The Needle in the Haystack

Summary

Despite the significant damages in sexual abuse cases, the plaintiff's ability to collect the money awarded in settlement or judgment is often precluded by the limited financial resources of the defendant(s). In this chapter, practicing attorney Julian Hubbard introduces the basics of individual and corporate insurance coverage and reviews the development of very limited coverage in sexual abuse cases in statutory and case law. While direct coverage for sexual abuse injuries is as rare as a “needle in a haystack,” indirect coverage can be found in some cases, especially those in which the acts of negligent individuals other than the perpetrator facilitated the abuse and thus the plaintiff's injuries. After an overview of relevant insurance issues and law, Mr. Hubbard delineates a practical model for research and legal strategies to ensure reaching any available insurance coverage, and explores the benefits and drawbacks of drawing on administrative resources to help pay for survivors' medical and mental health care.     

Disembodied Souls or Soul-Less Bodies: Spirituality as Fragmentation

SUMMARY

‘Soul’ and ‘body’ are two linguistic expressions of one and the same reality, the human being. In pastoral care, aged care, and palliative care the stated aim is always to care for the whole person. An increasing focus on ‘spirituality’ has also led to objectifying and measuring what is ultimately beyond calculation. To care for each person as an ‘ensouled body’ and ‘embodied soul’ is to acknowledge we are in the service of one another. In entering one another's stories, words like impose, define, and manage are replaced by trust, love, and faithfulness. Measurable outcomes are then replaced by risk, ambiguity, and mystery: the heart and soul and body of human care.     

Faith development theory: a case for paradigm change

Despite its influence, James Fowler's theory of faith development is in need of fundamental reappraisal. Doubts over Fowler's use of a structural model of human development and the adequacy of his research techniques have been added to in recent years by his inadequate response to the challenge of post‐modern thought. It is suggested that, despite Fowler's position, key elements of the theory are very much in tune with post‐modern thought and if the abandonment of the theory's underlying structuralism were to be allowed, these might be taken to point a constructive way forward.     

The Passion to Heal: A Theological Pastoral Approach to HIV/AIDS

Abstract. The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS is the most significant challenge of our time. The ongoing conversation between religion and science comes to a critical juncture in this pandemic. The global community has not yet found a vaccine or cure for this virulent virus, which will likely claim five million more lives in the coming year. The global statistics challenge even the most sophisticated imagination, with projections in the tens of millions of people dead, orphaned children, and many more living in various stages of incapacitation or diminished lives. There is a common prophetic religious imperative among Western faith communities that urgently requires both science and religion to respond. Both disciplines define their scope and purpose as universal, and the global pandemic provides a significant challenge to that universal claim. Regardless of the many differences among the nations and peoples challenged by this pandemic, there is a common moral foundation to which the Western religious and scientific traditions must respond. Religion and science cannot deny their respective social responsibilities by claiming the role of neutral bystander. There are several critical ethical choices to be made in response to the pandemic, and the disciplines of religion and science are critical in formulating those choices.     

The Performance of Authenticity: Ordination and Profession in Pastoral Care

Quite a few pastors experience a feeling of inauthenticity when performing their duties. Trying to fulfill the wishes and needs of those of the congregation who ask for their help, they feel like an impostor. The discrepancy between act and experience causes a serious problem in identity. However when authenticity is not considered to be an individual experience and a personal dilemma but as a relational characteristic, the concept of play may be usefully engaged to explain the dramaturgical essence of pastoral performance. The success of pastoral performance depends on maintaining the right aesthetical distance in the drama enacted, so that some form of catharsis might be effected. That distance is found in introducing the concept of ordination where the relation between pastor and congregation is concerned, and it is to be found in the concept of profession where pastors perceive and evaluate their own role performance. Both ordination and profession act as distancing devices enabling the pastor to play the right role rightly. Acting as if, the pastor may be experienced as authentic, as a real pastor.     

Religious Activity and Pastoral Counseling Among Protestant Youth with SED

The past decade has shown a surge of interest in faith-based resources for a variety of social problems. However, these resources have not been systematically studied for children with emotional and behavioral problems. We investigated religious activity and use of pastoral counseling among Protestant youth with serious emotional disorders (SED) (N=464) and examined associated youth and caregiver characteristics. Findings indicate that the majority of SED youth do participate in religious activities, but do not frequently receive pastoral counseling for their problems. Youth with fewer externalizing problems as well as minority youth had an increased likelihood of participation in religious activities, while youth with more psychosocial impairment had an increased likelihood of using pastoral counseling. Implications of this study for research and practice are discussed.     

REVEREND ROBOT: AUTOMATION AND CLERGY

Digital technology, including artificial intelligence, is having a dramatic impact on the professions of medicine, law, journalism, finance, and others. Some suggest that clergy will also be affected. We describe recent progress in designing artificially intelligent systems, suggesting that this is possible, perhaps even likely. We investigate ways in which technology currently is affecting ministry and outline some plausible scenarios in which digital systems could supplement or supplant clergy in some areas, specifically preaching and pastoral care. We also raise some theological issues raised by the use of digital systems in ministry.     

特需医疗服务供方意向调查分析

剖析目前特需医疗服务供方所存在的主要问题,初步探讨在我国发展特需医疗服务适宜的承担主体。采用个别访谈和问卷调查的方法对来自不同性质的医院的医护人员和医院管理人员进行了意向调查。结果显示,医院发展特需医疗服务并不是解决医务人员收入问题的有效手段;公立医院发展特需医疗服务势必会对其普通医疗服务带来负面影响。建议在确保大部分公立医院只提供普通医疗服务的基础上,由私立医院和一部分公立医院作为特需医疗服务的承担机构。     

The Subject of Pastoral Care: A Discussion Based on the Theology of Henning Luther

In this article the author discusses the differences between pastoral care and psycho-social therapy. She clarifies the specific identity of pastoral care on the basis of Henning Luther’s theology. He distinguishes different anthropological presuppositions in pastoral care and psycho-social therapy. Consequently, she demonstrates the relevancy of Luther’s theology for today’s Practical Theology.