About MARIAL

Calendar of Events

Research and Publications

Fellowships

Project title: "Dealing with Death in Middle-Class America"

My research will explore both public and private rituals involved in the death of a family member in middle-class America. American families still engage in traditional public rituals such as "viewings," wakes, and funerals, which constitute outlets for the expression of grief. However, a major part of dealing with death in today's culture involves economic transactions (i.e., with the funeral home and the cemetery) that provide the living with a way of expressing their identification with the deceased and a way of projecting their specific image of their loved ones to others. Families also engage in private mourning rituals that extend beyond the funeral and burial period.

I plan to explore the ways in which American families employ the different types of ritual as a means of dealing with the death of one of their members. How do public and social rituals help families make the transition through the death of one of their own? What role does economic transaction, including such things as choosing a coffin and headstone, and above- or below- the ground burial, play in facilitating mourning and emotional recovery from death? Does the American system of mourning provide an adequate outlet for grief? What private rituals do families engage in after the funeral is over?