Memorial societies are movement organizations of the consumer cooperative movement concerned with funeral and death issues. A member survey in four California memorial societies disclosed that the typical member was a retired individual in his or her sixties, with a spouse in the same age range, Anglo, and college educated. The main reasons for joining the society were a desire to obtain a simple inexpensive funeral and reduce responsibilities for survivors. The contributions of memorial societies in consumer education, protection, and reform of the funeral industry are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AshR.1972Social Movements in America. Chicago: Markham
2.
BlackwellR. D.1967“Price levels in the funeral industry”. Q. Rev. of Economics and Business7: 74–84
3.
BriscoeR.1971“Utopians in the marketplace”. Harvard Bus. Rev. (September-October): 4–9
4.
CAFMS1983“Directory of member societies, Washington, D.C”. Continental Assn. of Funeral and Memorial Societies
5.
Consumer Reports1977Funerals: Consumers' Last Rights. New York: Pantheon
6.
FultonR.1976Death and Identity. Bowie, MD: Charles Press. (orig. pub.1963)
7.
KillianL. M.1964“Social movements,” pp. 426–455 in FarisR.E.L. (ed.) Handbook of Modern Sociology, Chicago: Rand-McNally
KratzR.1980“Funeral co-ops: California's special layaway plan”. Jam Today (July): 5
10.
LoflandJ.JamisonM.1983“Structures of movement organizations locals”. presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Detroit
11.
McCormackT. H.1950“The motivation of radicals”. Amer. J. of Sociology56: 17–25
12.
MitfordJ.1963The American Way of Death. New York: Fawcett Crest
13.
ParkerF. E.1956The First 125 Years. Superior, WI. Cooperative Publishing Association
14.
PineV. R.PhillipsD. L.1970“The cost of dying: A sociological analysis of funeral expenditures”. Social Problems17(Winter): 405–417
15.
SommerR.1984“More than cheap cheese”. Research in Social Movement, Conflicts, and Change7: 71–94
16.
SommerR.BeckerF. D.HohnW.WarholicJ.1983“Customer characteristics and attitudes at participatory and supermarket cooperatives,”J. of Consumer Affairs17, 1: 108–119
17.
SommerR.SchlangerD.HackmanR.SmithS.1984“Consumer cooperatives and worker collectives”. Soc. Perspectives27, 2: 139–157
