Robert W. Habenstein
Robert Wesley Habenstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1914 |
| Died | July 19, 2011 Columbia, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation | Sociologist |
| Known for | Studies of funeral practices and the American funeral industry |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Chicago |
Robert Wesley Habenstein (1914 – July 19, 2011) was an American sociologist and scholar of funeral practices. He taught sociology at the University of Missouri from 1950 until his retirement in 1981. Together with William Mathias Lamers, he co-authored the books The History of American Funeral Directing and Funeral Customs the World Over.[1]
Early life and education
Habenstein was born in 1914. He studied at the University of Chicago, where he received an AM degree in 1949 and a PhD in 1954.[1]
His doctoral research concerned the sociology of the funeral director and the organization of funeral work. His 1954 dissertation was titled The American Funeral Director: A Study in the Sociology of Work.[2]
During the Second World War, Habenstein served as a United States Army veteran.[1]
Academic career
In 1950, Habenstein joined the faculty of the University of Missouri, where he taught sociology. He remained at the university until his retirement in 1981.[1]
His research combined the sociology of occupations with the historical and social study of death, funerals and funeral directing. In his work on funeral directors, Habenstein used an interactionist approach associated with his teacher Everett C. Hughes and examined the professionalization of funeral directing as a social process.[3]
Research on funeral directing
Habenstein's principal research interest was the history and sociology of funeral directing in the United States. His 1954 doctoral dissertation was followed by the 1962 chapter Sociology of Occupations: The Case of the American Funeral Director, published in Human Behavior and Social Processes. The chapter applied an interactionist perspective to the occupation of funeral director and used Max Weber's concept of the ideal type in discussing the professionalization of the occupation.[3] Habenstein also published Conflicting Organization Patterns in Funeral Directing in Human Organization in 1963.[2]
In 1955, Habenstein and William M. Lamers published the book The History of American Funeral Directing. The original edition was published in Milwaukee by Bulfin Printers and comprised 636 pages.[4] A revised edition was published in 1962. The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives record the 1962 edition as comprising 638 pages and covering the development of American funeral practices, funeral undertaking and the organization of modern funeral service.[5] The work became a major historical reference on the development of the American funeral profession and continued to be cited in later scholarship on death, funerals and funeral directing.[6]
Habenstein and Lamers also published Funeral Customs the World Over, a large comparative study of funeral customs in different societies. The work examined funeral practices from a broad historical and cross-cultural perspective. The book became a reference work on funeral customs and is cited in modern overviews of funeral practices.
Later life and death
Habenstein retired from the University of Missouri in 1981 after more than three decades of teaching sociology.[1]
He died on July 19, 2011, in Columbia, Missouri, at the age of 96. He was survived by three daughters, a sister, a brother and three grandchildren.[1]
Selected bibliography
- Habenstein, Robert W. The American Funeral Director: A Study in the Sociology of Work. PhD dissertation, University of Chicago, 1954.[2]
- Habenstein, Robert W., and William M. Lamers. The History of American Funeral Directing. Milwaukee: Bulfin Printers, 1955.[4]
- Habenstein, Robert W. Sociology of Occupations: The Case of the American Funeral Director. In Human Behavior and Social Processes, 1962.[3]
- Habenstein, Robert W. and William M. Lamers. Funeral Customs the World Over. Bulfin Printers, 1963.[7]
- Habenstein, Robert W. Conflicting Organization Patterns in Funeral Directing. Human Organization, 1963.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "University obituaries". University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 James Foreman (1973). "Theory and the Ideal Type of the Professional: The Case of the Funeral Director". Social Forces. 33: 233–239. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Sociology of Occupations: The Case of the American Funeral Director". Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- 1 2 Habenstein, Robert Wesley; Lamers, William Mathias (1955). The History of American Funeral Directing. Bulfin Printers. p. 636. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ "The history of American funeral directing". Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ Tony Walter (2008). "The Sociology of Death". Sociology Compass. 2 (1): 317–336. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00069.x. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/funeralcustomswo0000habe/page/n7/mode/2up