Practice Of Religion Research Articles

The Contest Between Religious Interests and Business Interests ‒ TFD Network Africa (Pty) Ltd v Faris (2019) 40 ILJ 326 (LAC)

The right to freedom of religion is one of the fundamental human rights. This is evident from several sections of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution), including sections 9, 15 and 31. Section 9(4) prohibits unfair discrimination (whether direct or indirect) against anyone on one or more of the grounds listed in section 9(3), which includes religion. Section 15(1) states that everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion, while section 31(1)(a) provides that persons belonging to a religious community may not be denied the right to practise their religion with other members of the community.In line with the Constitution, labour legislation such as the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) and the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) also protects this right. Section 187(1)(f) of the LRA provides that if an employee is discriminated against and is dismissed based on religion, among other grounds, such a dismissal will be deemed to be an automatically unfair dismissal. Section 6(1) of the EEA prohibits unfair discrimination, whether direct or indirect, in any employment policy or practice based on prohibited grounds such as religion. It is evident from all the above provisions that the right to freedom of religion is vital to people’s lives, including employees’ lives.Although an employee has the right to practise religion, he or she also has the common-law duty to render services or to put his or her labour potential at the disposal of the employer as agreed in terms of the contract of employment – except during the employee’s annual leave, sick leave and maternity leave. An employee may therefore be in breach of this duty if he or she refuses to work or deserts his or her employment or absconds from his or her employment or is absent from work without permission. In addition to the above duty, employees have a duty to serve the employer’s interests and to act in good faith.
 Often, employees’ right to freedom of religion collides with their duty to render services and to serve the employer’s interests; employees present various reasons related to their religious practices for their failure to render services. As a result, employers are regularly required to be lenient and make efforts to accommodate employees’ religious beliefs in the workplace. At times, this becomes a burden to employers as they have to accommodate employees with diverse individual religious interests, but also ensure that their businesses remain operational. Religion remains one of the most contentious and problematic areas for employees and employers to deal with in the workplace.The discussion that follows evaluates the court’s finding in view of relevant constitutional provisions, labour law legislation and common law. It further considers the position under American law regarding religion and reasonable accommodation in the workplace.

Adolescentes em território de grande circulação de substâncias psicoativas: uso e prejuízos

Objetivou descrever o perfil de problemas associados ao uso de substâncias entre adolescentes, estudantes de ensino fundamental de uma escola situada em território de intensa circulação de drogas, e verificar as relações com uso e características sociodemográficas. Estudo transversal e correlacional preditivo, com 109 estudantes do nono ano, que responderam ao questionário contendo informações sociodemográficas e o Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI). Os dados foram analisados por estatísticas descritivas, testes de associação e cálculo de densidades de problemas investigadas pelo DUSI. Houve maior densidade de problemas para todas as áreas de vida investigadas dentre os escolares que já haviam feito uso de substâncias psicoativas. “Praticar a religião” foi identificado como fator de proteção para o uso de substâncias psicoativas e “trabalhar” como fator de risco para o uso de álcool. Evidenciou-se a necessidade de estratégias preventivas direcionadas ao uso de substâncias e orientadas a esse público.

The role of Islamic Education Institutions in Religious Moderation in The Communities of Perbutulan Village

The education of Islamic education institutions in Perbutulan Village, Sumber District, Cirebon Regency plays a role in moderate religious education, influencing changes in social and religious behavior in people's lives as well as on priority fiqh problems. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative method by collecting data through interviews with those involved in Islamic education institutions and filling out online questionnaires to the people of Perbutulan community. The results of this study conclude that the role of Islamic education institutions in Perbutulan Village towards religious moderation is as an introduction that in religion one must respect one another, practice religion according to the guidance of the Al-Qur'an and sunnah. The Perbutulan community does not debate the differences between fiqh that exist in the Perbutulan community. With the existence of Islamic education institutions in Perbutulan, it can help the community in carrying out daily life with religious knowledge that has been taught.

PEKERJA SOSIAL BERBASIS AGAMA DALAM PERSPEKTIF AL-QUR’AN

This paper seeks to analyze how social work can utilize religion aspect as a basic for social work practices and how the Koran’s prespectives toward social work based on religion. The paper deals particularly with the four issues as follows: (1) how is the role of religion toward social work practices; (2) how is the integration between religion and spirituality in social work practice; (3) what is the problem and challenge for religion social worker based on religion; (4) how is the opportunity and career prospect for social worker based on religion in Indonesia. The paper focuses its analysis on the social work of religion and its connection in Koran. The basic argument developed throughout this paper is that social worker can utilize religion aspect for their practices during intervention and assessment process. My paper also use Koran’s prespectives to view how is a social worker practice their ability to handle client’s case religion. Keywords : social work, religion, Koran

Religion in Medicine and Health.

