Recently Thorson and Powell reported in this journal that morticians scored significantly lower on a multidimensional sense of humor scale than another group of similarly aged men from other occupations. These findings differ markedly with some in 1991 from a 2-yr. ethnographic study conducted with morticians and funeral directors in four states regarding how they managed the stigma associated with their occupation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GoffmanE. (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Anchor Doubleday.
2.
HaffertyF. W. (1986) Cadaver story humor. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, Des Moines, IA.
3.
HaffertyF. W. (1988) Cadaver stories and the emotional socialization of medical students. Journal of Health and Social Behaviors, 29, 244–356.
4.
KnightJ. A. (1973) Doctors to be: coping with the trials and triumphs of medical school. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
5.
RosenbergE. (1986) Humor and the death system: an investigation of funeral directors. In NahemowL.McCluskey-FawcettK. A.McGheeP. E. (Eds.), Humor and aging. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 175–198.
6.
ThompsonW. E. (1991) Handling the stigma of handling the dead: morticians and funeral directors. Deviant Behavior, 12, 403–429.
7.
ThorsonJ. A.PowellF. C. (2001) Undertakers' sense of humor. Psychological Reports, 89, 175–176.