Faith-based Practices Research Articles

Religiosity, Citizenship and Belonging: The Everyday Experiences of Young Australian Muslims

Since 11 September 2001 Muslim Diasporas have emerged as objects of anxiety in Western societies. Underlying this (in)security-driven problematisation is the question of whether Muslims living in the West have the capacity to become fully active citizens while maintaining their religious beliefs, rituals and practices. This apprehension has prompted reactionary government programmes, particularly targeting young Muslims. Such responses fail to recognise the societal capacities that practising Muslims possess, including those informed by the ethical precepts of Islamic faith. This paper argues that it is timely to explore expressions of Islamic religiosity as they are grounded in everyday multicultural environments. The paper draws on survey data and interviews conducted with Muslims living in Melbourne, Australia. We take into consideration key variables of age and generation to highlight how young, practising Muslims enact citizenship through Islamic rituals and faith-based practices and traditions. The paper will draw from key findings to argue that these performances provide a foundation for exploring ways of ‘living’ together in a manner that privileges ethics central to Islamic faith traditions.

Spirituality, social capital and service: Factors promoting resilience among Expert Patients living with HIV in Ethiopia

People living with HIV (PLHIV) in Ethiopia and other developing nations face numerous challenges to their health and well-being, including poverty, limited healthcare infrastructure and high levels of societal stigma. Despite these challenges, resilient trajectories have been observed even within such resource-limited settings. In Ethiopia, such resilience is exemplified by the ‘Expert Patients (EPTs)’, HIV-positive lay health workers who function as adherence counsellors, health educators, outreach workers and community advocates. We conducted a multi-method qualitative study with 20 EPTs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in order to understand pathways to resilience in this selected population. Participants described three key mechanisms of resilient coping: (1) the use of spirituality and faith-based practices to manage psychological difficulties associated with living with HIV; (2) utilisation of social capital from family and community networks as a buffer against the psychological and economic consequences of societal stigma; and (3) serving others as a mechanism for finding optimism and purpose in life. Interventions designed to facilitate and/or augment these social processes in the wider community may be promising strategies for improving health among PLHIV in Ethiopia and other resource-limited settings.

Forced Assimilation is an unhealthy policy intervention: the case of the hijab ban in France and Quebec, Canada

Women of many cultures and religions find a means of coping with stress and ill health in faith-based practices, such as meditation and prayer. It is customary for Muslim women to participate in such activities, usually with a special dress code, which often includes a hijab. The headscarf ban in French and formerly in Quebec public schools not only forces Muslim female students to shed their essential religious dress code, but also fails to address the resulting health consequences and to acknowledge the cultural aspects of head-covering. This paper argues that the ban on head coverings in public schools is not only an infringement on religious and cultural freedoms, and violation of human rights, but that it is also an unhealthy policy intervention, as it undermines health by restricting prayers, mindfulness and spirituality. Furthermore, the ban has taken away Muslim women's choice to wear a hijab, thus restricting a sense of self-autonomy and in turn causing additional negative health implications. By synthesising these ideas, this paper holds a novel and critical perspective that the headscarf ban policy in France should be re-examined not only because of its infringement of human rights, but also to assess the negative health impacts on affected groups. For these reasons the paper advocates a reversal of the ban, as has happened in Quebec, Canada.

Using Religious Capital to Alleviate Poverty? - A Case Study of Cross-Border Migration in South-China (abstract)

Laurence Iannaccone’s notion of religious capital highlights the capability of individuals to draw on resources from religious- or faith-based practices, and then convert religious capital into human, social and financial capital. The processes of capital accumulation and conversion have significant implications for poverty reduction. However, in its examination of the cross-border experiences of poor female Chinese migrants in South China, this chapter finds that religious capital is severely inequitably distributed within migrant communities. Religious involvement is both time- and resource- demanding, and the very poor face considerable constraints in negotiating access to religious capital. Empirical evidence indicates that while some migrants are successful in improving their material conditions and experience upward social mobility, the failure to address broader, deep-rooted causes of poverty, such as social discrimination, has stymied more systemic change. Worse still, members of the ruling class use religious symbols and rituals to reinforce their domination. This chapter calls for placing greater emphasis on the distributional effect of religious capital, with the aim of offering poor people better support for their religious participation.

