Sociology of Funeral Service
“the science of groups; the processes
that tend to maintain or change these
forms of organizations and the relations
between groups and individuals”
Why study sociology as it relates to
funeral service?
• Funeral rite is a social function.
• Funeral rite is a “cultural universal”:
– announcement of the death
– care of the deceased
– a method of disposition
– ceremony or ritual
– memorialization
Readings Question #1
• Page 181
• According to Canine, what are the five basic
elements that create the contemporary
American funeral?
Readings Question #2
• Page 183
• List 7 social benefits of funerals.
Readings Question #3
• Using the Sociology of Funeral Service
Glossary, compare and contrast the following
terms:
• funeral and memorial service
• funeral rite and social function
• culture and customs
• mores, taboos and folkways
• law and rules
Subculture
• Sociology of Funeral Service Chapter 2 page 5
• “a division, or smaller identifiable unit of culture,
connected to that culture by common traits,
having unique traits to itself”
• members of the subcultures are still associated
with the culture but they have some ways and
thoughts unique to themselves
• families are often a “blend” of several different
subcultures
Readings Question #4
• Page 6
• How has “urbanization” influenced the role of
the traditional funeral service in American
society?
Readings Question #5
• Using the Sociology of Funeral Service
Glossary, compare and contrast the following
terms:
• cultural universal, ethnocentrism and cultural
relativism
• religion, ceremony and symbols
Readings Question #6
• Using the textbook and Sociology of Funeral
Service Glossary, compare and contrast the
following funeral rites: traditional, nontraditional, adaptive, humanistic, primitive
and immediate disposition.
Sociological Response to Death
Page 8
1) the funeral rite itself is a social function
2) the funeral rite is a cultural universal
3) the funeral director must examine and
understand the social structure of the society
4) funeral rites reflect both modern and
contemporary tendencies
– modern: of or characteristic of the present or recent
times; not ancient
– contemporary: living or happening in the same period
Readings Question #7
• Chapter 3
• Using the Sociology of Funeral Service
Glossary and textbook, define and discuss
enculturation.