Loading...
Re-Visioning the Care of Souls: The Praxis of Pastoral Care in the Context of LGBTQ Suicide
Citations
Altmetric:
Soloist
Composer
Publisher
Date
2015
Additional date(s)
Abstract
This research in the field of pastoral theology and care addresses the problem of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons by attending to the religious and spiritual narratives that inform and become constitutive of the sense of self for LGBTQ persons leading up to a suicide attempt. Through qualitative research interviewing in conversation with social constructionist theory, narrative therapeutic theory, and pragmatist theological sources, it develops the contention that the limitations of the social scientific literature on LGBTQ suicide stem from philosophical assumptions guiding the mainstream social sciences that lead toward an overly individualized understanding of LGBTQ suicide. The work proposes that the vital disciplinary metaphor of "soul" (e.g., "care of souls") will differently enable pastoral theological research into the experience of "subjective precarity" that is engendered in some LGBTQ persons leading to suicide. Second, a richly developed pastoral theological approach to LGBTQ suicide, foregrounding the metaphor of "soul," holds possibilities for animating the praxis of care in ways that address ethical considerations of the social context in which LGBTQ suicides take place and enhances possibilities for the livability and flourishing of life for LGBTQ persons. Beyond the implications for the praxis of care for LGBTQ persons, the research aims to inform scholars and faith leaders regarding the narratival contributions that religious discourses make to the formation of our deepest sense of self and the myriad ways these narratival contributions enhance the livability of life, as well as operate violently upon the soul, diminishing life's livability and leading to actions like self harm and suicide.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Genre
Dissertation
Description
Format
Department
Brite Divinity School