and dignity of funeral rites had all but disappeared. The funeral, Bowman said, “appears to be an anachronism, an elaboration of early customs rather than the adaptation to modern needs that it should be.” To Bowman, the funeral director was a tradesman, selling wares that were unnecessary and unwanted. Bowman believed that consumers could avoid the potential for exploitation associated with the materialistic features of contemporary practices by becoming aware of the essential social, psychological, and spiritual functions of funeral rituals. The function of the funeral director, said Bowman, should be to help the family fulfill its own wishes. He also argued for greater flexibility in funeral service: “The uniformity of present usage,” he said, “should give way to individually adapted procedures, whatever they may be.” - In 1963, two books appeared that brought widespread public attention to funeral practices in the United States: Jessica Mitford’s The American Way of Death and Ruth M. Harmer’s The High Cost of Dying. Both Mitford and