Understanding Of Hope Research Articles

“Fliehen. Flüchten. Davon. Eilen. Stürmen”: Stumbling towards the Future in Marlene Streeruwitz’s Die Schmerzmacherin.

The crises of recent years have engendered increasingly bleak visions of the future. This development challenges us to rethink our understanding of hope and futurity, and Marlene Streeruwitz’s 2011 novel Die Schmerzmacherin. takes an important step in this direction. Amy Schreiber, the novel’s young and existentially disoriented protagonist, trains at a security agency, learning to plan and control the future. But Amy keeps tripping over her own feet; her unsteady gait keeps throwing her off course. This article argues that Streeruwitz’s novel employs stumbling as an aesthetic device to expose the conceptual pitfalls of modern notions of the future. By discussing this poetics of stumbling, the article explores the double binds of modern security politics, the tensions between security and care, the unsustainability of societal expectations of success, and the subversive potential of errancy and failure. In Die Schmerzmacherin., stumbling represents an antidote to traditional utopian visions: a sober form of hopefulness that draws on the power of discord and disruption.

Mulighedens uendelighed – uendelighedens mulighed

The article investigates the possibilities and limitations of a religious Christian hope from a postmodern perspective. It argues that Søren Kierkegaard’s Christian understanding of hope as ambiguous, despiteful, and ethical is in alignment with Gianni Vattimo’s postmodern theory of kenosis as the essence of secularity. The argument proceeds in three steps. The first section outlines the challenge and the potential of the postmodern. The second section analyzes Kierkegaard’s understanding of hope. The third section sketches how Vattimo’s postmodern theory contrasts the pragmatic, scientific, and nihilistic hopes of today and aligns with Kierkegaard’s understanding of hope.

Family members' perspectives of hope when supporting a relative experiencing mental health problems.

Current research views hope as a process that plays a positive role in the recovery of individuals with mental health problems. However, little attention has been given to the role of hope in the lives of their families. We aimed to address that gap. We deployed a qualitative descriptive design and carried out individual interviews with nine family members who supported a relative with mental health problems. A cross-comparison of the data generated three major themes: understandings of hope; factors that diminish hope and factors that nurture hope. The participants viewed hope as a positive and productive feeling or attitude that was life-affirming, and empowering. They also associated it with behaviours and dispositions such as attentiveness and empathy and the possibility of a return to a more stable and 'normal' life. The participants experienced hope as initially eroded when their relative was first diagnosed and institutionalized. Hope was further diminished due to the poor communication practices of some mental health professionals and the stress of the caring role itself. On the other hand, hope was nurtured through the support of other family members, friends, neighbours and peers. Acquiring knowledge and understanding about the relative's state of mental health nurtured hope and enabled the participants to have a more meaningful role in their recovery process. Practices of self-care such as independent activities and counselling also strengthened hope and some mental health professionals played a positive role in supporting these. Most striking about the reports of many of the participants was their assertion of their abiding love for their relative. Their account of their ability to see beyond the illness of their relative was an insight that we did not find in other accounts of the experiences of family members. We highlight the need for family members to have timely access to relevant information about their relatives' illness. We conclude that hope is relational at its core because of the interplay of intrapersonal, interpersonal and social factors that diminish or nurture it over time. Specifically, we propose that friends, neighbours and peer support groups as key actors in nurturing the hope of both family members and their relatives.

Resposta brasileira à crise humanitária venezuelana: A Operação Acolhida como uma política de esperança

Abstract This article discusses how Operation Acolhida, within the context of the Venezuela Situation, functions as a customized politics of hope where the Venezuelans refugees and migrants crossing the Brazilian border’s need for hope of is instrumentalized in a strategy to define how/what to hope for. The methodology is divided in the following subsections: the first section brings the discussion on the metaphysics of presence and its logocentric and teleologic perspectives; section two discusses how theories and understanding of hope have been evolving from the Ancient Greek thinkers till the present day and presents the politics of hope as a tool to understand the Operation Acolhida. The last two sections draw its conclusions by analysing how Operation Acolhida activates a customized strategy.

Hope and healthy lifestyle behaviors in older adulthood

Objectives Hope has been associated with better health and social well-being outcomes, including emotional adjustment, positive affect, life satisfaction, reduced risk of all-cause mortality, and increased physical activity, yet how hope as a construct impacts these health benefits in older adults is not very well-understood. This study examined: (1) the relationship between hope and health behaviors in older adults; (2) how this relationship may differ across different socio-demographic groups; and (3) how hope relates to perceived future selves among older adults. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from 711 community-dwelling adults aged ≥55 years (280 men, 431 women). Survey measures included the Snyder Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS) and the Herth Hope Index (HHI), a health behaviors checklist, self-reported health, and a future self-scale. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multiple regressions. Results Hope was positively associated with healthy behaviors in older adults. Participants with higher levels of hope also reported more positive future selves and better health. The associations were similar across different racial/ethnic groups. Conclusions This study fills an important gap in our understanding of hope and its association with health behaviors in community-dwelling older adults. These findings highlight a need to promote hope in older adults in order to enhance their sense of well-being.