Jeff Levin's Religion and Medicine (2020) offers a substantial review of the multicultural intersections of these significant threads of the human story. While Levin's framing of the conceptual significance and intellectual implications of these intersections in the last few decades falls short, the arc of his historical overview and his inclusive commitments give readers a broad sense of this story through the lens of religion and public health. This essay considers the conceptual, sociopolitical, and intellectual dynamics and implications within his historical recounting, with particular attention to the distortions of both religion and medicine that arise from commodified presumptions of the merit-based cultural notion that "we get what we deserve." In order to best interpret how the significant human dimension of religion and spirituality should be understood in considering the health and care of pluralistic diverse communities, it is crucial to examine the implications of the intersections of religion and medicine in clinical practice and in the health of communities.

Islamic Managers and The Role Of Emotional Maturity In Decision-Making (Review of al-Qur’an and Science)

<p><em>The role of managers in a company has a very strategic position, be it a large, medium or small scale company, although in each company the problems faced have different complexity and risk. This is where managers must be able to analyze problems or problems, choose and sort out various alternatives in solving a problem, take the best decisions and have the lowest risk, and be able to analyze the potential problems that arise in the future.</em><em> </em><em>A manager is required not only to have extensive knowledge and insight, but also emotional maturity. Like two sides of a coin, these two things must be utilized simultaneously in decision making so that the right decision is taken. Science and insights are physiological (brain) obtained from schools and their environments. While emotional maturity through religious approaches. Managers who practice religion well (Islamic Managers) then the maturity of their souls is more stable and secure. The manager who is close to God will get the happiness that comes from the endhorpin hormone that is present in humans that has been provided by God.</em></p>

Attitude of People in Their Emerging Adulthood Towards Selected Moral Norms Related to Sexual Activity

Nowadays, we witness a principal change in the normative order referring to human sexuality, and a change of the role of individual factors of sexual socialisation. This paper presents selected findings of the research on sexual morals of people at their emerging adulthood, aged 18–25, carried out in Poland on a representative sample in 2017. The research focused on the respondents’ attitude to the social norms related to sexual activity. Two thirds of the respondents had established sexual relations. There is a clear trend among women to stabilize the intimate relations, and the respondents tend to postpone their matrimonial and procreative plans. The respondents support the norms which may be defined as components of the “golden mean” sexual ethics. Greater liberalism of young men shows in their attitude to the norms related with risky sexual behaviour, widening the repertoire of the forms of sexual intercourse, and sexual activity on the internet. Women significantly more often support the norms which refer to functioning in a relationship. The views of the people who had their sexual initiation are the expression of support for permissive ethics. Religious people and those who regularly practice religion more often present views characteristic of restrictive ethics. It was not proved that the respondents who had attended school family planning classes more often supported restrictive norms referring to sexual activity, which might be expected taking into consideration the abstinence model of the classes.

PROSES PENDEMOKRASIAN DI TURKI: ANALISIS TERHADAP PINDAAN PERLEMBAGAAN TAHUN 2010 (Democratization in Turkey: An Analysis on the 2010 Constitutional Amendment)

The process of secularization implemented in Turkey has affected the constitution of the country. Turkey secular constitution acts as a social contract that restricted freedom of an individual, including to practice  religion. The emergence of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) with conservative democracy discourse tends to create a wider space of liberty, including religious freedom. Thus, this article aims to analyze the democratization process in Turkey practiced by the AKP through the amendment of the constitutional in 2010. Futhermore, it analyzed the Constitution of Turkey as the primary source of this study by examining the differences pre and post of its amendment in 2010. Besides, the process of the constitutional amendment is also analyzed thoroughly. Overall, the 2010 constitutional amendment contributed to the process of democratization in Turkey, where its has affected the rights of the people, the military and judiciary which have been given an extensive jurisdiction. As a secular country, the process of democratization in Turkey was an effective steps for freedom of religious practice.

