Purposes and values of funerals/services

Needs of the bereaved

- Confirm reality -Modify emotional ties with the deceased - Memorialize the person's life - Recognize a complete and unfinished business - Receive emotional support - Basis for building new relationships - Establish stability and security - Be accepted - Assurance feelings are normal - Express emotion

Funeral provide values to live by

- Confirms the value of life in presence of death - Not only shows respect for the dead, but also for the living - There is a challenge to new and better life

Value of the funeral rite

- Face to face confrontation with death - Opportunity to express grief - Receive and express love - Meets theological, psychological, and social needs - Emotional Support through sharing - Show respect to deceased's family and friends - Farewell through ritual

Provides framework to group support

- People come together to visit, communicate, and relate to each other - It is a comfortable environment for expressing love and concern

Aspects of emotional intelligence

- Perceiving emotions - Using emotions - Understanding emotions Managing emotions

Values of the Funeral Rite

- Provides acting-out ceremonies - Gives expression to feelings too deep to be put into words - It is accessible and adequate for this purpose, and may be most economical - Universally understood, can speak to the varied social, emotional, and spiritual needs of the bereaved. - Each step has built-in wisdom for helping people do what is essential for wisely managing the crisis of death.

Benefits of Funeral Rite

- Provides an opportunity to receive and express love - Shows respect to the deceased's family and friends - Provides opportunity to express grief - Provides a face-to-face confrontation with death which confirms reality - Allows emotional support through sharing - "joy expressed is joy increased, grief shared is grief diminished". - Meets the needs theologically, and socially, of those who mourn. - Provides an opportunity for farewell through ritual. - Provides a dramatic representation of the fact that a life has been lived by reflecting upon memories of the deceased. - Helps establish emotional stability through social support network. - Establishes a socially acceptable climate for mourning.

Encourages expression of feelings

- The funeral is a feeling orientated activity - Family can focus on sorrow and worship

Social comparison

Making judgements about ourselves through comparison with others.

Prejudice

Negative attitude towards others based on their gender, religion, race, or membership in a particular group

Social facilitation

Occurs when an individual's performance improves because of the presence of others.

Group processes

Social facilitation Attraction to groups Leadership Development of group norms Group decisions

Emotional intelligence

The ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions

Persuasion

The action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something

Social Perception

The process of forming impressions of individuals

Discrimination

Treating members of groups differently in circumstances where their rights or treatment should be identical.

Attitude

a learned tendency to respond to people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way.