When funerals fail: funerals through the lens of interaction ritual theory

In response to the growing concerns of funeral de-ritualization, this study utilizes a descriptive phenomenological approach in an attempt to understand the funeral experiences of a sample of black and white older and middle-aged adults, with a particular emphasis on under what conditions these rituals fail to produce the various positive outcomes established by the interaction ritual theory model, and to speculate as to why these breakdowns may have occurred. Breakdowns were found among the conditions of bodily co-presence, barriers to outsiders, mutual focus, and shared mood. These findings suggest that much of the tension surrounding funerals may be tied to cultural and structural shifts that have occurred over the past century in the funeral industry as well as in the way Americans perceive and handle death.