Discrimination against Religious Minorities in Nigeria: An Analysis with Reference to Human Development in the 21st Century


 This study examines religious discrimination against religious minorities like Muslims living in Christian populated areas in the south east, Christians are as well living in Muslim dominated areas. Minority Traditional worshippers in either Muslim or Christian majority areas, private institution, companies owned by Christians or Muslims etc. The discrimination against religious minorities has mitigated the peaceful co-existence among religious identities and other major life events which has culminated national development in all spheres of human engagement such as economic, social, political, security, etc. The researchers have tried to provide an analytical study of the empirical data as well as of the existing literature. The result of our findings shows that many religious identities have been denied of securing job opportunities, professing religion of their choice, finding it difficult to receive health care services, managing religious institutions, denied of equal rights of citizens, get political appointments, among others. The study recommends that people of different religions should embrace and tolerate one another, avoid the use of fanaticism, allow religious minorities to practice religion of their choice in order to dislodge prejudices from the society.

Trials of the Islamic Education Learning Model in Indonesian Universities: A Sufistic Approach as An Alternative

The students of Indonesia University of Education (UPI) and Bandung Islamic University (UNISBA) typically practice religion as it was received from their parents and socio-religious environment. They Salat, which is the main prayer of Islam, simply abort their obligations, and after praying, immediately leave their prayer mats without making dhikr or remembering God first. Furthermore, they do not understand khushu` Salat, which involves remembering God throughout the prayer, along with the meaning of dhikr, and the importance of a Murshid, which is the Grand Shaykh of Sufi Order. They also view Sufism as non-Islamic teaching and are cynical about the practitioners. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Sufistic learning model in Islamic Religious Education to improve students’ understanding of these teachings in a substantive and tolerant manner. This research used an R&D approach, and the stage that was performed involved the preparation of a draft model and associated trials. Meanwhile, the learning used the madhhab typology approach of the Sufi and Shari`a Islamic models. The trial results showed that the Sufistic approach was effective in increasing students’ understanding of Islamic teachings in a substantive and tolerant manner. Before learning, students were unaware of Sufi Islam and viewed it as a foreign influence. Also, they did not understand khushu` prayers, comprehend the importance of dhikr, nor that of learning from Murshid. After learning, they understood Sufism, accepted the teachings and did not consider them to be foreign influences, and also recognized Islam in a substantive and tolerant manner. Therefore, the Sufism approach is improving the quality of religion and tolerance of students, with the implication that the model is an alternative in learning Islamic education at universities.Objective: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Sufistic learning model in Islamic Religious Education to improve students’ understanding of Islamic teachings in a substantive and tolerant manner.Methods: A research and development (R&D) approach, which was performed in the preparation of a draft model and associated trials, was used. Meanwhile, the learning employed the madhhab typology approach of the Sufi and Shari`a Islamic model.Results: The trial results showed that the Sufistic approach in Islamic Education was effective in increasing students’ understanding of Islamic teachings in a substantive and tolerant manner. Before learning, students unfamiliar with Sufi Islam, saw it as a foreign influence, and did not understand khushu` Salat, which involves remembering God throughout the prayer. Also, they considered dhikr, which means to remember God, and learning from Murshid as unimportant. However, they understood Sufism, accepted it as Islamic teachings and not foreign influences, and recognized the religion in a substantive and tolerant manner after the learning process.Conclusion: The Sufism approach in Islamic Education has succeeded in improving the quality of religion and tolerance of students.

Religion and Refugee Well‐Being: The Importance of Inclusive Community

AbstractWe use a large sample of refugees in Utica, New York to investigate how religiosity and the ability to practice religion are related to happiness in one's community. We analyze religious and secular facets of the community in which they live, such as perceived ability to practice their religion, sense of safety, and experiences of discrimination. Contrary to the literature on broader populations, we find that religiosity is unrelated to refugees’ happiness in their community, but their perceived ability to practice is strongly related to this measure of well‐being. Ability to practice religion remains strongly related to happiness in the community even for refugees who are not religious and for ones who do not regularly attend services. These findings point to the need for more studies to include measures not only of individual religiosity, but facets of religion in people's larger communities, especially for vulnerable populations like refugees.

