Buddhist prison outreach is a relatively recent development, in the United States of America and elsewhere, and has yet to be chronicled satisfactorily. This thesis traces the physical, legal and social environment in which such activities take place and describes the history of Buddhist prison outreach in the USA from its earliest indications in the 1960s to the present day. The mechanics of Buddhist prison outreach are also examined. Motivations for participating in Buddhist prison outreach are discussed, including Buddhist textual supports, role models and personal benefits. This paper then proposes that volunteers active in this area are members of a liminal communitas as per Victor Turner and benefit from ‘non-player’ status, as defined by Ashis Nandy. The experiences of the inmates themselves is beyond the scope of this thesis. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Religious Studies)

This qualitative study illustrates that a narrative approach to pastoral therapy can guide collaborative co-authoring of alternative ways of living after trauma. The research emanates from postmodern epistemology and related discourses of social construction and post-structuralism, as well as a contextual approach to practical theology. The narrative practices of enrolling people in their own knowledges, of creating communities of concern, of honouring people, of celebration and joy, and of co-authoring alternative histories are illustrated through descriptions of how narrative maps guided one-to-one pastoral therapy as well as group work with people who have experienced trauma. The concept "resilience" is deconstructed so as to be understood as those personal actions which do not conform to pathologising predictions of the effects of trauma. / Hierdie kwalitatiewe studie illustreer dat 'n narratiewe benadering tot pastorale terapie die ko-konstruksie van alternatiewe leefwyses na trauma kan fasiliteer. Die navorsing spruit voort uit 'n postmoderne epistemologie en die verwante diskoerse van sosiale konstruksie en post-strukturalisme, asook 'n kontekstuele benadering tot praktiese teologie. Die narratiewe praktyke van ontginning van mense se kennis en vaardighede, van die skepping van gemeenskappe van sorg, van vreugde en waardering, en van die mede-skryf aan alternatiewe stories word geillustreer. Dit word gedoen deur beskrywings van die wyse waarop narratiewe kaarte individuele sowel as groepsterapie met getraumatiseerde persone kan begelei. Die konsep "weerstandsvermoee" ("resilience') word gedekonstrueer sodat dit verstaan word as daardie persoonlike ervarings wat patologiserende voorspellings oor getraumatiseerde persone weerspreek. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Practical Theology, with specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As correntes humanísticas e as recentes pesquisas na área da Saúde Mental contribuíram de forma significativa para a reforma psiquiátrica no Brasil. Esta vinha sendo preparada desde os anos 90 e está sendo implantada desde o ano 2001. Esta reforma propõe um modelo que confere maior autonomia ao portador de transtornos mentais e insere a família e a sociedade nos cuidados. Este novo modelo prevê a desospitalização dos pacientes, criando cuidados em espaços alternativos como: hospitais dia, casas terapêuticas, centros de atenção psicossocial. Esta nova realidade da Psiquiatria é um desafio para a Evangelização, pois requer um novo paradigma dos cristãos que, muitas vezes, integram os preconceitos na própria mensagem do Evangelho. Em muitos âmbitos ainda hoje se trata