Deck 11: Coping With Loss and Grief: Funeral Practices and Other Ways Communities Can Help

Question 1

Disposing of the body in ways that contribute to realization of the implications of death is assisted through:

A) Bereavement follow-up programs
B) Funeral practices
C) Bereavement support groups
D) All of these
E) None of these

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Funeral and memorial practices in the United States have been criticized for being:

A) Useless and repugnant
B) Lavish and expensive
C) A form of fantasized flight from reality
D) All of these
E) None of these

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Issues involved in making real the implications of death are concerned primarily with taking leave of .

A) the body
B) the person
C) the funeral service
D) the cemetery
E) the survivors

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Disposition of the body in contemporary American society is most often governed by .

A) religious beliefs
B) federal law
C) social custom
D) philosophical convictions
E) None of these

Question 5

The most common form of body disposal in the United States is .

A) cremation
B) entombment in a mausoleum
C) burial in the ground
D) donation for research purposes
E) through a memorial service

Question 6

On the basis of her work in anthropology, Margaret Mead wrote that she knew of .

A) no people who did not have rituals by which to deal with death
B) some people who did not have rituals by which to deal with death
C) many people who did not have rituals by which to deal with death
D) many strange people
E) many strange anthropologists

Question 7

Sloane has said that the most remarkable changes in the American cemetery industry in the last 40 years have included

A) the resurgence of entombment as an important method of disposal
B) the steady decline of cremation
C) the absence of alternatives to earth burial
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 8

Roadside memorials have been criticized because it is claimed that they .

A) are distracting to drivers
B) violate the separation of church and state
C) interfere with maintenance of the right of way along the road
D) are a form of visual pollution
E) All of these

Question 9

Funeral practices are _.

A) ritualistic in nature
B) symbolic in character
C) social activities
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 10

Embalming as it is practiced in our society .

A) achieves permanent preservation of bodily tissues
B) is mandated for all dead bodies by federal regulation
C) is universally experienced in all parts of the world
D) is not required if a body is to be transported on a common carrier
E) slows decay of bodily tissues

Question 11

Funeral practices are intended to assist bereaved persons and society by .

A) assisting in reintegration
B) contributing to realization of the implications of death
C) disposing of the body in appropriate ways
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 12

Another term for the task of "making real" the implications of death for survivors through funeral and memorial ritual is:

A) Integration
B) Separation
C) Incorporation
D) Investigation
E) Memorialization

Question 13

In order not to risk upsetting mourners, cemetery personnel in contemporary American society usually include mourners in .

A) refilling the grave
B) lowering the casket into the grave
C) enclosing the casket within a vault or grave liner
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 14

Ritual is said to be "a general word for corporate symbolic activity." In this view ritual involves:

A) External actions and it is social
B) External actions and it is private
C) Internal actions and it is social
D) Internal actions and it is private
E) None of these

Question 15

Research on funeral practices in American has shown .

A) widespread social dissatisfaction with these practices
B) that the bulk of these services are provided by friends
C) that they typically extend over a long period of time
D) broad public regard for the comfort they provide
E) many societies have no funeral rituals

Question 16

A memorial service is:

A) An activity that helps to dispose of the body
B) A ceremony conducted at a cemetery
C) A ritual without the presence of the body
D) An activity involving embalming
E) None of these

Question 17

Roadside memorials are most often used by bereaved persons .

A) to mark a death-related site as "sacred" in some sense
B) to take note of the slow death of an elderly person
C) to serve as a warning to other persons
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 18

In accomplishing the task of making real the implications of death through funeral ritual, survivors may .

A) stare at the body
B) make repeated returns to the casket
C) kiss the body
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 19

According to their advocates, which of the following are thought to be "green" or environmentally friendly practices?

A) Those that inhibit decomposition of the body
B) "Pre-need" funeral plans
C) Flameless cremation
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 20

For those who wish to donate their bodies for teaching or research purposes, .

A) techniques required to prevent decay are considerably less stringent than those used in a typical embalming procedure
B) arrangements must be made well ahead of time
C) following use of the body for scientific or educational purposes, no elements of the body will be left for burial or cremation
D) careful preservation of the body is not very important
E) None of these

Question 21

The title of Rabbi Kushner's book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, is an example of which of the following characteristics of bereavement support groups?

A) Existential issues
B) Cohesiveness
C) Instillation of hope
D) Guidance
E) Altruism

Question 22

The physical or geographical drawing together after a death of persons who ordinarily see little of each other in their everyday lives is primarily an example of:

A) Making real the implications of a death
B) Disintegration
C) Integration
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 23

Achieving a new integration after death may be difficult when .

A) mourners find they need not see themselves as alone
B) survivors successfully renegotiate their relationship to whatever they conceive the transcendent to be
C) funeral rituals only last a few days after the death
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 24

Aftercare programs in the funeral industry that involve extra staff but no extensive training and that offer telephone calls, newsletters, social, dinners, and travel illustrate .

A) casual (informal) aftercare programs
B) fundamental (formal) aftercare programs
C) standard (formal) aftercare programs
D) premier (formal) aftercare programs
E) regular (informal) aftercare programs

Question 25

Support groups for the bereaved that offer opportunities for mutual aid and self-help in coping with loss and grief may be:

A) Time-limited or ongoing and open-ended
B) Led by a professional facilitator or an experienced bereaved person
C) Focused on all types of bereavement or on a specific type of loss
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 26

Hospice bereavement follow-up services are usually offered by:

A) Psychotherapists
B) Clergy persons
C) Physicians and nurses
D) Social workers
E) Trained volunteers

Question 27

Hospice bereavement care _.

