Using prayer in psychotherapy: applying Sue's differential to enhance culturally competent care

In this article, the authors discuss the application of Sue's cultural competence differential of hypothesis testing, dynamic sizing, and cultural specific expertise as a model for considering cultural factors in the treatment of an African American family. Three cultural dimensions are highlighted: spirituality, womanism, and community exposure to trauma. Given the centrality of spirituality for this African American family, prayer is used to facilitate the therapeutic process. Discussion from a womanist perspective highlights the spiritual, communal, and personal dimensions that the aunt faces as an African American woman. Consideration of the community context and potential exposure to trauma and loss allows for a fuller appreciation of the psychosocial context of the nephew. Sue's differential guides the case discussion.     

Organizing Muslim Virtue: Community Organizing,Comparative Religious Ethics,and the South African Muslim Struggle Against Apartheid

While offering valuable comparative insights into models of the self and ethical formation across religious traditions, studies of virtue ethics have been critiqued for putting forward accounts which are elite-focused. Some comparative ethicists have pointed to work in religious ethics and political theology on faith-based community organizing as offering compelling case studies of non-elite ethical formation. I seek to add to this literature by performing an analysis of the theories and practices of ethical formation in the South African Muslim anti-apartheid grassroots organization known as the “Call of Islam.” The “Call of Islam” emphasized a liberation-oriented praxis and active solidarity with non-Muslim organizations for the purposes of protesting apartheid and employed a range of social practices including study circles (halaqat) and political funeral processions to prepare and equip its members for such work. As such, it not only sheds light on non-elite ethical formation, but in its cultivation of the habits and dispositions of democratic solidarity, it also serves as an Islamic example of broad-based community organizing.     

Charles F. Mackenzie,Popery, Guns,and Colonial Conflict

Charles F. Mackenzie was an Anglican archdeacon in the 19th century in the newly formed Diocese of Natal. He was consecrated a missionary bishop for Central Africa in Cape Town in 1861, which was a significant development for the Anglican Church at the time. Mackenzie struggled to read the social landscape, becoming embroiled in colonial conflict. Consequently, congregants, colleagues, and historians have characterized him in markedly different ways, rendering a disputed legacy. This paper brings Mackenzie into conversation with another figure who is not without his own controversy: Martyn Percy. Applying Percy's implicit theological approach provides an important lens with which to view the social complexities, ecclesial conflicts and missional contexts which Mackenzie sought to navigate.     

Shame, Guilt, Ego Development and the Five-Factor Model of Personality

Shame, guilt, and ego development are conceptually interrelated constructs, yet their empirical relations have not yet been examined. Further, these constructs have not yet been mapped onto the widely used Five-Factor Model. In Study 1, relations were examined between these three domains within a sample of Australian university students. Two types of guilt were distinguished, Empathic Guilt (associated with Agreeableness) and Anxious Guilt (associated with Neuroticism). The relationship between Shame and Ego Level was found to be curvilinear, with Shame greatest for persons at intermediate stages of ego development. In Study 2, relations between ego development and the Five-Factor Model were further examined. Across both studies, Ego Level was best predicted from Conscientiousness among men and from Openness among women. Relations between Ego Level, proneness to shame and guilt, and the five factors were typically modest, suggesting that these represent complementary approaches to the study of personality.     

D.Z. Philips (ed.), Religion and Morality

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Correlates of the objective and subjective experiences of sexual harassment in high school

The present study used retrospective reports of primarily white female university students to examine a number of issues related to sexual harassment in high school. Results indicate that underperception of sexual harassment in high school exists in that reports of objective experiences appear to be quite high and exceed the actual labelling of these experiences as sexual harassment. Those who reported having an overprotective mother, observing fewer positive behaviors between their parents, and experiencing unwanted sexual contact during childhood experienced a greater number of objectively-defined incidents of sexual harassment, than those who did not. Underperception of sexual harassment was associated with a greater frequency of negative behaviors directed toward the father by the mother, but was not related to experiencing unwanted sexual contact during childhood.We would like to thank W. A. Fisher, D. Hazlewood, J. Olson, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.     

Type A behavior in employed women: relation to work, marital, and leisure variables, social support, stress, tension, and health

Ninety-one women employed full-time were administered the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS; Jenkins, Rosenman, & Zyzanski; 1974) and the Framingham Type A Scale (FTAS; Haynes, Levine, Scotch, Feinleib, & Kennel, 1978). Information concerning various work and nonwork-related variables was obtained via questionnaire or interview. Type A women had higher occupational levels and reported more demanding jobs and higher stress and tension than Type B women. Type A and B women did not differ in their reports of marital adjustment or in total hours spent in leisure activities. Type A behavior was related to both self-reported stress and tension--and for married women only, poorer self-reported physical health. Social support from various sources was not found to be related to Type A or Type B. Curiously, Type A was related to more reported stress and tension for women who felt they had many sources of support but not for women who did not perceive their having many sources of support.