The appreciation of the spiritual in mental illness: a qualitative study of beliefs among clergy in the UK.
Gerard Leavey
Transcultural Psychiatry September 1, 2010 DOI: 10.1177/1363461510383200 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Humans Parapsychology Religion and psychology Spirituality Mental disorders Interview, psychological Culture Christianity Adult Middle aged Clergy Male United kingdom |
| Key points | Argues that Christian clergy's beliefs about supernatural causes of mental illness are complex and equivocal among mainstream clergy but integral to Pentecostal churches and evangelical clergy in mainstream institutional churches, and that clergy conceptualizations of suffering reveal secularization through the 'despiritualization' of particular phenomena. Contends these beliefs matter for collaboration between psychiatry and clergy in a changing religious and cultural landscape. |
Abstract
Clergy in the UK continue to provide health and social care services. However, collaboration between mental health services and clergy may be problematic, particularly in the resolution of conflicting beliefs and therapeutic modalities. For example, belief in demonic possession and other supernatural causes of mental illness, which are contentious among secular medical practitioners, remain prevalent in many ethnoreligious communities. Thus, interpretations of illness by clergy within health systems may be crucial to appropriate intervention for people with mental illness. However, clergy conceptualizations of suffering also reveal something about the secularization within religious institutions through the despiritualization of particular phenomena. This paper on Christian clergy beliefs and attitudes to supernatural explanations, describes how the negotiation of such beliefs are complex and often equivocal among mainstream clergy but integral to the Pentecostal churches and evangelical clergy in the mainstream, institutional churches. These beliefs and their implications for collaboration with psychiatry are discussed in the context of a rapidly changing religious and cultural landscape.