Abstract
This article examines the case study of Joseph, an incarcerated man in a northeastern state who experienced myriad traumas over the course of his life and attained healing through spirituality. We follow his story from his abusive childhood home to the foster care system, where he was further traumatized through repeated forced separations. Then, through his adolescent years and his witnessing the deaths of two integral people in his life, we see Joseph’s spiritual struggles that led him into a life of violence and into an adulthood that found him quickly transitioned from the foster care system to the prison system. It is not until years into his prison sentence that we see Joseph begin attaining some semblance of spiritual clarity and grounding—and this through the providential intervention of a man of faith who himself is incarcerated. Interwoven in Joseph’s case study is a thread of extant literature pertaining to the overarching themes of this article: Trauma, Spirituality, and Healing. To honor Joseph’s faith and to most accurately represent his voice and experience, the author’s references to God are almost exclusively in relation to the Judeo–Christian faith tradition, while acknowledging the much wider application of the term “spirituality”.
Highlights
Spirituality, and Healing: A JourneyIncarcerated persons usually experience the existential spiritual struggle of finding meaning in a life of trauma, while living in an environment that creates and exacerbates suffering (Flood 2018)
This is borne out in the case study of Joseph, through whose experience we see the themes of trauma, spirituality, and healing as they pertain to incarcerated people
After examining the themes of trauma, spirituality, and healing in the case study of Joseph’s life journey, the author reviewed extant literature related to the following key topics: Child abuse as a trauma; Trauma as a spiritual violation; Positive/negative spiritual coping mechanisms; Interpersonal aspects of spirituality/spiritual coping; Connection between spirituality and mental health; and Forgiveness and service as pathways to traumahealing
Summary
Incarcerated persons usually experience the existential spiritual struggle of finding meaning in a life of trauma, while living in an environment that creates and exacerbates suffering (Flood 2018) This is borne out in the case study of Joseph, through whose experience we see the themes of trauma, spirituality, and healing as they pertain to incarcerated people. This article is based upon the case study of Joseph, an incarcerated man in a northeastern state who experienced myriad traumas over the course of his life and attained healing through spirituality In childhood, he was subjected to physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of his father, which led to repeated traumatic separations and spiritual confusion after he entered the foster care system. Potential guiding questions could be as follows: How can such a person’s experience healing, and does the current body of literature apply to the spiritual/healing journeys of such people? Do the current impact implications of spirituality/spiritual coping mechanisms apply to people who have both experienced trauma and have inflicted trauma upon others? Incarcerated people should have their voices intentionally included in this research
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