a patologia mental como possessão demoníaca ou castigo divino, em detrimento do anúncio de um Deus de misericórdia, amor e ternura. O aconselhamento pastoral em Saúde Mental deve ter suas raízes bem arraigadas no Evangelho e ao mesmo tempo abrir-se mais e mais para um diálogo amplo com as Ciências Humanas e a sociedade a fim de proporcionar uma ação evangelizadora adequada para um público alvo em situaçãolimite. É neste contexto que o aconselhamento pastoral deve ajudar a viver um sentido de vida pleno, contrapondo-se a muitas experiências na sociedade para a qual muitas vezes só há sentido onde há produtividade e resultados significativos para alimentar a busca desenfreada de bens de consumo, garantindo uma falsa auto-realização construída com base no ter e poder. Evangelizar sempre deve ser uma ação diferenciada para os portadores de transtornos mentais. Embora a Pastoral dialogue com as Ciências e busque nelas orientação para uma ação adequada, ela não pode desviar-se do seu conteúdo principal: a mensagem encarnada do Evangelho. Mensagem esta que em muitos casos pode ser transmitida apenas e, sobretudo, pela presença solidária junto ao paciente. Mais importante que as teorias, que as exposições é a presença amiga capaz de garantir ao paciente uma experiência profunda de um Deus de amor, ternura e misericórdia. / The humanist chains and the updated searching in Mental Health area did contribute in a relevant basis to the psychiatry review happened in Brazil, recently. This one was been prepared since the start of 90 years and had been implemented since the start of 21stcentury, 2001 sharply. Its proposal is a new model which gives a higher autonomy to the person who presents mind disorders/diseases and acclaim family and society, together to be part of the patient care. This new pattern foresees the out of hospital process of patients through new and alternatives spaces forming, for instance: day hospitals, therapeutics homes, psychosocial care centers and so on. This new scenery of Psychiatry is a great challenge for evangelization so it requires a new paradigm by Christian that for many times integrates the preconception inside the evangelical message. In many aspects, still today, the mental pathology is considered as an evil possession or divine punishment in damage Lord announce of mercy, love and tender. The pastoral counseling in mental health ought to have its roots well founded in the Holy Bible and at the same time be inclined each more to a open minded dialogue among Human Sciences and society in order to offer an appropriate evangelical action to those are living on the edge (out of limit). Is on this context that pastoral counseling has an important role helping to live life in a wide sense opposing several experiences on the society in which many times there is sense only where exists productivity and significant results to feed the disordered search for consumism to assure the fake self achievement built on HAVE and POWER basis. Evangelize always must be a different action to those group of people/patients. Despite of Pastoral makes contact to Sciences and search on them guidelines to adapt actions it can not deviate itself away from the main content, does mean the incarnated Holy Bible message. This one can be released and communicated for many times only and above all by the solidary presence closed to the patient. More important than theories and explanations the friendship attitude / behavior is the way to offer the warranty to this patient a chance of a deep experience of a God full of love, tender and mercy

