The loss of a loved one through death cannot be avoided and funerals and engagement in various grief rituals usually follow. Different people differ in terms of nature and intensity of their reactions after losing a loved one. To be able to help bereaved families, it is important for a funeral home to have knowledge about factors and mechanisms that facilitate or block the grieving process. There are intra and interpersonal variables involved in the grieving process such as attachment bonds and perceived social support. Regardless of the culture, religion and value system funeral services usually follow after death. The practice of funerals and other death rituals vary widely across cultures and religions.
In the past, secularization and individualization have led to degradation of traditional religious rituals and personalization has become more popular in the modern society. Funerals offer venues for culturally accepted expression of loss of a loved one related emotions and marks a transition in which irreversibility of the death is emphasized. A funeral also provides a starting point for recovery and renewal. Rituals can become vehicles in the process of transportation, transition and continuity process forming the basis of adjustment and recovery following bereavement. A good farewell of the deceased helps the bereaved family to come in terms with the loss.
To investigate the association between funeral and grief reactions one is supposed to examine the evaluation of the funeral service. This is important because the perception or experience of the funeral contains potentially changeable aspects. In more intense grief reactions, there is occurrence of adverse events funeral services such as family conflicts of problems with funeral directors. Some individuals may use wide range of grief rituals to come in terms with death of a loved one, such as lighting a candle or creating a place or object in the memory of the deceased. Some bereaved individuals experience most intense emotions long after the funeral has taken place. When social support decreases, sometimes rituals are helpful in coping with the loss.
