RESOURCE FILES
Chapter 6
Building Image: The Presentation of Self
Ronny Turner and
Charles Edgley
Mortuary Performances
Perhaps no
other industry is as concerned with public image as the funeral industry. Because of the
extreme emotions involved in the work it does, every detail must be tightly controlled.
Use of the
term funeral director instead of undertaker attests to the importance of impression
management at mortuaries. Funeral directors must present themselves as sincere,
sympathetic, and understanding.
Ronny Turner
and Charles Edgley contributed to our understanding of collective impression management
through their study of the funeral industry.1 They
observed funeral services, interviewed directors, and studied the manuals of 15 mortuaries
in three cities.
One focus of
their study was the manner in which mortuary employees manage the funeral ritual. The
director, for instance, must stage the performance so that the grieving family and friends
will attribute dignity and sincerity to the mortuary.
Turner and
Edgley write: "A successful funeral is a sequence of activities performed by the
funeral director and his staff that are later seen by the bereaved as a respectful,
appropriate tribute to the life and memory of the deceased."2
The
maintenance of a separate and completely hidden back-stage area is essential to the
performance. The corpse preparation room is physically separated from the public areas of
the funeral home. The procedures usedówashing, shaving, slicing, powdering,
embalmingówould shock the friends and family of the deceased.
So would the
jokes, racial slurs, sexual comments, insults, and other activities that are commonplace
back stage. For instance, the "casket" becomes the "stuffing box"; the
"dearly departed" becomes the "cold one"; "embalming"
becomes "pickling."
Such
back-stage behavior, while seemingly distasteful and inappropriate, is not meant to be
callous. Look at it as an institutionalized means by which employees manage stress and
psychologically distance themselves from a potentially repulsive and gloomy aspect of
their occupation. Thus they can maintain their composure in highly emotional situations.
Similar lightheartedness can be found among medical students who, in the course of their
clinical training, must observe the dissection of cadavers.3
Witnessing
the preparation of the body for the funeral would destroy the front-stage impression so
essential to the industry. Thus the deceased is transformed from an object back stage to a
respected human being front stage. The body is never touched by mortuary personnel in
front of family and friends.
As for the
management of the setting, funeral homes always present themselves as warm, soothing
places with white columns, lots of flowers and grass, and meticulous indoor decorations.
Black is never seen. Many hearses are now gray, white, or blue instead of the traditional
black.
The chapel,
where the memorial service is held, is designed to facilitate a successful performance.
Here, music is tactfully used to set the mood. Here, too, the audience actively
participates in the drama. They cooperate in the rituals and do not even try to go back
stage. They have their own stake in impressions being maintained.
1Turner, R., & Edgley, C. 1976. "Death
as theater: A dramaturgical analysis of the American funeral." Sociology and
Social Research, 60, 377-392.
2Turner, R., & Edgley, C. 1976. "Death
as theater: A dramaturgical analysis of the American funeral." Sociology and
Social Research, 60, 377-392. p. 387.
3Hafferty, F. W. 1991. Into the valley:
Death and socialization of medical students. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Study Site for David M. Newman Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, Sixth Edition
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