This study is based on heuristic methodology and looks at counsellor/therapists’ experience of integrating Christian faith with their clinical practice. The researcher overtly includes her own material and documents her own internal process as part of the research journey. Some of this is achieved by the inclusion of portions of creative writing. The literature review covers a wide field, looking at the relationship between spirituality and counselling from both historical and contemporary writers. It includes both US and UK material and representation from both secular and Christian sources. It examines the ethics and the practicalities of integrating faith with practice. Interview material is presented from twenty-two practitioners, together with that of three named academics in the field. Initially three exemplars are described in their entirety, as representatives of different groups of counsellors within the whole sample. Four major themes of interest emerged from the academic interviews. These themes were: a) Attention to the spirituality of the counsellorb) Support for the counsellor working with the spiritual dimensionc) The effect of context, culture and language of the counsellingd) The effect of client’s spirituality on the counselling process. Material from all interviewees is discussed using these themes, in relation to the literature. Specific unmet needs of the practitioners are identified. Major findings were that although counsellors with a Christian faith generally agree with the concept of their spirituality being an integral part of their work, there is variation in the level of attention paid to this. The availability of support for this integration is often problematic. Most counsellors desired more ‘safe space’ to explore the issue. Following the heuristic process, a model linking the psychological and spiritual perspectives emerged. This has enabled the researcher to further reflect on her own integration journey. It has since been used in workshops to facilitate other practitioners in reflecting on their individual integration. Recommendations for further research are made. The limitations of the research are noted.

Unfavourable socio-economic and psychosocial changes, globally and locally, have forced communities to place an increasing number of adolescents in foster care, or take the necessary steps to accommodate them in orphanages. The drastic interventions had many unsettling consequences. South African orphanages were inundated with orphaned and removed children, and foster care was a constructive alternative. Research results have shown that, for children to develop normally, they have to be cared for in cordial and constructive family structures (Republic of South Africa, Department of Social Development, 2009). The present study was exploratory and aimed to explore the challenges faced by foster mothers who were fostering the adolescents at the time of interviewing, as well as coping strategies employed by foster mothers in their task of fostering. The target areas were Mamelodi and Atteridgeville Townships in the Tshwane/Pretoria Region. Twenty foster mothers were selected from a list of foster mothers received from social workers and semi-structured interviews were conducted with these 20 respondents. Respondents? narratives were translated from Setswana and North Sotho to English. Data was transcribed and analysed by means of Thematic Network Analysis. Four core themes were extracted, namely Crisis, Structure, Relationships, and Resilience and Spirituality. These themes were discussed and linked to the tenets of Positive Psychology and literature sources, and communicated to social workers, foster mothers and legislators. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Psychology / PhD / Unrestricted

This study investigates the spirituality of the emerging African Pentecostal churches in the development of the church and the theology of mission in Zambia’s Christian and traditional religious context. Of equal importance is the contribution of traditional African spirituality to Christianity in Africa. Attention is also drawn to the way in which African traditional religion and culture are treated by the African Pentecostal churches. The effect of both culture and Christianity in shaping modes of relationship and in bringing to light a liberative spirituality which this study examines is an issue in focus in African Pentecostal churches. Hence, this study has consciously appealed both to traditional spiritually and Pentecostal spirituality for a liberative theology which is both African and Christian. The study therefore proposes a change in terms of interpretation in our understanding of spirituality. The term “spirituality” in this study is defined as “the abiding presence of God the Holy Spirit” in the Church and its mission. From a predominantly scientific and dichotomous approach to spirituality, the study suggests that the paradigm shift should be in the direction of a supernatural approach as opposed to the Western worldview approach which is influenced heavily by secular science. The new approach advocates the need to understand the images of God the Holy Spirit from an African point of view. In this regard, the comparison between an African cosmology and a Biblical world-view (theologia Crucis) determines theodicy. Inter alia, the metaphor “Immanuel” (Mulungu Alinafe in Chichewa, meaning “God with us”) plays a crucial role in a metaphorical approach to supernatural “manifestations” of the abiding presence of God the Holy Spirit in the midst of the people of African Pentecostal churches and their mission. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