Die soziale Dimension der Religion: Mit der Diaconia gibt sich die internationale Diakoniewissenschaft ein neues Forum (Zeitschriftenbericht)

Abstract The Social Dimension of Religion: With the the International Diaconia Sciences Have Started a New Forum (Journal Report). The article describes the discussions in the articles of the first two volumes of the biennial first international Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice. They exhibit four tasks that have been undertaken so far : discussing basic scientific concepts of social action and its presence in faith-based practices, empirical research on diaconia, theological interpretations, and combining social science insights and theology in a way fruitful for the practice of organized diaconia.

The Multi-faith Paradigm in Policy and Practice: Problems, Challenges, Directions

A significant infrastructure of multi-faith engagement grew and consolidated throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century in England, called forth, at least in part, by government policy. This arose in response to three narratives of religious faith: a policy narrative which constructs faith groups as repositories of resources; a faith narrative which is concerned with the lived experiences of faith; and a partnership narrative which reflects the growing role of faith groups in the mixed economy of welfare (see Dinham and Lowndes, 2008). It is inflected, too, by a fourth narrative located in the bundle of ‘Prevent’ policies which sought to address the risks of religious radicalisation and extremism. This article examines multi-faith policy in England, and the issues driving it, and explores its relationship to the faith-based practices which are imagined by it. It asks the question whether the multi-faith paradigm, as crystallised in the policy document ‘Face to Face and Side by Side: A Framework for Partnership in Our Multi Faith Society’ (CLG, 2008), engages with a real and lived experience or remains a policy chimera and a parallel world.

Church attendance and childbearing: Evidence from a Dutch panel study, 1987–2005

While researchers have often found that Europeans who report faith-based beliefs or practices have larger families than those who do not, there is a lack of evidence on the reasons for these links. This study investigated whether having a first child affects parents' level of church attendance and whether the frequency of church attendance at different times in life predicts a person's (almost) completed fertility. Drawing on five waves of a large-scale Dutch panel survey, the study used data that cover a substantial part of the respondents' reproductive period (1987–2005). In contrast to findings from the USA, the results suggest a one-way influence: having a first child does not predict a change in church attendance, but church attendance is a strong predictor of future childbearing.

'... And This Too Shall Pass!' Spiritual Striving and the Academic Life of Three Women

Spirituality and faith-based practices are central elements in the lives of Caribbean peoples. As academics from, or working in, the Caribbean whose practice pays attention to cultural origins, transformation, relevance and diversity, we have come to recognize the centrality and ‘taken-for-grantedness’ of faith and spirituality in our work. In this paper we examine our practice in light of three contexts: first, we explore how we have come to understand the role of faith and spirituality in our everyday lives; second, we discuss the ways in which spirituality and faith are deeply implicated in the curriculum we communicate with our students; and third, we examine the role of spirituality and faith in the process of doctoral supervision. We approach this paper as an exploratory set of narratives that struggle to articulate the opportunities and challenges of representing educational practice as both intellectual and spiritual pursuit. In doing so, we begin to understand how knowledge production is intimately linked with ‘uncovering and constructing truth as the fabric of everyday life’ (Dillard 2006: 20). We make problematic the silences and ambiguities of our practice which become manifest through our complicit and complex crafting of academic responses that are often sanitized for public consumption, silencing the spiritual through omission or sometimes transforming it into what might be considered more acceptable representations for the academic community.

What is a 'faith community'?

This article asks ‘what is a faith community?’ This is important because of a re-emergence of faith and the ‘faith community’ as a public category in many Western countries. This is reflected in the United Kingdom in a public policy interest in faiths as repositories of resources for ‘strengthened community’. Thus faiths are understood as ‘containers’ of staff, buildings, volunteers, networks, values and skills which can be ‘harnessed’ in key community domains, especially the provision of welfare and social services, extended forms of participative neighbourhood governance, and initiatives for community cohesion. Resources in each of these areas are understood to reside in ‘faith communities’ and faiths are frequently seen as ‘good at community’ in these terms. But do we know what a ‘faith community’ is? Using communitarian ideas of community, this article explores the notion of the faith community and the implications of policies about them for faith-based practices in community settings. It argues for the application of community development values to understanding ‘faith communities’.

