Life is a process that has a beginning and an end. Life begins at birth and ends at death. Just like there are newborns each and every day, the same case people die each and every day. When people die, the bodies are buried according to the culture of the society in context. For a body to be buried, it calls for some special handling and preparation as demanded by the people of the family. It hence calls for funeral services and arrangements. Funeral starts from the time one dies to the day that the body is buried. There are ethics that need to be followed during the funeral (Klicker 1995).A dead body deserves to be handled with respect. In the essay I will discuss of the knowledge I have acquired from Klicker’s writing on ethics in funeral service. How I will handle my clients as a funeral director in future and what is expected of other funeral directors.

There are two approaches used to address funeral services; the Absolutism approach and the Relativity approach. Absolutism is based from the religious perspective. It argues that every dead body has to be treated with respect, no matter who the person was. On the other hand, Relativity approach argues that; a dead body deserves respectful handling unless the person was evil. There are some certain ways I need not to behave in the presence of a dead body. According to Klicker (1995), swearing, laughing smoking, jokes, eating or drinking in the presence of a dead body are disrespectful behaviors. Best professional skills are required when performing any procedure on a deceased person.

As a funeral director, the family members of the deceased expect the best services and skills used in preparing and caring for their loved one. The moment one dies, the deceased should be moved to the equipment used to carry the body with care. The deceased should be placed on the stretcher gently without considering the size of his or her body (Klicker, 1995).Sometimes the procedure becomes difficult especially when one is alone. In this case, one must still have the intentions to use sensitive and high-quality skills in handling the body. Any personal belongings, whether cheap or expensive, must be returned to the family of the deceased. Keeping the items for my use is very unethical. If the family member requires that some items should be destroyed, then as a respectable funeral director, it should be done as accorded.

During the mummification process, privacy need be considered. Only people with a reason to be present in the room during the process should be present. The family members are among those who are allowed to be present if the need arises. A dead person has his or her dignity if as a corpse. The dignity of the dead should be conserved by covering his or her genitals during the operation (Klicker, 1995).No information about the deceased should be shared with anyone not concerned with the deceased. Any information should be shared with either the family members or the authorities who need to know. As a funeral director, I will have to handle the deceased with maximum care and respect as if it was my beloved family member (Klicker, 1995).

At times, the body of the deceased is amputated and ravaged before death, needing restoration procedures required for viewing. It is ethical to proceed with the restoration even if it is time-consuming. If there is no required skill to perform the restoration process, then it would be necessary to call an expert from outside. The funeral’s director ego should not stand in the way of providing best services to the family of the deceased (Klicker, 1995). It is also the right of the family to view the body of their beloved one. Charging of extra services above mummification is necessary. Ethics does not require that extra charges for extra services should not be paid. Though, the family should be notified of any extra restorative procedures. The family should give the go ahead for the extra operations. The family members should also be made aware of the extra charges before the operations begin.

For funeral homes, there is a certain set of ethical responsibilities for the customers. First, the products must be safe and always well designed. The type of advertisement done should be true and not deceiving. All customers should be handled equally and treated fairly. It is rather ethical for funeral directors to complete the required information on death certificates in time. The certificates should be taken to the physician for signature and the cause of death in time also. This helps in avoiding delaying the family in getting the death certificates (Klicker, 1995).It is also ethical for funeral directors to ensure that all the information on the death certificates is correct. Funeral directors are required to return the body to its natural appearance for viewing.

Another ethical issue in the funeral services is licensing. A funeral home must be licensed to operate. Licensing protects the needs of the customers and assures them of proper servicing. When it comes to funding, funeral directors must explain to the clients how pre-need funds are invested. Failure to invest in the funds is considered unethical and to extent illegal (Klicker, 1995).Advanced payments should be used for the purpose they were intended. For example, the family of the deceased offers cash advances to fund for a suit that they would like the deceased to be on during the burial. It is unethical for the funeral director to buy drugs or operational tools with the money.

On the issue of the advertisement, all the information in an advert should be full of facts and honesty. In all product markets, misleading advertisements are not considered illegal. It hence makes the issue ethical. There is no reason at all to give information that would compromise the confidentiality of a client. A funeral home characterized by ethics, should not misrepresent its products, services, warranties, testimonials, or even endorsements (Klicker, 1995).As a funeral director I should determine whether the advertisement that is done is unethical or misleading before it is released.

There is the issue of ethics when it comes to the relationship between the funeral home company and its employees. For a funeral director to build up a good relationship with the clients, it has to start with the employees. It is ethical always to keep the employees comfortable, happy and always satisfied with the conditions and the environment they operate. Offering fare payments, work schedules that everybody is comfortable with, job security, and a conducive working environment are some of the ethical things that a company should offer to its employees (Klicker, 1995).

During the arrangement conference, the funeral director has the ethical responsibility to do a number of things. All the information given should be confidential, and all the advice that he gives should benefit the consumers but not the funeral home. All customers should be served equally without considering age, race, gender, religion, or financial status. The funeral director should also ensure that all the properties such as clothing and jewelry that the family gives are secure. There should be no family that will ever feel embarrassed because of the type of service that they choose. The same dignity, compassion and care should be offered to every customer no matter how cheap is the service.

To conclude, ethics in funeral services is practiced in different fields. From handling the body of the deceased, preparing the body, and the services that are offered to the family of the deceased. For a funeral director to understand the issue of ethics; he or she must have undergone certain training on how to serve customers. Funeral directors should be respectable people and should possess the ability to understand and must be honest people. For the directors, they should be led by the simple saying, ‘do unto others what you would like to be done unto you.’

References

Klicker, Ralph. (1995): Ethics in Funeral Service.

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