The World Health Organization and the leading hospice organizations have emphasized the inclusion of family caregivers of hospice patients with cancer into end-of-life care, as these two dyad members may spiritually and emotionally influence each other. Given that depression and spiritual needs, which are prominent in these pairs, may impair quality of life (QOL) of hospice dyads, examining mutuality within dyads is imperative to develop a more accurate model that includes family caregivers. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to elucidate the importance of mutual effects within hospice dyads by examining the contribution of depression and unmet spiritual needs on their personal and their counterparts’ QOL. Structural equation modeling was used to integrate the feature of actor and partner effects in the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. After eliminating outliers, the final sample was comprised of 660 hospice dyads in which the majority of hospice patients were white (97%) and male (56.6%) with a mean age of 73 years. Most of the family caregivers were white (95.9%) and female (73.5%) with a mean age of 65 years. On average, hospice patients reported a depression score of 4.00 (SD = 1.53), and their family caregivers had a significantly lower mean depression score of 3.65 (SD = 1.48). With respect to their spiritual needs, 25.5% of hospice patients indicated going to religious services was an unmet need, and about 13% of family caregivers also reported that going to religious services was an unmet spiritual need, followed by being with friends, laughing, thinking happy thoughts, and being around children. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that depression and spiritual needs in cancer patients and family caregivers exhibited significant actor effects on the individual’s QOL after controlling for the partner effects. Among the spousal pairs, depression in family caregivers exhibited a positive partner effect on hospice patients’ functional well-being (β = .15, p < .05), implying that as depressive symptoms increase, hospice patients’ functional well-being increases. This study supported the need for considering both as one unit and the mutuality inherent in dyads. The findings of the study suggest the importance of consistent assessment in emotional and spiritual well-being for hospice patients as well as family caregivers, as their concerns may be transmitted to each other due to mutuality existing within the dyads.

Submitted work is based on a critical evaluation of Weber's thesis "the spirit of capitalism", which justified by the "Protestant ethic". The author uses the Weber's starting point for the processing of general spiritual concept, which has a major impact on the emergence, development and maintenance of the economic environment, business and management. After clarification of the fundamental concepts, the work focuses on clarifications to the phenomenon of spirituality, which is connected with the entrepreneurial and managerial activities. Presence of the spiritual character of business potentials was divided into positive and negative factors. General spiritual factors are reflected on the background of basic religious systems -- Judaism, Christianity (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy), Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and other Asian directions. Spiritual perspectives are compared with the concepts of the science that have their limits or potentials. The practical part is devoted to the proof of spiritual influences on business and economic development. The work culminates in a research of spiritual factors and potentials of entrepreneurship and management between the selected entrepreneurs and managers. The collected factors and potentials are summarized and proposed for their use in the entrepreneurial and managerial practice or managerial training.

