Representações sociais sobre o processo de saúde e doença na crença católica / Social representations about the health and disease process in catholic belief / Representaciones sociales sobre el proceso de salud y enfermedad en la creencia católica

Objetivo: estudo objetivou descrever as representações sociais de pacientes católicos e analisar as implicações do seu imaginário para o processo saúde-doença. Método: estudo descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa. Realizado em um hospital oncológico, tendo como participantes pessoas autodeclaradas católicas. Utilizou-se entrevista semiestruturada e técnica de livre associação de palavras para coleta de dados. Resultados: emergiram três unidades temáticas: A representação da doença para cristãos católicos; A religião católica como alicerce no processo de adoecimento; Representação da doença para católicos: enfermidades adquiridas por infringirmos as leis de Deus. Considerações finais: a religiosidade é parte significativa no cotidiano das pessoas e deve ser respeitada independente da crença do profissional.

Objective: the study aimed to describe the social representations of Catholic patients and analyze the implications of their imaginary for the health-disease process. Method: descriptive study, with qualitative approach. Carried out in an oncology hospital, having as participants self-declared Catholic people. Semi-structured interviews and a technique of free word association were used for data collection. Results: three thematic units emerged: The representation of the disease for Catholic christians; The Catholic religion as a foundation in the process of illness; Representation of the disease for Catholics: diseases acquired by breaking the laws of God. Final considerations: religiosity is a significant part of people's daily lives and should be respected regardless of the professional's belief.

Objetivo: el estudio tuvo como objetivo describir las representaciones sociales de los pacientes católicos y analizar las implicaciones de su imaginario para el proceso salud-enfermedad. Método: estudio descriptivo, con enfoque cualitativo. Realizado en un hospital oncológico, teniendo como participantes personas autodeclaradas católicas. Para la recolección de datos se utilizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas y una técnica de asociación libre de palabras. Resultados: surgieron tres unidades temáticas: La representación de la enfermedad para los cristianos católicos; La religión católica como fundamento en el proceso de la enfermedad; Representación de la enfermedad para los católicos: enfermedades adquiridas por la ruptura de las leyes de Dios. Consideraciones finales: la religiosidad es una parte importante de la vida cotidiana de las personas y debe ser respetada independientemente de la creencia del profesional.

Biomedical treatment and divine assistance: complementary reproductive itineraries among catholic women users of assisted reproduction technology in Argentina.

This paper explores how Catholic women in Argentina use assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs), and particularly the way in which they resort to biomedicine and religion as complementary sources of knowledge, support and assistance during reproductive treatments. It is concerned about the role of the Catholic religion in local reproductive itineraries, seeing that Catholicism has such significant social, political and cultural influence in the country. Drawing on a qualitative and ethnographic study of Catholic spaces of worship, a maternity hospital and in-depth interviews with former users from three metropolitan areas in Argentina, we examine how reproductive itineraries involve the users' agency in building health resources from religion, with reference to biomedicine. The data reveal that women address religion as an affective, social and therapeutic recourse intertwined with biomedical power. These findings highlight the multiple and complex forms reproduction acquires in specific social, cultural and normative contexts, and contribute to discussing the complementarity between religion and biomedicine in health experiences.

An Exploratory Study on Mental Health, Social Problems and Spiritual Damage in Victims of Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy and Other Perpetrators.

The Catholic Church has faced a large number of complaints against its representatives for sexual crimes that involved children and adolescents as victims. The objective of this study was to characterize the dynamics of this type of event, its characteristics, and its effects in terms of mental health and social consequences, as well as the spiritual damage generated. The sample comprised 182 victims from Spain and Chile, divided into three mutually exclusive groups (n = 40 committed by a representative of the Catholic Church; n = 85 by a family member; n = 57 by a perpetrator outside the family and the Church). The results show that victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) by a representative of the Catholic Church and other perpetrators are similar in many respects (e.g., religiosity, characteristics of the abuse, and mental health and social problems), but that the effects on religiosity are more serious for victims of the clergy, affecting their belief in God. Finally, the extreme decline in belief in God, due to CSA, is an important predictor for most mental health and social problems. Our results show the need to include the Catholic identity, faith and spirituality in the therapeutic context.