Predictors of Initial AA-Related Helping: Findings From Project MATCH

The purpose of this article is to identify the factors that predict initial Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)-related helping following treatment admission. Data were derived from Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatments to Client Heterogeneity), a longitudinal investigation of the efficacy of three behavioral treatments for alcohol abuse and dependence. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to determine the extent to which demographic, clinical, belief, and AA factors predicted initial AA-related helping. Demographic characteristics, drinking severity, antisocial personality, and purpose in life were not associated with initial AA-related helping. Increased self-efficacy, faith-based practices, meeting attendance, number of steps worked, having a sponsor, and length of sobriety predicted initial AA-related helping. Alcoholics reported elevated depressive symptoms before initial AA-related helping, lowered depressive symptoms at the start of AA-related helping, and similarly lowered depressive symptoms in the interval following initial AA-related helping. The profile of prospective helpers in AA is not limited to alcoholics from certain backgrounds or higher functioning in terms of drinking or clinical severity. To increase participation in AA-related helping, and hence outcomes, results suggest strengthening self-efficacy and progress in other AA programmatic components.

Caregiver's Spirituality and Its Influence on Maintaining the Elderly and Disabled in a Home Environment

ABSTRACT This study examined the role that faith-based organizations play for caregivers in maintaining the elderly and disabled in their homes. The study explored if persons who use religious beliefs and practices cope with caregiver stress better than those who do not use religious beliefs and practices. The study also explored the role of religious coping as a factor affecting decisions to institutionalize, and the role that faith-based practices and organizations play in helping caregivers maintain the elderly and disabled in their homes.

Perceptions of Faith and Outcomes in Faith-Based Programs for Homeless Youth

This study sought to determine which “faith” elements exist in faith-based programs for homeless youth and how these concepts are defined according to staff and youth clients. Descriptions of client outcomes across programs are also explored. Quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 staff and 11 clients from 11 faith-based programs for homeless youth in Los Angeles. Common themes that emerged include using faith to instill hope in clients, non-church-related religious practices and spiritual growth in clients. Grounded theory is used to interpret findings and develop hypotheses to inform future research on faith and outcomes. Implications for social work are offered to guide practitioners and researchers in designing, implementing and evaluating effective faith-based practices for homeless youth. doi:10.1300/J079v33n04_03

Improving Influenza Vaccination Rates of High-Risk Inner-City Children Over 2 Intervention Years

Influenza immunization rates among children with high-risk medical conditions are disappointingly low, and relatively few data are available on raising rates, particularly over 2 years. We wanted to determine whether interventions tailored to individual practice sites improve influenza immunization rates among high-risk children in inner-city health centers over 2 years. A before-after trial to improve influenza immunization of children was conducted at 5 inner-city health centers (residencies and faith-based). Sites selected interventions from a menu (eg, standing orders, patient and clinician reminders, education) proved to increase vaccination rates, which were directed at children aged 2 to 17 years with high-risk medical conditions. Intervention influenza vaccination rates and 1 and 2 years were compared with those of the preintervention year (2001-2002) and of a comparison site. Influenza vaccination rates improved modestly from baseline (10.4%) to 13.1% during intervention year 1 and to 18.7% during intervention year 2 (P <.001), with rates reaching 31% in faith-based practices. Rates increased in all racial and age-groups and in Medicaid-insured children. The increase in rates was significantly greater in intervention health centers (8.3%) than in the comparison health center (0.7%; P <.001). In regression analyses that controlled for demographic factors, vaccination status was associated with intervention year 1 (odds ratio [OR], 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-2.2) and with intervention year 2 (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 2.3-3.4), as well as with practice type. Adolescents had lower vaccination rates than children 2 to 6 years old (OR, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.5-0.7). Tailored interventions selected from a menu of interventions modestly increased influenza vaccination rates over 2 years at health centers serving children from low-income families. We recommend this strategy for faith-based practices and residencies with 1 practice site, but further research is needed on multisite practices and to achieve higher influenza vaccination rates.

