Lessons from 'memorial piety': Capitalising on the connectedness between living and past generations and its implications for social work practice

Abstract

Just as ageing is part of life, so is death. Death does not end people’s desire to connect with deceased family members and, arguably, the connection between the dead and the living plays an important role in people’s lives and relationships. This article explores the matter of ancestor worship, as a form of filial piety, and highlights the importance of considering an “expanded” connection between past and current generations, beyond death. Data were collected from two qualitative studies with Korean residents from Australia, New Zealand and Korea, and analysed using an altered mode of thematic analysis in a Korean and English bilingual context. The findings from the studies show that connectedness with ancestors is an important part of the participants’ physical and mental worlds. The discussion in this article includes the meaning of ancestral engagement, ancestral veneration, and mutual connections between ascendants and descendants. The term “memorial piety” is used to define what people practise in relation to remembering and commemorating ancestors or other late loved ones – not necessarily worshipping them in contemporary times. This article addresses a need to broaden the scope and quality of social work for both people who have died and their surviving families, and highlights the potential role of social workers in promoting a meaningful relatedness between past and living generations.