A) is an essential component of hospice work
B) arises directly out of the hospice philosophy of holistic care
C) begins at the moment of admission to a hospice program
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 28

How have online resources been used in recent years to cope with loss and grief?

A) To create communities of bereaved persons for emotional support
B) To maintain continuing bonds with the deceased
C) For ongoing legacy memorialization
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 29

The shared loss experience that underlies and makes possible effectiveness in bereavement support groups is called:

A) Catharsis
B) Identification
C) Guidance
D) Instillation of hope
E) Altruism

Question 30

Bereavement follow-up services in hospice programs are intended to .

A) be accepted by all families served by the hospice program
B) function as transitional services
C) include individuals engaged in complicated mourning
D) exclude old problems and focus on new challenges
E) be utilized for no more than six months

Question 31

Hospice bereavement services

A) are exclusively offered to hospice patients and their family members
B) use personal contacts rather than mailings
C) do not include support groups for the bereaved
D) include services offered to community members
E) are limited to services offered by professionals

Question 32

Grave markers in contemporary American society .

A) often display elaborate epitaphs
B) frequently take the form of wooden markers
C) typically involve flower arrangements
D) are often flush to the ground
E) None of these

Question 33

After the death of a loved one, disintegration can occur at .

A) the social level
B) the familial level
C) the individual level
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 34

The Serenity Prayer asks God to give us:

A) Courage to change things that should be changed
B) Grace to accept things that cannot be changed
C) Wisdom to distinguish between things that should be changed and things that cannot be changed
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 35

When All the Friends Have Gone is a book about .

A) support groups for the bereaved
B) hospice bereavement follow-up programs
C) aftercare programs
D) grief therapy
E) Widow-to-Widow programs

Question 36

Individuals who experience the death of an important person in their lives may undergo "disintegration" in the sense that they experience:

A) A loss of integrity and unity within themselves
B) Disrupted sleep patterns
C) A feeling that they are "going crazy"
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 37

The central helping factors around which most bereavement support groups are organized include:

A) Unshared private experiences
B) Removal of hope
C) Lack of identification with other members
D) All of these
E) None of these

Question 38

Aftercare programs in the funeral industry that involve extra staff with specific training in bereavement issues and that offer special holiday programs and community education are examples of .

A) premier (formal) aftercare programs
B) casual (informal) aftercare programs
C) standard (formal) aftercare programs
D) fundamental (formal) aftercare programs
E) regular (informal) aftercare programs

Question 39

Memorial photography in the United States .

A) is forbidden by state law
B) is an unhealthy custom
C) serves the needs of some people
D) has been available since the early 18th century
E) None of these

Question 40

Bereavement support groups are founded on .

A) their similarities to therapy groups
B) the shared life experiences of their members
C) their leadership by a professional facilitator
D) their grasp of real, substantive expertise as hierarchical
E) their focus on solving problems

Question 41

Explain aftercare programs in the funeral industry. What do they try to do? How are different types of such programs similar and also dissimilar?

Question 42

What is the role of a viewing, visitation, or wake in funeral rituals? Note that this event may have different names in different social groups.

Question 43

Here is a description of a wake and a funeral service.
At the funeral home, the body is laid out in a casket near the front of the viewing room. The top half of the body is visible. People come to the funeral home and talk with family members, and usually go up to the casket and view, and sometimes touch, the body. The next day, a short service led by a clergyperson is held at the funeral home.
Then several people in several cars follow the hearse to the cemetery. There the casket is placed above the open grave. A short ceremony is held at this gravesite; then the family leaves. After they are gone, the casket is lowered into the grave.
Chapter 11 in our textbook argues that there are several tasks associated with funeral ritual. Choose two (2) of the tasks discussed, and using the above description, show how what was done there was likely to be helpful or unhelpful in accomplishing those tasks. Explain your answer carefully.

Question 44

Explain the terms "burial" and "cremation." How might each of these be carried out?
Can they be connected in any way(s) or are they completely different?

Question 45

Why are crises in life "dangerous opportunities?" What can this teach us about ritual? pp. 285-287

Question 46

Answer both halves of this question.
a. Choose any two (2) of the tasks that have been associated in Chapter 11 in our textbook with funeral practices, and explain carefully what the funeral is supposed to accomplish with regard to each of the selected tasks.
b. Give a specific example of an action you have experienced at a funeral or which you would suggest for a funeral, which could successfully carry out each of the tasks discussed in (a), showing in each case how the example might serve to carry out that task.

Question 47

Explain the meaning of the term "ritual." How does that term apply to funeral practices? pp. 284-287

Question 48

Phyllis Silverman has written that the "sharing of experience is the fundamental concept that distinguishes the mutual help experience from other helping exchanges." What does this mean? How is it accomplished in bereavement support groups?

Question 49

In Chapter 11 in our textbook, it is argued that funerals can help bereaved persons with three important tasks associated with the death of someone close to them.
Identify and explain each of these tasks.

Question 50

Compare and contrast help offered to bereaved persons by support groups for the bereaved and by bereavement follow-up in hospice programs. Explain your answer.