Colossians between Texts and Contexts: status quaestionis of the Recent Research

This paper summarizes the current research on the letter to Colossians. It proposes the status quaestionis of the most significant interpretations concerning the identity of the addressees, archaeological research, epistolary introduction, Christology and theology of the letter. Comparative studies of the cities in the Lycus Valley suggest that the recipients of the letter were people scattered throughout the region, but unlike Laodicea and Hierapolis, only the humblest city in the valley was mentioned in the initial greetings. Numismatics and epigraphy highlight Colossae’s secondary role. However, since the tell of ancient Colossae had not yet been excavated, scholars await further archeological evidence. Regarding the epistolary introduction, current studies focus on the understanding of hope and the use of memory. The various attempts made to identify the opponents and the error of Colossians illustrate the methodological difficulties in studying the letter. For a suitable historical reconstruction of Paul’s opponents, they may need a more balanced approach, distinguishing thoroughly both the historical situation and rhetorical situation. The exegetical-theological studies on the Christological Hymn of the last twenty years are fewer in number than those of a socio-historical nature. However, among the former, those that focus on the rhetoric and argumentation theory offer a holistic perspective more suited to understanding the letter. Rhetorical studies on the Christological Hymn of Col 1:15-20 have made it possible to overcome the one-sided perspective based on the correction of a possible heresy contained in the letter. Recent rhetorical and theological studies have also contributed greatly to identifying the features of the Christological μυστήριον. The study of the Christology of universal lordship has helped researchers to clarify the distinctive aspects of the letter’s soteriology and eschatology. If diachronic exegesis has multiplied the hypotheses about the composition of the letter, the synchronic approach has offered a better articulated perspective on the mystery of Christ.

‘There is light despite all of the darkness’: Exploring perceptions of faith and hope during the pandemic in Australian church settings

The pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders since March 2020 have come at a high cost to lives and livelihoods around the globe including ways in which faith communities meet. This paper forms part of a wider study Exploring hope, grace, and resilience in parish communities in COVID-19 times. It investigates how members of Christian faith communities in Melbourne (Australia) made meaning of their understanding of hope during the pandemic. The authors draw on survey data gathered between November 2021 and mid-March 2022 and using thematic analysis they discuss two overarching themes (Light despite the darkness and Connection to God). While generalisations to other faith communities cannot be made, the findings indicate churches fostered hope and offered a sense of belonging. The paper discusses implications for ways in which churches can continue to build faith with church members and the wider community in the changing landscape of the pandemic.

Notes on Radical Hope; or, The Ethical Turn in Anthropology

Examining Greg Beckett’s 2019 There Is No More Haiti: Between Life and Death in Port-au-Prince, this critical essay explores the notion of radical hope in the midst of tragedy and crisis in Haiti. It attempts to reframe the idea of hope from the perspective of a Haitian American who studies Haiti through the lens of literary texts and within a global analysis, arguing that Beckett’s book is more than an anthropological study of crisis; it is an act of memorializing the various ways a generation reflects on the idea of hope. The author’s reading of There Is No More Haiti calls for more critical studies on what Haitians can teach us about the importance of hope in times of disaster, about the understanding of hope as a pervasive feeling.

Shades of hope: Marcel\u2019s notion of hope in end-of-life care

This article examines the compatibility and relevance of Gabriel Marcel’s phenomenology of hope in interdisciplinary research on the role of hope in end-of-life (EOL) care. Our analysis is divided into three thematic topics which examine the various shades of hope observed in Marcel’s phenomenology of hope and in the collection of 20 EOL studies on hope as experienced by adult palliative care (PC) patients, health care professionals (HCP) and parents of terminally ill children. The three topics defining the shades of hope are: the meaning of hope in its dynamic aspects, the dialectics of hope and despair, and the transcendent facets of hope. We analyse how Marcel’s understanding of hope is reflected in EOL studies, and how this perception can enrich the philosophy of PC and significantly deepen and broaden HCPs’ understanding of hope. Our findings prove that despite terminological differences between Marcelian phenomenology and the concepts of hope in the 20 EOL studies, hope emerges as a resourceful movement towards being. Implementing Marcelian hope within communication in EOL care could help in HCPs’ interpersonal approach to patients as his concept harbors a holistic perception of the existential situation of a person. Equally, introducing Marcel’s phenomenology of hope into the clinical encounter could play a beneficial role in improving the ability of patients to adapt to the difficult conditions of their disease and PC treatment.