Ethnicization of religion in practice? Recasting competing communal mobilizations in coastal Karnataka, South India

We examine the competing processes of ethnicization taking place among Hindu and Muslim religious communities in the coastal region of Karnataka state in South India in the broader context of hegemonic ascendancy of Hindu nationalism in the country. We describe how an array of militant Hindutva organizations use an institutionalized system of religious vigilantism and violence against minorities to construct an ethnicized, exclusivist moral community of Hindus in the region. This construction of an ethno-Hinduism by a clever depoliticizing of caste inequalities and violence seeks to produce and naturalize religious difference into an incorrigible and exclusivist ethnic identity that thrives on a continuous process of enemy-making. Responding to this predatory ethnicization executed by militant Hindutva organizations, and capitalizing on the pervasive sense of alienation and anxiety of the Muslims in the region, radical Islamic organizations engage in a counter-predatory ethnicization of Muslim communities in the region. These organizations, while officially articulating secular positions, use the language of self-defence and securitization, coupled with radical Islamic identity for mass mobilization, to create an exclusive Islamic moral community, often mirroring the tactics of Hindutva vigilante organizations. We conclude that these competing processes of ethnicization of religious identities and the emergence of a ‘vigilante public’ will have far-reaching consequences for the central facets of democracy such as citizenship and secularism while leaving the socio-cultural spaces in coastal Karnataka highly polarized on religious lines and peaceful co-existence of religious communities challenging and undesirable.

Examining Influence of Religiosity on Ethical Attitude Towards Business: Evidence from India and China

The primary purpose of the paper is to examine how religiosity influences ethical attitude towards business and to compare and contrast this relationship for two populous Asian countries: India and China. The socio-cultural setting of both the countries resonates strongly weaved religious values and traditional ideology, though with a disparate political system. Using Attitude towards Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ) and 10-item Religious Commitment Inventory (RCI-10), data from 231, i.e., n(India)=122 and n(China)=109, respondents is collected, and research variables are compared based on gender and country of origin. Men demonstrate a higher ethical attitude towards business, higher religiosity, and higher score on ethical business philosophies than their women counterparts. Additionally, Indians score significantly higher than the Chinese on the three constructs. The results of regression analysis demonstrate that religiosity influences ethical attitude towards business for men, women, and Indians only. The relationship is not supported for China. The study further deconstructs religiosity into two subscales: intra (inner interpretive understanding) and inter (outer demonstrative action) religiosity to examine their influence on ethical attitude towards business. Individuals with higher intrareligiosity have a higher ethical attitude while no such relationship is evidenced for interreligiosity. Even further, items of ATBEQ are mapped to represent four ethical business philosophies and their differences compared on the basis of sub-constructs of religiosity. Variations in ethical business philosophies are shown by intra-religiosity only. Essentially, it is not about preaching religion, it is about practicing a religion that really matters. Freedom to practice religion, religion-based teaching, and ethical values embedded into business practices could help shape new virtue ethics as an inspiring point of reference and guidance for business leaders.

Integrating religion and belief in social work practice: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT This exploratory study examines how social work practitioners in England integrate service users’ religion, belief and spiritual identities. The study involved 34 semi-structured interviews with Qualified Social Workers and took a qualitative investigational perspective. By means of thematic analysis, the study suggests that practitioners employ either avoidant or utilitarian approaches, which may indeed be a coping strategy before the vast religious plurality in practice. The study also highlights when professionals perceive religion, belief and spirituality important. Those times are a) initial assessments, b) conditional intervention, c) referrals and d) response to this subject when safeguarding and child protection issues arise.

Cancer in Moroccan elderly: the first multicenter transverse study exploring the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical profile and quality of life of elderly Moroccan cancer patients

BackgroundMoroccan incidence of cancer is increasing with the lengthening of life expectancy. Data regarding elderly Moroccan cancer patients are lacking. In the context of our project aiming to develop an adapted version of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment CGA to the Moroccan population, we launched the first Moroccan multicenter transverse study to explore the characteristics of elderly Moroccan cancer patients.MethodsThe study was conducted in nine Moroccan medical oncology departments. Patients were enrolled over 4 months. Inclusion criteria were patients aged 65 years or over with verified solid cancer. The questionnaire included four sections: socio-demographic and economic data, clinical data, vulnerability and EORTC-QLQ C30. We explored the entire included population. Then, we compared the results according to age (65–70 years old and ≥ 71 years old) and sex. We also explored the correlation between G8 scores and the ability to practice religion as an indicator of fitness level.ResultsIn total, 164 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 73.18 ± 6.01 years. The majority of patients were married, lived with their children and received their financial income from them. Fifteen percent of families asked to hide the diagnosis from the patient. Breast (23%), colorectal (15.9%) and lung (14%) cancers were the most frequent, and 83.5% had an abnormal G8. The majority of the patients were independent for basic daily activities. Female patients had poorer social and economic conditions. Abnormal G8 was correlated with religious practice and quality of life scores.ConclusionThis is the first multicenter prospective study designed to collect data on the lifestyle and clinical profiles of elderly Moroccan cancer patients as an Arab and Muslim population. Our study shows that it is a well-cared-for population with strong social ties. However, there is deep economic vulnerability, especially among women, requiring urgent care. Religious practice is an important daily activity for our elderly patients and should be included in the Moroccan CGA.