Michel Tournier est l’une des grandes figures du roman français contemporain. Son œuvre est remarquable à la fois par sa dimension philosophique et par sa dimension mythique. Nous constatons que des thèmes regroupés sous l’angle philosophique et mythique comme l’ogre, le double, l’inversion sont bel et bien analysés en France. Notre recherche développera donc une philosophie de la vie ou de l’existence humaine sur le bonheur, en exploitant des thèmes récurrents chez Tournier, le voyage, la solitude, le bonheur, etc. L'image du départ est source de réflexions dans la plupart des romans de Tournier où le voyage s’impose comme la suite logique et dynamique de l’intrigue et de la thématique, et dans ce voyage la recherche du bonheur semble indispensable. Ainsi, notre recherche sera consacrée à une lecture des textes en ayant recours aux approches thématiques de Gaston Bachelard, à une analyse du moteur du voyage et de l’évolution des esprits des personnages dans le voyage initiatique. Dans la Première Partie, nous essayons d’analyser trois niveaux d’initiation : à travers les voyages, les images, l’écriture. La dimension spirituelle de l'écriture permet de révéler le sens du vrai bonheur, fondé sur le respect de la nature, l’éternité et la sérénité, ce qui s'approche de la conception du bonheur dans la philosophie orientale. Et surtout, elle exprime une idée de la conscience de l'écrivain sur la beauté de la nature et de la vie. Dans la Deuxième Partie, nous étudierons comment les héros réagissent, surmontent le destin solitaire de l’homme et acquièrent le bonheur. La quête des personnages se répère au début comme une recherche du bonheur corporel ; à la fin elle se traduit par une reconstruction du monde et une quête spirituelle. Le bonheur serait enfin réalisé dans une quête du sacré, par la resacralisation du monde et des phénomènes célestes. Dans la Troisième Partie, nous étudierons les fantasmes et le bonheur de l’écrivain à travers le côté obsédant de l’écriture. Le côté narcissique de l'écrivain se révèle d'abord dans la reprise de la rêverie de ses personnages, la circulation des mêmes thèmes ou expressions dans les différents romans et essais. Puis ses fantasmes résident dans l'éloge de l'innocence enfantine. Le narcissisme de l'écrivain se manifeste encore dans la mise en relation de la vocation créatrice avec la divinité. / Michel Tournier is one of the great figures of contemporary french novel. His work is remarkable both for its philosophical dimension and its mythic dimension. We find that the philosophical and mythic themes as the ogre, the double, the inversion are thoroughly analyzed in France. So our research will develop a philosophy of happiness about the life and the human existence, by exploring the recurring themes as the journey, the solitude, the happiness, etc. In most novels of Tournier, the image of the departure is the root of thoughts and the journey seems like the logic and dynamic result of the history and the theme. And in this journey the search of happiness seems essential. Thus, our research will be devoted to a reading of the texts by using the thematic approachs of Gaston Bachelard, an analysis of the motive of the journey and the evolution of the minds of characters in the initiatory journey. In the First Part, we try to analyze three levels of initiation : through the travelling, the images, the writing. The spiritual dimension of writing can reveal the meaning of true happiness, based on the respect for nature, the eternity and the serenity, which is similar to the concept of happiness in eastern philosophy. And especially, it expresses the consciousness of the writer on the beauty of nature and life. In the Second Part, we will study how the protagonists react, overcome the solitary fate of man and gain the happiness. The quest of the characters appears at the beginning to a search for the physical happiness ; in the end it leads to a reconstruction of the world and a spiritual quest. The happiness is finally fulfilled in a quest for the sacredness, by the resacralization of the world and the celestial phenomena. In the Third Part, we will explore the fantasies and the happiness of the writer through the haunting aspect of writing. The narcissism of the writer is first revealed in the recovery of the dream of his characters, the repetition of the same themes and expressions in different novels and essays. Then his fantasies resident in praise of childlike innocence. The writer's narcissism is still apparent in the association between the creative vocation and the divinity.

The topic of spirituality and job satisfaction is of growing interest in management literature. Researchers have examined whether spirituality improves or enhances job satisfaction, productivity, retention, and reduces burnout. The findings in various studies have supported the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction. This dissertation investigated the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction of African American, Anglo, and Hispanic Protestant clergy. The preliminary research questions for this study are: What degree do the determinants of spirituality correlate with the determinants of job satisfaction for African American, Anglo, and Hispanic protestant clergy? Is there a significant difference between the degree of spirituality and job satisfaction among protestant clergy ethnic groups (African American, Anglo, and Hispanic)? Do female clergy experience a higher level of spirituality and job satisfaction than their male counterparts? The study used a sample group of 475 participants who were full-time pastors from a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. The research tools used to examine the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction were the Spirituality Assessment ScaleTM, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. The survey data was analyzed and hypotheses testing performed by using SPSS' (2009) PASW® Statistics GradPack 17.0 For Windows. The Spearman's Rho Correlation Analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis One-way Analysis of Variance were the utilized in order to perform hypotheses testing. A review of the findings indicated a support for the hypothesis that there is a relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction. The findings also support the hypothesis that there is a difference (p = 0.009) in definitive spirituality when it comes to ministerial standing within the organization. Finally, the findings in this study support the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in definitive spirituality between African-American, Anglo, and Hispanic Protestant clergy (p = .000).

This work explores identity positions of speakers in modern and contemporary poetry with respect to themes of subjectivity, self-awareness, lyricism, heteroglossia, and social contextualization, from perspectives including Bakhtinian, queer, feminist and postructuralist theories, and Peircian semiotics. Tony Hoagland, W.H. Auden, Adrienne Rich, and the poetic prose of Hélène Cixous provide textual examples of an evolving aesthetic in which the poet's self and world comprise multiple dynamic, open relationships supplanting one in which simple correspondences between signifiers and signifieds define selves isolated from the world. Hypertext and polyamory serve as useful analogies to the semantic eros characteristic of such poetry, including the collection of original poems that the critical portion of this thesis introduces.

