Care in Funerals

Care in Funerals

Funeral provision in the UK was significantly disrupted when COVID-19 infection control policies constrained how and by whom bodies could be attended to and moved to burial/cremation sites; how funeral directors and celebrants could communicate with bereaved families; and possibilities for gathering for funerals, mourning and memorialising activities. The regulations generated significant distress and perceptions of injustice. They also prompted the development of new funeral practices – inviting important questions about funeral provision.

This interdisciplinary research starts from a recognition of funeral provision as a form of care (and set of caring practices) oriented towards people who have died and their bereaved family, friends and communities. It addresses neglected ethical aspects of funeral provision, including, in the context of COVID-19, questions of fairness and the moral dimensions of distress evident in family members’ and funeral directors’ worries about not fulfilling important responsibilities, or doing wrong, to those who have died or been bereaved.

Our ethical analyses will be grounded in an ethnographic examination of changed practices and experiences that includes:

(1) analysis of funeral artefacts, including online films, tribute pages, and written accounts;

(2) interviews with 24-30 diverse bereaved family members, 16-20 funeral directors and 16-20 celebrants.

We will attend carefully to what people consider good and right (or not) and why in different circumstances. We will develop practical ethical analyses of post-death care that address tensions between different purposes of funerals and diverse perspectives on post-death responsibilities.

Discussion events with key stakeholders will inform the development of resources for future policy and practice.

This research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to Covid-19.

The project is led by Vikki Entwistle

The project website is at www.abdn.ac.uk/care-in-funerals

Please visit our Care in Funerals blog by clicking here

Contacts

Status

Completed

Publications

The Care in Funerals Casebook

Edited by Vikki Entwistle, Arnar Arnason, Paul Kefford and Jennifer Riley

This exciting casebook is a collection of 12 ‘case stories’ which illustrate some of the practical and ethical concerns which can arise in funeral provision. Though fictitious, the stories are based on research for the Care in Funerals project, and are designed to prompt reflection on values and practices related to death and dying. They are accompanied by commentaries written by experienced practitioners and academics, as well as suggested questions for reflection and discussion. If you have any feedback about your experiences of using the casebook, we would love to hear from you – you can use the link on the home page to send it to the casebook team. 

You can access the casebook here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sdhp/philosophy/care-in-funerals-casebook-2456.php

Why does funeral attendance matter? Revisiting ‘Configurational Eulogies’ in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

By Jennifer Riley, Vikki Entwistle, Arnar Arnason, Louise Locock, Paolo Maccagno, Abi Pattenden and Rebecca Crozier

This article was published in June 2023 by the journal Mortality, an interdisciplinary, international journal for death studies research. It considers concerns about the insufficiency of pandemic funerals, and explores the alternative and additional ways people found to pay tribute to the deceased when funeral gatherings were restricted by COVID-19 legislation. We argue that while a ‘well-attended’ funeral still matters to many, we also need to look beyond these and explore other mourning activities through which people respond to somebody’s death. 

You can read it online or download it free via https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2225029 

Hybrid funerals: how online attendance facilitates and impedes participation

By Jennifer Riley, Vikki Entwistle, Arnar Arnason, Louise Locock, Paolo Maccagno, Abi Pattenden and Rebecca Crozier

This article was published in April 2023 by the journal Mortality, an interdisciplinary, international journal for death studies research. It illustrates how, and explains why, people had varied experiences and evaluations of the hybrid in-person and online funerals they attended during the COVID-19 pandemic in Britain. We argue that virtual attendance was often considered less satisfactory because it did not allow people to participate well in important funeral activities, or to participate with others as they would in person. We also suggest ways in which the technology used affected people’s experiences when joining online. 

You can read it online or download it free via https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2201421  

Revisiting funeral recordings during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

By Jennifer Riley, Vikki Entwistle, Arnar Arnason, Louise Locock, Rebecca Crozier, Paolo Maccagno and Abi Pattenden 

This short ‘viewpoint’ article was published in the journal Bereavement in February 2023. Bereavement: Journal of grief and responses to death was recently relaunched to improve understanding of grief, bereavement and death responses, and therefore improve support provided to bereaved people. Our article highlights the diverse experiences and opinions evident in the Care in Funerals interviews about revisiting recordings of people’s funerals after the funeral has taken place. We suggest that the ability to revisit recordings in this way needs to be considered carefully going forwards. 

You can read it or download it free at https://doi.org/10.54210/bj.2023.1093