Vulnerable Youth and Spiritual Support
Navigating in Seclusion: The Complicated Terrain of Children's Spirituality in Trauma, Grief and Loss
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Heather Boynton
This presentation discusses research results on children's spirituality in trauma, grief and loss from an ecological spiritual framework as common ground. This constructivist grounded theory study with eighteen children, parents, and counsellors illuminated the robust spiritual foundations of children and a socially isolating experience. Spirituality was sparked and children appeared to be catapulted developmentally through traumatic experiences, and spirituality was a source of strength, comfort, and a resource in coping and posttraumatic growth. The two major dialectical meaning constructions, it’s normal and important, and it’s weird and taboo, influenced five complicated and intertwined processes of fighting it out, lacking trust and answers, treading cautiously, staying strong, and at one’s own pace. Children were found to have abundant spiritual experiences, relationships, abilities, activities, and practices. Environmental aspects relating to culture and nature were evident in participants' narratives, and were important in their spirituality. A strong connection to nature, trees, animals and spiritual entities were shared by participants as part of children's spirituality. Children relied on their natural and spiritual relationships as part of coping and navigating adverse events. This study addresses a major gap and extends the literature regarding children’s conceptualization of spirituality, spiritual capacities, relationships, activities, practices, and spiritual development. It identifies a need for resolving spiritual struggles and supporting spiritual meaning-making. The findings also identify the need for training and competence in spiritually sensitive practice for counsellors.
Struck from All Sides: Relieving the Lived Experiences of Immigrant Youths and Children in the Context of Mafiarised Religions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bekithemba Dube
In this paper, we interrogate various trajectories faced by undocumented immigrant youths from Zimbabwe in the city Johannesburg in the context of religious mafia. One of the variables of migration is the growth of various religious movements that may align themselves with the oppressed and marginalized immigrant communities, in particular the youths. Religion has become a place of solace among the migrant youths, since it is has the impetus to usher "hope" and quick solutions in the face various ambivalence and ambiguity. While this religious task may be noble and desirable, many migrant youths have fallen victim to religious mafia movements, which this paper seeks to unmask and challenge towards reconstructing religion that opposes oppression and criminality. Cognisant of this, the paper is underpinned in decoloniality theory that seeks to name, challenge and emancipate the oppressed from both Global North and South oppression and reconstruct a rehumanisation theology. To collect data, we used participatory action research where forty youths took part in this study. The findings indicated that mafiarised religions have worsened the plight of undocumented migrants by offering false hope, false protection and no jobs. Consequently, many youths no longer see religion as safe haven for the oppressed and marginalized thus sliding easy into crime for survival. We end the paper by arguing that there is need to reconstruct a theology that rehumanises the oppressed migrant youths and oppressors through deliberate challenge of religious mafia.
Religion Involvement and Substance Use Problems in Schoolchildren in Northern Chile: None
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Erika Peroza, Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar, Carolang Escobar, Jerome Flores, Alfonso Urzúa, Matías Irarrázaval, Karina Raygada, Gustavo Zegarra
Background: The aim of the study was to analyze the existing relational dynamics between religious involvement and substance use in schoolchildren in Northern Chile. It has been estimated that religious involvement can be a protective factor against the use of substances in adverse or stressful conditions, especially in children and adolescents, who currently have registered higher levels of consumption. Methods: The research design is transectional correlational-causal type, the sample included 2318 primary and secondary school children and adolescents from public and private schools in the city of Arica, at North of Chile. Their age range was between 12 and 19 years old. To assess emotional and behavioral problems, the Child and Adolescent Assessment System (Sistema de Evaluación para Niños y Adolescentes SENA) was used, religious involvement was measured through Universal Age I-E-12 and ethnic identity through the Revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Scale (MEIM-R). Results: The findings of the study suggest an explanatory model of consumption composed by the intrinsic orientation of religious involvement (ß = -0.048, p<0.014), age (ß = 0.374, p <0.000), sex (ß = 0.039, p < 0.040) and ethnic identity (ß = 0.051, p < 0.008), which explains 15% of the variability of substance use in adolescents. Conclusions The intrinsic orientation of the religious involvement acts as a protective factor of the use of substances, probably because their practices are oriented towards the discovery, knowledge and understanding of themselves and the search of own senses or meanings in relation to the life favoring the subjective well-being.
