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Do Funerals Matter? is a creative interweaving of historical, sociocultural, and research-based perspectives on death rituals, drawing from myriad sources to create a picture of what death rituals have been; and where, especially in the Western world, they are going. The Classic Edition includes a new preface from the author reflecting on changes in the field since the book's initial publication.
Death educators, researchers, counselors, clergy, funeral-service professionals, and others will appreciate the book's theory- and research-based approach to the ways in which different cultural groups memorialize their dead. They will also find clear clinical and practical applications in the author's exploration of the five ritual anchors of death-related ceremonial practice and help for professionals counseling the bereaved surrounding funerals. Based on nearly four decades of research and teaching on funeral rites, this volume promises to fill an important gap in the cross-cultural literature on bereavement, while answering an important question for our generation: Do funerals matter?
List of contents
1. Funerals—Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going 2. More Treasured Than Words: The Anchor of Significant Symbols 3. Getting Everybody Together: The Anchor of Gathered Community 4. Walk Out What You Can’t Talk Out: The Anchor of Ritual Action 5. Looking Back to Look Forward: The Anchor of Cultural Heritage 6. Taking the Dead to the Party: The Anchor of the Body’s Presence 7. North American Quests to Personalize Funeral Rituals 8. The Business of Funerals 9. Clinical Perspectives on the Value of Funerals 10. Farther Down the Road: Using Ritual in Grief Counseling
About the author
William G. Hoy, DMin, FT, has studied funeral rites for more than four decades, examining how they are used around the world to help mourners make sense of death and to negotiate the radical changes that come about in the aftermath of a loved person’s death. Dr. Hoy holds the Fellow in Thanatology (FT) advanced practice credential from the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Following more than 17 years leading a hospice bereavement program, since 2012 he has been clinical professor of medical humanities at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Summary
Do Funerals Matter? is a creative interweaving of historical, sociocultural, and research-based perspectives on death rituals, drawing from myriad sources to create a picture of what death rituals have been; and where, especially in the Western world, they are going.