Hoffnung

Abstract Hope. A Philosophical Outlook The »Concept of Hope« has been established as a central idea in Philosophy not earlier than in the Philosophy of Enlightenment by Kant. In Kant’s Philosophy, the concept of hope is describing a constitutive dimension of »Reason« in its »practical use« which is mediating Political Philosophy with Kant’s Philosophy of Religion. As we can see Kant is following much more the biblical tradition on hope than the former understanding of hope as a virtue in Philosophy. From the insight of Kant, Philosophy today is able to learn about the fundamental importance of the concept of hope for a contemporary theory of public reasoning.

Hope and Hopefulness

AbstractThis paper proposes a new framework for thinking about hope, with certain unexpected consequences. Specifically, I argue that a shift in focus from locutions like “x hopes that” and “x is hoping that” to “x is hopeful that” and “x has hope that” can improve our understanding of hope. This approach, which emphasizes hopefulness as the central concept, turns out to be more revealing and fruitful in tackling some of the issues that philosophers have raised about hope, such as the question of how hope can be distinguished from despair or how people can have differing strengths in hope. It also allows us to see that many current accounts of hope, far from being rivals, are actually compatible with one another.

George F. Handel’s “How Beautiful Are the Feet” as Transformational Object: An Autobiographical Account

Using Christopher Bollas’s concept of transformational object, the author reflects on George F. Handel’s “How Beautiful Are the Feet” as a song that has sustained him and informed his vocational self-understanding as a pastoral theologian. The author reflects on the role of his mother and paternal aunts in fostering a model of care that instilled in him a sense of hope. The author concludes by reflecting on the kinetic quality of pastoral theology and the need to reclaim an agile, even playful understanding of hope.

Qualitative study on hope experience in patients with cervical cancer from the perspective of positive psychology

Objective To understand the real experience of hope in patients with cervical cancer during the postoperative recovery period, explore how to reconstruct hope from the perspective of positive psychology, and provide a scientific basis for the formulation of nursing and psychological intervention programs for patients with cervical cancer. Methods Totally 7 patients with cervical cancer during the postoperative recovery period who were discharged after treatment in a Class Ⅲ Grade A specialized hospital in Guangzhou between August and December 2018 were selected by purposive sampling. They received in-depth individual interview using phenomenological methods. The interview content was organized according to Colaizzi's seven stage method. Results Three themes were obtained through analysis, namely, understanding of hope, factors hindering hope, and reasons for hope to be reshaped and maintained. Conclusions A good social support system should be established to provide patients with active and effective psychological intervention, and increase their positive psychological capital by improving the level of hope of patients, thereby improving the quality of life of patients and promoting their recovery. Key words: Cervical neoplasms; Hope; Qualitative study; Positive psychology; Psychological capital

A Pastoral Theological Response to Miguel De La Torre

ABSTRACTThis article responds to Miguel De La Torre's essay, “Embracing the Hopelessness of Those Seeking Pastoral Care,” which argues that the use of hope as a core concept in pastoral theology reinforces the white supremacy and Eurocentrism of the academy. In contrast, this article acknowledges that pastoral theology has been deeply shaped by white cultural norms, but contends that the discipline's commitments to lived experience and reflective practice create the conditions for new, more liberative understandings of hope to emerge.

U.S. college students’ lay beliefs about hope: A mixed-methods study

ABSTRACT Although the theory of hope proposed by Charles R. Snyder is the dominant perspective in hope psychology, scholars have questioned whether it adequately represent laypeople’s understanding of hope. Accordingly, this mixed-methods study (N =298) explored U.S. college students’ lay beliefs about hope. Participants provided written responses to eight open-ended prompts on their beliefs about hope. A directed content analysis of participants’ qualitative responses identified interpersonal relationships, optimism, work, spirituality, and positive emotions as the five most prevalent beliefs about hope, whereas beliefs associated with Snyder’s theory of hope (agency and pathways) were rarely mentioned. The authors also investigated whether these five beliefs and two other beliefs – materialistic perspective on hope and belief in the unconditional nature of hope – predicted well-being outcomes. Multiple regression analyses indicated that belief in the unconditional nature of hope was the most robust positive predictor of well-being outcomes, followed by belief about the spiritual nature of hope.

