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Abstract

Attitudes and experiences of church members concerning the practices of funeral directors were surveyed through a two-phase sampling procedure. A sample of clergy was approached by mail and asked to distribute questionnaires to persons in their congregations who had recently experienced making funeral arrangements. A total of 155 individuals returned completed questionnaires describing reactions based on one specific funeral arrangement. The attitudes and experiences of these persons regarding the practices of funeral directors, pricing arrangements for funerals, and related factors were investigated. For the most part, respondents indicated satisfaction with funeral home practices, although for any given practice, a modest percentage had had a negative experience. Many survey questions were based on Federal Trade Commission policy issues.

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References

Fulton

, The Sacred and the Secular: Attitudes of the American Public Toward Death, Funerals, and Funeral Directors, Fulton

(ed.), Death and Identity, Wiley, New York, pp. 89–105, 1965.

Pine

V. R.

, Caretaker of the Dead: The American Funeral Director, Irvington, New York, 1975.

Kalish

R. A.

and Goldberg

, Clergy Attitudes Toward Funeral Directors, Death Education, 2, pp. 247–260, 1978.

Community Attitudes toward Funeral Directors

Abstract

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References