Chapter 3: The Culture of Death and Funerals 1 CE Hour
Course overview When it comes time to plan and hold a funeral, religion is not far from many people’s minds. This is rightfully so. The traditions, values, and community that a religious practice can bring are invaluable when facing bereavement and making meaning out of loss. But funerals are not Learning objectives After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Understand the way grieving and bereavement are mediated by culture, religion, and other social factors. Describe how funeral customs differ between various ethnic and racial groups in the U.S.
just religious events, even for religiously minded people. Funerals and the traditions families look to enact during them are also shaped by many other factors, including the deceased’s and their family’s cultural, racial, and ethnic background. It is these factors that this course will consider.
Gain a sense of comfort, familiarity, and sensitivity when speaking with clients with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
INTRODUCTION
When it comes time to plan and hold a funeral, religion is not far from many people’s minds. This is rightfully so. The traditions, values, and community that a religious practice can bring are invaluable when facing bereavement and making meaning out of loss. But funerals are not just religious events, even for religiously minded people. Funerals and the traditions families look to enact during them are also shaped by many other factors, including the deceased’s and their family’s cultural, racial, and ethnic background. It is these factors that this course will consider. The first section of this course will describe the practices surrounding death and the funeral traditions of three groups in the U.S. Although this section does not provide a comprehensive list of cultures in the U.S., through examples, it will aid you in thinking about your clients’ cultural identities and how these intersect with their identities within their family, religion, and life course. Maybe you’ll have a client belonging to the groups described and will be better able to relate to them because of what you’ve read here. But maybe not. More important than the specific information in this section are the questions you may start asking as you read about these ideas, and perhaps continue to ask day to day as you wonder about how a client’s background and identity may influence where they’re coming from and the way you can best help them.
Culture is a rich dimension along which funeral arrangements may be considered to best serve your client. It is hoped that the examples in this section will illuminate a few fascinating and illustrative points along that dimension. The section will continue on to describe the ways the experience and expression of grief itself may be mediated by cultural and religious backgrounds. Grief and bereavement are universal, but it might not feel that way when you’re talking to someone with a background that is very different from your own. There is no simple decoder to suggest how someone from a given group will respond to the loss of a loved one. But as with the previous section, it is hoped that this section will serve to remove a layer of unfamiliarity when you are sitting face-to-face with a client who has a different background and a different way of working through their grief. The final section of this course will explore ideas of cultural sensitivity and competence, using ideas of intersectionality as a lens through which to examine how privilege can vary with cultural identity. It will employ examples from the previous section to suggest a roadmap for talking with clients with backgrounds that are different from your own, allowing you to provide a safe space in which you both can explore the way their background may best shape their loved one’s funeral.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN FUNERAL TRADITIONS
Funeral traditions vary from one religious practice to another, from how the deceased’s remains are handled, to who is expected to attend the funeral and everything in between. These customs also vary by culture, even within the same religion. For instance, although a family with an Irish background and a family with a Mexican background may both practice Catholicism, the funerals they want for their loved ones may be very different indeed. In this section, we’ll examine some cultural differences in funerals that are common in the U.S. Many people prefer to seek out funeral professionals within their own communities who are likely to be intimately familiar with the traditions that are important within that community. However, you may be asked to play a role in
the funeral arrangements for someone of a culture that is different from your own. If this is the case, the information that follows may serve as a base to ease your sense of unfamiliarity. The following section is not comprehensive, as it does not describe the funeral traditions and attitudes toward death of all different ethnic groups living in the U.S. The groups included are (some of) the ones whose funeral traditions cannot be described simply as arising from religions prevalent among that group. It is hoped that even without being comprehensive, this section will serve to illustrate at least the kinds of differences that exist between cultures in thinking about death and funerals.
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Book Code: FPA0625
EliteLearning.com/Funeral
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