Funeral Service Ethics Vocabulary

Religion

a culturally entrenched pattern of behavior made up of: (1) sacred beliefs, (2)emotional feelings accompanying the beliefs, and (3) overt conduct presumably implementing the beliefs and feelings.

Code of ethics

a declaration or public statement of professional standards of right and wrong conduct.

Informed consent

a formal agreement provided after receiving complete and accurate information, including alternative choices and consequences, in an understandable form.

Lifestyle

a particular way of living; the way a person lives or a group of people live. (Webster)

Golden Rule

a rule of ethical conduct found in some form in most major religions usually phrased, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Prudent investment

an approach followed for managing an investment portfolio in a legally acceptable manner.

Values

beliefs that are held in high esteem.

Ethical

conforming to accepted standards of conduct. (Webster)

Integrity

fidelity to moral principles.

Social media

forms of electronic communication (as web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos). (Webster)

Honesty

having a sense of honor; upright and fair dealing.

Preneed

matters pertaining to preplanning and/or prefunding funeral services.

Situational ethics

moral principles that vary with circumstances.

Socioeconomics

of, relating to, or involving a combination of social and economic factors. (Webster)

Law

rules that govern society.

Moral

see Ethical.

Ethics

that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. (Webster)

Discrimination

the act of making a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit. (Webster)

Ethnicity

the cultural heritage or identity of a group, based on factors such as language or country of origin.

Culture

the rules, ideas and beliefs shared by members of society of and for living and dying, which are learned directly or indirectly.

Philosophy

the set of values, ideas and opinions of an individual or group.

Aftercare

those appropriate and helpful acts of counseling, personal and/or written contact that come after the funeral.

Harassment

to annoy continually or chronically. (Webster)

Confidentiality

to hold certain information in trust and not disclose without proper authorization or authority.

Business ethics

values related to human conduct as applied to business.

Funeral service ethics

values related to human conduct as applied to the care of the deceased, family, funeral home operations and society.