the relationship of the giver to the deceased’s family, with closer relatives and friends giving more. “Ghost money” or “spirit money”—bamboo or rice paper printed to look like paper money—is burned at funerals, according to the tradition that the dead will need money in the afterlife (Funeral Guide, 2019). At some funerals, houses, cars, and other objects made out of paper are burned in the belief that they too will be received by the deceased’s spirit. Additional customs include wearing white, unless the deceased is of advanced age, in which case pink or other colors may be worn; ceremonial chanting, particularly in Buddhist traditions; and placing a picture of the deceased on an altar with candles, fruit, and flowers (especially white or yellow chrysanthemums). There are traditions of casket burial as well as cremation. If the latter option is chosen, some families may request to bear witness as their deceased loved one is moved into the cremation chamber. In the field of cultural psychology, East Asian cultures are generally thought to be more collectivist, especially as opposed to Western or European cultures. These differences have been found as well among Asian Americans as compared with Americans with a European background. Studies have found that these populations respond to stressful situations differently, with members of collectivist cultures less likely to seek social support than members of individualist cultures are (Taylor et al., 2004). These differences may be apparent among the recently bereaved. It may be that your clients are more or less emotionally demonstrative than you might expect them to be, especially if they have a cultural background different from your own. In this way, clients with Western cultural backgrounds may appear more open with their grief and ready to share it with you. On the other hand, members of Western cultures tend to speak less openly about death. This tendency has been termed “death denial culture,” and it manifests in a variety of ways: Parents may be less likely to answer all the questions their children have after a relative dies and may restrict what aspects of the funeral children see (Chism and Strawser, 2017). It may also limit the degree to which the deceased thought through and articulated their wishes regarding end-of-life decisions and funeral arrangements. If you come from a culture within which death is not as taboo a topic, you may be caught off guard by this reticence. If you come from a culture in which the topic of death is taboo, you may be surprised by the openness with which some cultures treat the topic. In any case, as will be discussed in the following section of the course, becoming aware of your cultural background and remaining curious and nonjudgmental about others’ backgrounds will allow you to serve your clients best.
a bereaved family and peace to the deceased. Gravesites under trees or near the boundaries of a cemetery are not preferred. Flowing water near a grave and grass growing over the burial site are ideal. Respect for elders is a key value at the heart of traditional Chinese beliefs. This can be seen in the different funeral arrangements made depending on the age of the deceased. If the deceased has living adult children, they typically take charge of making funeral arrangements, as opposed to a spouse, siblings, or the deceased’s parents. Tradition dictates that parents not plan their child’s funeral, leaving these arrangements to younger relatives if there are any of adult age; alternatively, a funeral home may be contacted. It is customary for guests attending a funeral to present the deceased’s family with a gift of money—preferably an odd- numbered amount—enclosed in a white envelope (Funeral Guide, 2019). The money is intended to be used to pay for the cost of the funeral, and the amount given generally depends on Grief across cultures Funeral customs are not the only aspects of clients’ lives you will see that are mediated by their cultural identity. Grief can be, too. Grief and bereavement are universal experiences. Certainly, everybody feels sad from time to time, especially after losing a loved one. And yet, the way people feel sad and what their sadness means to them, the way they express it, and the way those around them relate to that grief, to name just a few factors, can vary widely depending on a person’s religious and cultural background. These factors are likely to vary even more widely based on an individual’s personality and life experiences, but this section will focus on the role these larger group identities can play in determining how someone grieves the loss of a loved one. One dimension along which grief can vary with cultural identity can be described as “individualist vs. collectivist.” It would be an oversimplification to say that a given cultural group is individualist or collectivist, but these categories may still be useful for making sense of cultural differences (Hopper, 2017). People belonging to cultures or societies with a high degree of individualism are likely to think of themselves as independent, feeling that they live lives whose course they set themselves. In describing themselves, they are more likely to mention personal characteristics rather than group identities and to think in terms of “I” rather than “we.” People in collectivist cultures or societies are just the opposite, prioritizing interdependence over independence. Their focus is on group identities and their relationships with members of those groups. The way they think of and describe themselves is likely to change depending on what kind of social setting they are in.
CULTURAL COMPETENCE, COMMUNICATION, AND CURIOSITY
only so far when it comes to something as rich and personal as culture. Curiosity will take you the rest of the way. But a bit more reading might help to address the question how to enact that curiosity in a way that is sensitive to the culture you’re trying to learn about and the bereavement your client is experiencing. education, marital status, and much more. Each identity carries with it a level of privilege or a lack of it. In an interview with Time magazine, Crenshaw remarked, “Intersectionality is simply about how certain aspects of who you are will increase your access to the good things or your exposure to the bad things in life” (Steinmetz, 2020). That is privilege and its lack in a nutshell.
The information contained in the previous section can only serve to scratch the surface of the topic of how culture mediates grief and funeral customs. Not only are the cultures described here richer and more complex than the scope of this course allows us to discuss, but the ways the individuals you will meet as clients will enact and participate in their culture are as diverse as the individuals themselves. Reading and research will take you Intersectionality, privilege, and cultural sensitivity Intersectionality is a term coined by scholar and professor of law Kemberlé Crenshaw to describe how a person’s multiple identities can layer on top of one another—intersect—and affect the level of privilege a person experiences. These multiple identities include race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, employment status, class, income, language,
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