Dark Hope: Notes on Uncertain Futures

Abstract In the midst of the Anthropocene, what might it mean to have hope? This article intends not to ‘answer’ such a question, but instead sketch possibilities for an alternative, cloudier, indeed livable understanding of ‘hope’. As an exercise in theopoetics, this piece offers the concept of ‘dark hope’ as a viable symbol for the purpose of eco-activisms—entangled, intersectional. To achieve a blurred illustration of this vision of ‘dark hope’, this article will trace relations between Karmen MacKendrick’s work on the haunting affects of memory, Paul Tillich’s confrontation with ‘non-being’, and queer visions of possible, and ever troubling, futures on a rapidly shifting planet. If nothing else, this project strives toward an understanding of hope that can stand up to the woes of anthropogenic climate change, that can be practiced in the face of disaster, that can be lived even in the midst of ruins.

A Call for Hope-Centered Work: A Preliminary Study of Oncology Social Workers’ Perceptions of the Role and Value of Hope at End-of-Life

This paper examines the role and value of hope in the experiences of people with cancer at end-of-life according to the social workers who counsel them. Despite discussion of hope’s value in social work literature, it continues to be de-emphasized in end-of-life (EOL) social work training and discourse in favor of theories of grief, loss and bereavement. In an online survey, social workers affiliated with a national oncology social work organization (n = 67) responded to closed-ended items. They assessed personal views on and experiences of hope, views on hope within the context of EOL and work experiences with EOL patients, felt competency in assessment of and engagement with hopefulness/hopelessness, and related training and support. Several open-ended items were also included and provided supplemental qualitative data. Participants recognized the value of hope hypothetically. However, their responses showed disagreement about the value of hope when it was considered within the context of EOL. They felt comfortable engaging in hope-centered discussion with EOL patients, yet did not routinely assess or encourage exploration of hope or hopelessness. There is a need for qualitative research to further explore social workers’ understanding of hope at EOL and therapeutic engagement related to it.

The power of hope: person-centered perspectives on contemporary personal and societal challenges

ABSTRACTHope is not about the future. It denotes an existential human way of being and way of being within the present. 'Dum spiro, spero (As long as I breathe, I hope)' characterizes its fundamental aspect in life. Hope is not optimism towards the outlook, not an expectation of positive outcomes. Hope is a specific quality of being a person in the meaning of being fully oneself and being fully with others. It is more than human’s capability to counterbalance fear and despair by envisioning something better and different from endurance. Rather, it is an active stance, the art of being fully present – with others. Thus, hope is a person-centered essential. It can be understood as the voice of the actualizing tendency, because it rests on the belief that potentiality is as important as actuality. Beyond the meaning of hope as a competence of the person, its importance in life and therapy the paper discusses how the present societal and political challenges can be met by a person-centered understanding of hope and trust: the task is not to raise hopes, but to facilitate hope; not to aim at solutions in order to change the world, but to encounter it.

Terror of Hope: the Integration of Attachment Theory and Womanist Theology

Hope functions as a potential coping mechanism for individuals who find themselves in stressful or difficult life situations, whether going through a personal grievance or experiencing the pain of systemized oppression. In recent history the study of hope in psychology and theology has grown and become prominent in each field. These forms of hope are often understood in two predominating categories, one which simplifies it to optimism or the other which relegates it to the future. The first understanding of hope, which I refer to as optimistic hope, distills hope into individualistic motivations with goal-setting for the future; individual progression. The second understanding of hope, which I refer to as eschatological hope, pushes hope to the edge of escapism into the next life. However, there is a third type which is influenced by womanist theology—complex hope. By using the work of womanist theologian A. Elaine Brown Crawford, Hope in the Holler and attachment theory, I attempt to show the potential risk and connection between optimistic hope and eschatological hope with insecure attachment types, and complex hope with secure attachment. Then by using the psychological model of self-development, I offer how one might develop mature complex hope in adolescence and adulthood. Lastly, I give a practical application of how one applies this method in their own situation, specifically as a minister or church leader.

Football as a terrain of hope and struggle: beginning a dialogue on social change, hope and building a better world through sport

From diplomats and politicians, to the executives of sports governing bodies and non-governmental development agencies, to grassroots activists, sport – particularly football – is invariably invoked as an object of hope and a vehicle for building a better world. However, how hope is conceived by these various actors and institutions, and the better world that they imagine is often left unexamined. The purpose of this paper, a collaboration between a researcher interested in sport for development and peace and an activist involved in South African social movements and community football, is to begin an exploration of different understandings of hope and social change in relation to sport. Our aim is to demonstrate that reorienting discussions around how social change is conceptualised in different ways can result in critical understandings of how sport is currently being mobilised in various ways to affect change, and the potential alternatives that are being overlooked.