Amamos a vida e temos muitos planos para ela. Nem sequer queremos pensar na brevidade dos nossos dias ou, ainda, que estamos aqui só de passagem. Por mais dura que a vida nos pareça, nossos corações estão sempre cheios de esperanças e de ideias maravilhosas para nosso casamento, nossos filhos, nosso trabalho, nossos parentes e amigos, nossos investimentos, nosso patrimônio, nossos interesses, nossas aspirações, nossos passatempos e prazeres. Contudo, todos nós somos vulneráveis ao ataque súbito de uma doença grave. Moléstias que apresentam risco de vida não conhecem fronteiras; elas não atingem apenas o CORPO humano, elas desolam também o SER humano. A doença não compromete apenas a integridade biológica, ela também compromete significativamente a integridade pessoal. O HIV, por exemplo, com sua malignidade devastadora, arrasa o sistema imunológico e provoca desolações mentais, morais, emocionais, sociais, familiares, religiosas e culturais. A AIDS se fundamenta sobre a afirmação de elementos estigmatizantes e excludentes, como o sexo, a culpa e a morte. Aqui então compreendemos que o cuidado transpessoal oferecido no acompanhamento pastoral do soro-positivo é componente indispensável em um processo terapêutico humanitário, integrado e bem sucedido. O cuidado pastoral é confortante, é poderoso, comunica segurança e autoridade, acalma as tensões, administra os conflitos, monitora as emoções e vitaliza as instâncias superiores da pessoa enferma, ele comunica uma força de vida que não é simplesmente biológica, mas a vida cônscia, vida emocional, vida pessoal. Ele oferece proteção emocional, mental, moral, espiritual e pessoal mais do que qualquer outra forma de acompanhamento. Nas relações de cuidado com pessoas portadoras de doenças irremediáveis, entendemos ser necessário integrar a visão de vida e morte no contexto da existência terrena. É certo que vive melhor e mais livre quem se sente preparado para morrer, quem consegue encarar a morte com naturalidade, como um acontecimento que compõe nossa experiência na Terra. Quando o cenário muda e temos de enfrentar a morte em seus processos, o acompanhamento pastoral torna-se uma força indispensável e significativa para quem enfrenta o final da jornada. / We love the life and we have many plans for it. We do not want even to think about the brevity of our days or that we are just passing through. However hard our life seems to us, our hearts are always full of hopes and wonderful ideas for our marriage, our children, our work, our relatives and friends, our investments, our patrimony, our interests, our aspirations, our pastimes and pleasures. However, we are all vulnerable to the sudden attack of a serious disease. Illnesses which put our lives at risk do not know any frontiers; they do not just attack the human BODY, they also desolate the human BEING. Disease does not just jeopardize the biological integrity; it also endangers the personal one. HIV, for instance, with its wasting evilness, devastates the immunological system and provokes mental moral emotional social domestic religious and cultural desolations. AIDS is based on the assertion of excluding and branding elements like sex, guilt and death. In this research we understand that the transpersonal care offered in pastoral attendance of HIV serum positive is an indispensable element in an integrated humanitarian and successful therapeutic process. Pastoral care is comforting and powerful; it communicates safety and authority; it manages conflicts; it monitors emotions and it revitalizes the superior instances of the sick person. It communicates a life force that is not just biological, but also aware, emotional and personal. It offers emotional mental moral spiritual and personal protection more than any other attendance form. In care relationships with people who have incurable diseases, we think that it is necessary to integrate a life and death understanding in the context of earth-bound existence. It is true; the one who feels prepared to die, who can naturally face the death like an event that integrates our experience of living lives better and freer. When the scenery changes and we have to face the death in this process, the pastoral attendance becomes an indispensable and significant force for those who face the end of the journey.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar as dificuldades socioeconômicas encontradas pelas mulheres separadas batistas do bairro de Paripe, em Salvador/BA, em manter-se social e economicamente. Seu objetivo foi também reconhecer as limitações das igrejas batistas e de suas lideranças em acolher a mulher separada com suas peculiaridades, além de apresentar alternativas de aconselhamento pastoral, tomando como base a Rede de Apoio para Mulheres. / The objective of the present paper was to identify the social and economical difficulties faced by the separated Baptist women in the neighborhood of Paripe in Salvador/BA, to maintain themselves socially and economically. Its objective was also to recognize the limitations of the Baptist churches and its leadership in receiving the separated woman with its peculiarities and to present an alternative of pastoral counseling based on womens supporting network.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Practical Theology / PhD / unrestricted

The research started in a school context where the teachers were severely affected by the changes in and closing of their school. In my qualitatively based research project, I embarked with the research participants on a pastoral, narrative- and appreciative inquiry approach which assist the teachers to deal more efficiently with the effects of the changes they experienced. By sharing and reflecting on their stories, a climate that's conducive to their well-being was constructed. I describe how my participatory action research invited the teachers to be active research participants, who are responsible for their own construction of richer or alternative meanings in their lives. / Practical theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

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No description available.

At a Muslim school a group of boys with a reputation for stealing got the opportunity to share stories with communities of concern. Honesty meetings, honesty tests, honesty certificates and honesty celebrations formed part of narrative therapy ways of working together to try and regain reputations for honesty. As an outsider researcher/therapist I was confronted by stories of slavery, racism, unemployment, poverty, crime and violence. Through collaboration with a cultural consultant it became possible to do theology and pastoral care as a Christian in a Muslim community in a respectful and ethical way. The sharing of stories of pain and resistance contributed to the mutual care and community amongst participants from communities separated by racism and apartheid legislation as well as differences of culture and religion. Reflections on this journey mark a migration of identity for me as researcher, therapist, Christian and white South African practical theologian. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Theology)