Pablo Gómez, The Experiential Caribbean: Creating Knowledge and Healing in the Early Modern Atlantic

American Religion 2, no. 1 (Fall 2020), pp. 186–188 Copyright © 2020, The Trustees of Indiana University • doi: 10.2979/amerreli.2.1.18 Book Review Pablo Gómez, The Experiential Caribbean: Creating Knowledge and Healing in the Early Modern Atlantic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017) Katharine Gerbner University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA The word “religion” appears only seven times in Pablo Gómez’s extraordinary book, The Experiential Caribbean. Yet the paucity of references is, perhaps paradoxically, an indication that this brilliant study should be foundational to studies of American religion. Gómez, an historian of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has written a book about healing and knowledge production that critiques the category of religion in practice, rather than in theory. The Experiential Caribbean explores the “healthcare marketplace” of the early modern Caribbean, focusing on Black ritual practitioners and health specialists. Goméz’s central argument, which is directed primarily at historians of science and medicine, emphasizes that these individuals were not merely “informers” who helped European collectors create the “New Science” of the seventeenth century. Instead, they were themselves responsible for an “experiential revolution ” that emphasized empirical knowledge production over “first principles” and tradition. While the category of “religion” is not Gómez’s central focus, his findings— and his argument—should be of interest to all scholars of American religion. The “ritual practitioners” and “health specialists” who are the focus of his book, after Katharine Gerbner 187 all, were called brujas, sorcerers, and witches by European authorities. In the archival records that Gómez explores, which include Inquisition records as well as a wide range of underutilized medical texts and recipe books, they are agents of “superstition” whose integration of Catholic rituals into their healing practices was suspect at best, and criminal at worst. Yet even as these practitioners were condemned by ecclesiastical authorities, they were widely sought out not only by Black and indigenous people in need of care, but also by Europeans, including church officials. Their integration of a wide range of material, ritual, and verbal practices proved to be effective and attractive within the competitive healthcare marketplace of the early modern Caribbean. Due to the fact that Black practitioners were marginalized as religious “others ” and excluded from histories of medicine, Gómez makes the conscious choice not to use religion-related terminology in his own narrative. Terms like “witch” and “shaman,” Gómez explains, “betoken the very language … used to condemn black ways of knowing” away from categories such as “rational” and “enlightened” (11–12). Instead, he opts for phrases like “ritual specialist” and “health specialist,” as well as Mohán, a term of Amerindian origin, to describe the Black healers who are the focus of his book. The first two chapters, “Arrivals” and “Landscapes,” set the stage and describe how Africans and their descendants made up the majority of the population in the seventeenth-century Caribbean. These individuals drew on African precedents and Amerindian examples as well as European traditions in order to create a “vibrant, if ruthless, cultural economy of healing and diseasing” (38). Implicit in Gómez’s description of this early modern world is a critique of traditional debates about African traditions in the Atlantic world, which tend to argue that Africans and their descendants either “retained” African culture or that they participated in a process of “creolization.” Gómez sidesteps this historiographical quagmire by arguing that Black practitioners gained expertise and authority through their travels. Chapter three, “Movement,” argues that in the competitive healthcare marketplace of the seventeenth-century Caribbean, incorporation was key to success , and healing traditions were not “enclosed” (85). In fact, the dislocation that characterized the seventeenth-century Caribbean weakened structures of power within the multiple healing and religious traditions in the region and “fostered the development of open, omnivorous epistemologies” (87). Significantly, Gómez also repositions the concept of movement away from the Atlantic, and towards interior mobility: the movement of ritual practitioners inland from cities like Cartageña on rivers and through diverse communities. On a related point, he critiques recent scholarship that has emphasized the transfer of knowledge solely from indigenous and Black practitioners to European collectors...