Orientador: Orly Zucatto Mantovani de Assis / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T18:06:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Moraes_AntonioDouglasde_M.pdf: 7533804 bytes, checksum: d6d92741a400cb90d949fbfdf00a2347 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi verificar se o perfil espiritual do professor se manifesta no relato dos professores pesquisados sobre o seu fazer pedagógico. O marco teórico que fundamenta este trabalho permitiu entender a espiritualidade como uma dimensão inerente ao psiquismo humano. Para responder ao problema formulado utilizou-se de uma metodologia de pesquisa quantitativa e qualitativa. A metodologia quantitativa foi utilizada para avaliar o perfil espiritual de 30 professores da escola A (confessional) e 30 professores da escola B (pública). A abordagem qualitativa constou de uma entrevista com 10 professores que apresentaram o perfil espiritual mais elevado em cada uma das escolas, com o objetivo de verificar se eles admitem que a sua espiritualidade se revela no seu fazer pedagógico e como ocorre essa manifestação. O tratamento estatístico e a análise qualitativa das respostas às entrevistas permitiram constatar que a espiritualidade dos professores entrevistados manifesta-se na maneira pela qual interagem com seus alunos, trabalham os conteúdos curriculares e no ambiente sócio-afetivo propiciados em suas salas. Diferentemente do que era esperado o perfil espiritual dos professores não foi influenciado pelo tipo de escola em que atuavam, nem pela idade dos participantes e, tampouco, pela religião que professam. A formação acadêmica dos professores entrevistados também não influenciou os resultados que os mesmos apresentaram no instrumento PEP (Perfil Espiritual Pessoal). Os fundamentos teóricos da pesquisa, bem como a análise e discussão dos resultados encontrados possibilitaram que fossem feitas inferências sobre como a manifestação da espiritualidade do professor pode assegurar a criação de um ambiente sócio-afetivo que se caracteriza pelo respeito mútuo, trocas por reciprocidade entre os alunos, tomada de decisão conjunta, professor e aluno, por promover a autonomia moral e intelectual do aluno. Os futuros estudos poderão superar as limitações desta pesquisa e corroborar para o entendimento da relação entre Espiritualidade e Educação. / Abstract: The aim of this study was to verify if the level of spirituality of professors is present and perceptible in their everyday pedagogical practices. The theoretical basis that supports this study allowed us to perceive spirituality as an inherent dimension to human psychic. Although both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in order to find the answer to the question posed here, this study was based on quantitative approach which we used to verify the individual spiritual profile of thirty professors from School A (confessional) and thirty professors from school B (public). The qualitative approach consisted of an interview with ten professors who showed a more perceptive spirituality level in both schools. The aim was to assess the way each participant demonstrated spirituality in his everyday pedagogical practice. The statistical assessment and the qualitative analysis of the answers to the interviews allowed us to observe that the spirituality of the professors who were interviewed is demonstrated in the way they interact with their students, the way they introduce and develop syllabus and the socio-interactive environment promoted in the classroom. Differently from what had been expected, the professors? spiritual profile was influenced neither by the kind of institution where they worked nor by the participants age or by their religious belief. Professors? educational background did not influence the results they presented in PEP (Personal Spiritual Profile). The theoretical basis of the study as well as the analysis and discussion of the results obtained have enabled us to making some allusions on how demonstration of spirituality by professors can assure creating a socioaffective atmosphere characterized by mutual respect, reciprocal exchange among students, group decision making, professor and student, once he/she promotes students? moral and intellectual autonomy. Further studies may outdo the limitations of this research as well as corroborate the understanding of the relation between spirituality and education. / Mestrado / Psicologia Educacional / Mestre em Educação

The death of an infant/child is one of the most devastating experiences for parents and immediately throws them into crisis. Spiritual and religious coping strategies may help parents with their loss. The purposes of this longitudinal study were to: 1) describe differences in bereaved parents’ use of spiritual coping strategies across racial/ethnic and religious groups, mother/father dyads, and time – one (T1) and three (T2) months after the infant’s/child’s death in the neonatal (NICU) or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and 2) test the relationship between spiritual coping strategies and grief, mental health, and personal growth for mothers and fathers at T1 and T2. A sample of 126 Hispanic, Black/African American, and White parents of 119 deceased children completed the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Impact of Events-Revised, Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist, and a demographic form at T1 and T2. Controlling for race and religion, spiritual coping was a strong predictor of lower grief, better mental health, and greater personal growth for mothers at T1 and T2 and lower grief for fathers at T1. The findings of this study will guide bereaved parents to effective strategies to help them cope with their early grief.