Funerals

The funeral has long been a component of society's attempts to adjust to and cope with the loss of one of its members. Traditionally, it has served as a ceremony acknowledging death, as a religious rite, and as an occasion to reassure and reestablish the survivors' social group after death. The funeral serves to commemorate life as well as establish a ritual for disposal of the body. The funeral service itself serves at least two purposes: completing the final placement of remains (its secular function) and confirming public recognition of the deceased person's transition from life to death (its sacred function).

The funeral serves to make real the implications of death, and it assists in the individual, family, social, and spiritual integration of living after death. To the extent that funerals are typically short-lived events, such full integration via the funeral may not be possible in many cases. Grieving obviously goes on for some time after the funeral, and thus the funeral may help initiate, but not necessarily maintain, grief work.

The Evolving Funeral Ritual

The funeral in America has transitioned from a rite of passage, understood by the attendees as being for the benefit of the decedent, to what is primarily a social ritual, understood by attendees as primarily for the benefit of the bereaved. The work of Philippe Ariès, a French cultural historian, dealt with historical shifts in attitudes toward death, tracking funeral practices from the 18th to the mid-20th century.

In the era of sacred death, the 17th and 18th centuries, death was associated with the dying person taking leave of this world on the way to the next, and there was a clear distinction between the religious funeral (marking this metaphysical passage) and any civic event that might follow it. Over time, the religious and civic ceremonies began to merge, but the sacred significance remained inherent in the conception of the funeral.

During the era of secular death, beginning with the 19th century, urbanization brought about the specialization of death professionals, who were often nurses for body preparation and furniture dealers for casket provision and interment. This eventually gave way to the development of the mortician/funeral director occupation. Funerals during this era took on more secular functions, including wealth display and the fulfillment of expected social roles. Whereas the focus of the funeral in the era of sacred death was upon the deceased, funeral processes during the era of secular death focused on the bereaved.

Finally, the era of avoided death, from post–World War II to the present, is defined by modern [Page 487]medicine's victories in the face of many diseases. Indeed, until this occurred, the frequency of untimely deaths undermined a person's ability to ignore the continuing possibility of encountering death in everyday existence. With life expectancy increasing, and with the growing professionalization of death care services, the vast majority of Americans could now live much of their lives as if death did not exist. This avoidant stance toward death is then played out in the funeral process, in which mourners maintain considerable distance from the ugly realities of death and decomposition.

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