Why is the Special Eating Special? : To Reflect on the Ritual Character of Christian Practice through the Debates over the Eucharist

Christianity is the religion of practice. Even though the elements of the practice and the actual performances vary by cultural and denominational traditions, it is undeniable that Christianity is a system of ought to do. In the face of the crisis of the COVID-19 that results in the hardship of keeping religious practices in the ways that church members have been used to, many churches try to develop new tools for their members' practice of faith. This process is always followed by the division between essential and nonessential. We may ask, "which element should be contained in the new way of worshipping?" In this regard, the writer looks into the Eucharst, one of the most primary Christian ritual. Most Christians, if not all, believe that the Eucharist was enacted by the Lord Christ. However, even the most important ritual has been differently taken by most Christians in theory as well as in practice. This paper skims through the historical debates over the Eucharist. "Why is the special eating special? How is this special as well as non-special piece of bread the body of Christ? What is the actual meaning of eating the body of Christ?" The answers raised by Paschasius Radbertus, Ratramnus Monk of Corbie, Martin Luther, the Council of Trent, Anabaptists, and John Calvin are all different. Radbertus argues that the bread is the historical body of Jesus. Ratramnus argues that the bread is mystical body of Jesus. Luther argues that the special eating performed by the individuals in faith is the authentic way of receiving divine grace. The Council of Trent argues that the special eating offered by the Church is the authentic way of receiving the divine grace. According to Anabaptists, the special eating is helpful for evoking one's own faith. According to Calvin, the special eating is helpful for leading the participants to Christ. Despite all the warring opinions, these arguments reveal Christians' seriousness of practicing their faith. The implicit faith, also supported theoretically by John Zizioulas, is that human beings are realized through the continuos event of communion. Thus, in the crises of Christian practice during the COVID-19, churches should be aware that human beings are always ritual beings regardless of circumstances. It is more important than prioritizing the elements of worship service or sorting out the essential Christian practices in order to adapt the church to the changing situation.

Religious feminists and the intersectional feminist movements: Insights from a case study

Scholars describe Global North feminisms as mostly ‘secular’ and often opposing religion. Contemporary feminist intersectional movements seem to offer different approaches able to overcome distances and articulate the role of religion in feminist emancipatory practice. This contribution explores the complex role of religion in intersectional feminist movements, drawing on the experiences of religious-feminist and secular-feminist women in Italy. The results highlight that religious women are increasingly part of feminist intersectional movements. Nonetheless, religious inequalities are often overlooked, and religion triggers ambivalent reactions, often resulting in a process of othering minority women.

“It’s a tricky one” – development practitioners’ attitudes towards religion

ABSTRACT Situated within post-colonial development critique, this article explores prevalent attitudes of development practitioners towards religion and their potential policy and practice impacts. The discussion draws on evidence from interviews and document analyses of government aid agencies, their recipient organisations, and local activists. The findings suggest that a lack of religious literacy, interest, and contact with religion has fostered an Orientalist mindset that essentialises religion as backwards, risky, and a unique feature of the “developing world”. Contrary to global policy pushes, addressing religion in practice continues to be largely left to individual discretion and practitioners show an overwhelming reluctance to engage.

Genetic counseling graduate training to address religion and spirituality in clinical practice: A qualitative exploration of programs in North America.

Patients receiving clinical genetics services often navigate emotionally difficult situations and may utilize their faith as a source of support, an aid in decision-making, or a core coping strategy. Although patients have expressed interest in discussing their religious or spiritual (R/S) beliefs with their genetic counselor (GC), GCs may avoid such conversations because they feel they do not have the necessary skills to discuss R/S beliefs (Reis, Baumiller, Scrivener, Yager, & Warren, 2007). This qualitative study explored how GC programs in North America currently prepare their students to discuss R/S matters with their patients. The aims of this study were to identify (1) the R/S topics genetic counseling programs currently cover in the curriculum, (2) how genetic counseling programs evaluate their students within the R/S topics and activities that are included in the curriculum, and (3) the value or importance placed on R/S training by genetic counseling program directors. Leaders of 12 (36%) of the 33 eligible GC programs at the time of the study participated in a semi-structured phone interview. Their responses were coded using open and axial coding techniques and analyzed using grounded theory. Results revealed that R/S issues are often covered during the psychosocial portions of the curriculum through writing assignments, in class exercises, and role plays. Almost all participating programs include information on pastoral care services, but have little to no training about specific R/S beliefs or the use of spiritual surveys. While participating program directors emphasized that it is critical for students to be prepared to hold conversations about patients' R/S beliefs, the strategies used to prepare students are inconsistent and often not evaluated. We provide suggestions for enriching the R/S training in genetic counseling graduate programs in order to prepare students to facilitate discussions around patients' religion and/or spirituality in genetic counseling sessions.