How has society affected the funeral industry History Essay

How Society Has Affected The Funeral Industry
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How Society Has Affected The Funeral Industry
Human beings have paid special attention to the process of disposing of their loved ones for as long as the archeological records of the human species can track it. Unlike other creatures, the emotional attachment of human beings to one another has often affected how the disposal of bodies is done within different cultural orientations. Historically, in the Western Christians, ceremonial religious leaders who also acted as the caretakers of those bereaved oversaw the process (Huibertha, Trudy and Paul, 2019). However, this was later overtaken with the emergency of the professional funeral industry, where funeral directors replaced the ceremonial leaders. Moreover, with the emergency of technologies, the roles played by the professional funeral service providers have evolved, and what they offer today may not necessarily be the same as what they used to offer years ago.
There has been a drastic change in society and the way people grieve or rather bury their loved ones. Unlike in the past where funerals were treated as a process, the modern-day funeral arrangements are more of a one-time event where relatives and friends gather to give their last respect to the deceased. Due to rising economic needs, people prefer a short grieving sessions so as to move on as quickly as possible to attend to their duties and jobs. This has often left funeral directors doing most if not all the arrangements and burying the deceased with the family giving minimal contributions in terms of how they should be buried.
The other aspect is the decline in religion, which was considered as the main agent during funeral ceremonies. Religious believes in the modern day society have deteriorated greatly unlike in the past. Therefore, instead of following the religious protocols in burying the deceased, families prefer to delegate that role to professionals (Huibertha, Trudy, and Paul, 2019).
Since immemorial times, corpses were buried with pollen from specific flowers that were not grown at the gravesite. This practice was overtaken with time, and instead of burying the dead with the flowers, florists, and families of the bereaved started planting flowers on the gravesite (Irion, 1991). This also changed the roles of professional funeral directors that were also extended to the planting or laying of flowers o...