`Tremendous Stigma' Keeps Some Asians From MH Care

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull Access`Tremendous Stigma' Keeps Some Asians From MH CareEve BenderEve BenderSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:19 Nov 2004https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.39.22.00390021 When people of South-Asian descent begin to experience mental health problems, a psychiatrist or mental health professional is usually among the last ones to whom they will turn for help.Nalini Juthani, M.D.: Among South-Asian immigrants, “mental illness carries tremendous stigma that prevents patients and families from coming forth for treatment.”The majority first consult a family member or a religious elder, explained Nalini Juthani, M.D., a professor of clinical psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and an examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.Juthani, who is also a member of the Psychiatric News Editorial Advisory Board, appeared at the meeting, “Overcoming Stigma in Asian-American Mental Health” in New York in October to discuss issues impacting South Asians who have immigrated to the United States from countries such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.“Identification of mental illness in this population is a slow process because their families tolerate, rationalize, and deny distorted thinking, depression, and anxiety,” Juthani explained.Only when mental health problems significantly interfere with a person's functioning at school or work do they come to the attention of a family member, a trusted elder in the community, or a mental health clinician.People of South-Asian descent “tend to conceal the pathology and suffer quietly,” Juthani noted.“Mental illness carries tremendous stigma, which prevents patients and families from coming forward for treatment,” she said.South Asians living in the United States may cope with their distress by becoming deeply involved in religion, using homeopathic treatments, or Ayurvedic medicine, which Juthani defined as an “ancient Indian science of life that focuses on the balance between mind, body, and spirit.”Ayurvedic medicine teaches that each person has a certain body type with its own remedies to restore the balance between the three domains, she said.According to Ayurveda, mental illness falls into two categories.Nija, or endogenous type, causes symptoms such as inappropriate behavior, anger, excitement, and violence and is usually treated with a variety of Ayurvedic medicines, a restricted diet, massage therapy, and reassurance.Agantu, the exogenous form of mental illness, is caused by the wrath of gods or ancestors or by possession by various spirits, and it warrants the same treatments used for Nija, Juthani noted.If the person in distress is Hindu, he or she may believe the symptoms are caused by bad karma from this or a previous life, she explained.Juthani also addressed the all-important role of family in South-Asian culture and expectations South Asians have of psychiatrists who treat a family member with mental illness.For instance, psychiatrists should be aware that South-Asian families often do not accept theories relating to the genetic basis of mental illness, Juthani said, because “hereditary aspects of the illness bring shame to the entire family,” and as a result, marriage proposals to the patient's siblings may be jeopardized.Family members and patients, however, accept a condition that “can be accounted for as short-lived and curable” and expect that the psychiatrist will prescribe medicines to relieve the symptoms of mental illness, Juthani said.In terms of psychotherapy, short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy is generally better accepted by South-Asian patients and their families than are longer forms of psychotherapy.Ideally, Juthani noted, psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians should “combine traditional forms of healing such as yoga and meditation with Western modalities of mental health treatment. A clinician's approval of such faith-based practices and willingness to collaborate with spiritual leaders and family members is the best way to achieve a positive outcome,” she said. ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

An investigation of the relation between religion and exercise motivation.

The present study sought to investigate whether traditional secular or faith-based program factors were more responsible for motivating women (N = 220, M age = 44.6 yr.) to participate in Christian exercise programs. Based on the results of a pilot study, the Christian Exercise Program Questionnaire was developed and mailed to the study participants. The internal reliability of the questionnaire was excellent as indicated by Cronbach coefficient alpha. As expected, those aspects of the exercise program that were faith-based, e.g., modest clothing, noncompetitive, and worshipful atmosphere. were considered more important than traditional secular factors, e.g., personal trainers and childcare, in the decision to enroll in the program (t219 = 9.23, p < .001). The findings suggest exercise programs that incorporate faith-based practices may appeal to a segment of the population and provide an alternative strategy for improving participation rates in physical activity.

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN RELIGION AND EXERCISE MOTIVATION

The present study sought to investigate whether traditional secular or faith-based program factors were more responsible for motivating women (N = 220, M age = 44.6 yr.) to participate in Christian exercise programs. Based on the results of a pilot study, the Christian Exercise Program Questionnaire was developed and mailed to the study participants. The internal reliability of the questionnaire was excellent as indicated by Cronbach coefficient alpha. As expected, those aspects of the exercise program that were faith-based, e.g., modest clothing, noncompetitive, and worshipful atmosphere, were considered more important than traditional secular factors, e.g., personal trainers and childcare, in the decision to enroll in the program (t219 = 9.23, p < .001). The findings suggest exercise programs that incorporate faith-based practices may appeal to a segment of the population and provide an alternative strategy for improving participation rates in physical activity.