Funeral Psychology and Sociology Terminology

Aftercare (Post-funeral Counseling)

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

Anger

A strong feeling of displeasure and usually antagonism

Anomic Grief

Grief where mourning customs are unclear due to an inappropriate death and the absence of prior bereavement experience

Anticipatory Grief

Grief in anticipation of death or loss

Anxiety

Apprehension, dead, on uneasiness similar to fear but based on an unclear threat

At-need Counseling

Funeral practitioner consulting with the family from the time the death occurs until the final disposition

Attachment Theory

The model describing a tendency to make strong affectional bonds with others coming from the need for security and safety

Attending (Listening)

Giving undivided attention by means of verbal and non-verbal behavior

Attitude

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

Bereavement

The act or event of separation or loss that results in the experience of grief

Burnout

A work-related condition of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion

Chronic Grief

Grief that is excessive in duration and has not come to a satisfactory resolution

Cognitive Psycology

From the Latin, “to know”; the study of the origins and consequences of thoughts, memories, beliefs, perceptions, explanations, and other mental processes

Communication

A general term for the exchange of information, feelings, thoughts, and acts between two or more people, including both verbal and non-verbal aspects of this interchange

Complicated Grief

A set of emotions due to loss that interfere with normal life functions without progressing towards resolution

Coping

Ways of responding to stress

Counseling

Guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods

Crisis

An emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person’s life

Crisis Counseling

A type of intervention that helps individuals in a crisis situation

Death Anxiety

A learned emotional response to death-related phenomenon which is characterized by extreme apprehension

Defense Mechanism

An often unconscious mental process used to reduce anxiety

Delayed Grief

Inhibited, stressed, or postponed response used to reduce anxiety

Denial

The defense mechanism by which a person is unable or refuses to see things as they are because such facts are threatening to the self

Depression

A state of despondency marked by feelings of powerlessness and hoplessness

Directive Counseling

A type of counseling in which the counselor assumes the initiative and carries a major role in the identification and resolution of problems

Discrimination

The act of making a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit

Disenfranchised Grief

Grief experienced due to a loss that society fails to recognize or deems unworthy of mourning; grief that cannot be openly acknowledged, socially sanctioned, and publicly shared

Displacement

Redirecting feelings toward a person or object other than one who caused the feelings originally

Emotion(s)

Feelings created by brain patterns accompanied by bodily changes

Emotional Intelligence

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

Empathy

The ability to understand what another is feeling

Euthanasia

An act or practice of allowing or causing the death of a consenting person suffering from a life-limiting condition

Exaggerated Grief

Reaction that are excessive and disabling

Facilitate

To make easier; help bring about

Fear

Strong emotion marked by such reaction as alarm, dread, or disquiet

Funeral Service Psychology

The study of human behavior and mental processes as related to funeral service

Grief

An emotion or set of emotions due to loss

Grief Counseling

The process of helping people facilitate grief to a healthy resolution

Grief Support Groups

Supportive gathering of mourning individuals who have experienced loss providing emotional support, validation, and a sense of community

Grief Syndrome

A set of symptoms associated with loss

Grief Therapy

Specialized techniques used to help people with complicated grief

Grief Work

A set of basic tasks that must be completed for successful mourning to take place

Guilt

Blame directed toward one’s self

Homicide

The killing of one human being by another

Hospice

A program of palliative care for the terminally ill

Informational Counseling

Sharing special knowledge

Masked Grief

Grief in which symptoms and behaviors cause difficulty but are not attributed to the loss

Memorialization

The process of preserving memories of people or events

Mourning

Outward expression of grief; the process of adjustment and adaptation to loss

Non-directive Counseling

To listen, support, and advise without offering a course of action

Non-verbal Communication

That which is expressed by posture, facial expression, actions, and/or physical behavior, etc

Panic

A strong emotion characterized by sudden and extreme fear

Paraphrasing

Repeating a thought or idea in an alternate and sometimes shortened form

Prejudice

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

Pre-need Counseling

Funeral service guidance provided prior to death

Projection

Attribution of one’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors to someone else

Psychology

The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes

Psychotherapy

Specific psychological technique used to facilitate positive changes in a person’s personality, behavior, and adjustment

Rapport

A relation of harmony established in any human interaction

Rationalization

Supplying a logical, acceptable reason rather than the real reason for an action

Regression

Retreating to an earlier level of development or to an earlier, less demanding habit or situation

Repression

Unconscious process by which memories, thoughts, or impulses are held out of awareness

Respect

The act of giving particular attention and high regard; a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements

Shame

Blames that is perceived to be directed toward one’s self by others

Situational Counseling

Guidance related to specific situations in life that may create crises and produce human pain and suffering

Social Comparison

Making judgements about ourselves through comparison with others

Social Facilitation

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

Stress

The mental and physical condition that occurs when a person must adjust or adapt to the environment

Stressor

Any situation capable of producing physical or emotional stress

Sublimation

Redirection of emotional energy or unacceptable impulses to culturally or socially useful purposes

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS/ Crib Death)

The sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, which remains unexplained after a complete autopsy and a review of the circumstances around the death

Suicide

A deliberate and voluntary act of taking one’s own life

Suppresion

A conscious postponement of addressing anxieties and concerns

Sympathy

Expressing sincere feelings for a person who has experienced a loss

Thanatology

The study of death, dying, and bereavement

Thanatophobia

An irrational, exaggerated fear of death

Unconscious

The contents of the mind that are beyond awareness especially impulses and desires not directly known to a person

Verbal Communication

Spoken, oral communication

Adaptive Funeral Rite

A funeral rite that is adjusted to the needs and wants of those directly involved; and has been altered to suit the trends of the time

Agrarian

Dealing with agriculture, farm based. The original locale of the extended (joint) family system

Anonymity

A situation in which a person or entity is unknown

Blended Family

A household or family unit created by one male and one female and the children from their previous marriages and may include children from the present marriage

Bureaucratization

The creation of a system which governs through departments and subdivisions managed by sets of officials following an inflexible routine

Ceremony (Ritual)

An established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite; the formal activities conducted on some solemn or important occasion

Class

A social grouping in which members possess roughly equivalent culturally valued attributes and/or similar economic resources

Cohabitants

Two unrelated adults sharing the same living quarters without being married

Common-law Marriage

A marriage recognized in some jurisdictions and based on the parties’ agreement to consider themselves married and sometimes based also on their cohabitation

Contemporary

Living or happening in the same period; belonging or occurring in the present

Cultural Assimilation

The process by which a person or group’s language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group

Cultural Relativism

The emotional attitude that all cultures are pertinent

Cultural Universal

Common traits or patterns found in all cultures

Culture

The rules, ideas, and beliefs shared by members of society of and for living and dying, which are learned directly or indirecly

Culture Shock

The feelings of disorientation, uncertainty, and even fear that people experience when they encounter unfamiliar cultural practices

Customs

Social behavior as dictated by the tradition of the people

Demographics

The statistical study of human populations with respect to their size, density, distribution, composition, and income

Diffusion

The process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group or society to society

Direct Learning (Formal Learning)

The acquiring of the culture by a person through deliberate instruction by other members of that society

Egalitarian

Male and female have equal rights, duties, and governing power

Enculturation (Socialization)

The method by which the social values are internalized and learned

Ethnicity

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