The Clergyman and the Funeral Director: A Study in Role Conflict

Criticism of the funeral director and of funeral practices by the clergy is both intensive and extensive in America. Among the many factors correlated with this negative appraisal of funerary procedures three stand out: the basic religious distinction between the spirit and the flesh; the duality of the funeral director's role; and fear of taint. T WAS proposed in a previous article that the rites, customs and beliefs surrounding death could be viewed as a culture complex, and, as such, present rich research possibilities for the sociologist.' As an example of such research the article reported the findings of a study of the attitudes toward death of a group of students at Wayne State University. The present paper reports a study of the attitudes of clergymen toward funerals and funeral directors in the United States. Having emerged in the latter half of the last century to assist the clergyman in the physical arrangements of the funeral, the modern funeral director stands ready today with his own "chapel" to assume all responsibility for the funeral short of performing the religious service itself.2 How do the American clergy view this modern development? Do the men who are most intimately connected with the ceremony of death accept the funeral director's new role along with the many other social and physical changes that have occurred over the years within the funeral complex, or do they view him and his establishment as intrusive and undesirable elements in the face of the solemn fact of death. We know certainly from newspapers, national magazines, religious tracts and journals that among the clergy there are those who are highly critical of the modern day funeral director and the American funeral program. This study was undertaken to assess the nature and extent of this criticism and to interpret its meaning within the larger framework of the death complex in American