Neo-Catholics against new psychology in 19th century Spain: The journal La Ciencia Cristiana (1877-1887).

In the 1870s, Krausists and Catholics struggled for hegemony in Spanish educational institutions. In the midst of the fray, a group of neo-Kantian intellectuals, led by José del Perojo, set out to renew psychology in Spain by introducing Wundt's physiological psychology and Darwinian evolutionism. Neither Catholics nor Krausists welcomed the proposal. In the case of Catholics, the fundamentalist group led by professor of metaphysics Juan Manuel Ortí y Lara founded the journal La Ciencia Cristiana [Christian Science] to counter the neo-Kantian and Darwinian influences. In this article, I present a selection of texts from the journal to show how the editors tried to discredit the foundations of physiological psychology and evolutionism, as well as to promote a scholastic philosophy based on the literal interpretation of the texts of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Finally, I suggest that the identification of Catholic philosophy with fundamentalist scholasticism delayed the development of neo-scholastic psychology in Spain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Anticipatory Counseling About Miscarriage Management in Catholic Hospitals: A Qualitative Exploration of Women's Preferences.

CONTEXT: Catholic hospitals represent a large and growing segment of U.S. health care. Because these facilities follow doctrines that restrict reproductive health services, including miscarriage management options when a fetal heartbeat is present, it is critical to understand whether and how women would want to learn about miscarriage treatment restrictions from providers. METHODS: From May 2018 to January 2019, semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 women aged 21-44 who had had exposure to religious-based health care; all were drawn from a nationally representative survey sample. Participants responded to a hypothetical scenario regarding the anticipatory disclosure of miscarriage management policy during routine prenatal care. Responses were inductively coded and thematically analyzed using modified grounded theory to understand women's attitudes and considerations related to receiving anticipatory miscarriage management information. RESULTS: Respondents supported the routine disclosure of miscarriage management policies during prenatal care. Some expressed concern that this might increase patient anxiety during pregnancy, but most felt that the information would serve to prepare and empower patients, and likened the topic to other anticipatory health information provided during prenatal care. Identified themes related to how providers can disclose this information (including the need for a precautionary framing to reduce patient stress), sharing the rationale for institutional policy, and the importance of provider neutrality to ensure patient autonomy. CONCLUSIONS: To respect patient autonomy, health care providers working in Catholic hospitals should routinely discuss institutional miscarriage management policies with patients, and anticipatory counseling should give patients the balanced information they need to decide where to go for care should pregnancy complications arise.

Paraphilias among Roman Catholic priests: what we know, and do not know, about sexual clergy-abusers of minors. / Parafilie wsród ksiezy Kosciola rzymskokatolickiego: co wiemy, czego i nie wiemy, o duchownych wykorzystujacych seksualnie maloletnich.

The issue of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church is widely discussed in the media. Nevertheless, the term ?priest-pedophile'has been used inaccurately to identify perpetrators. There is very little research directly dealing with this group of offenders among Catholic clergy, and we do not yet have any theory that would adequately explain this type of behavior. Attempts to psychologically characterize priests who sexually abuse minors have brought limited success so far. The purpose of this article is to present the most important issues and clinical dilemmas related to the diagnosis and treatment of paraphilias among Catholic clergy, signifying similarities and differences between clergy and other perpetrators of sexual offenses against minors, present typology of sexual offenders among priests, and discuss therelationship of victims' gender with sexual orientation and celibacy of perpetrators. The author demonstrates that using the term ?priest-pedophile' is not only misleading, but is sometimes used to deliberately mislead. On the one hand, to create a moral panic effect, suggesting that the Catholic clergy is at increased risk of this type of crime. On the other hand, indicating gender and age of the most of their victims, suggesting that people responsible for this kind of abuse among Catholic clergy are homosexual priests and thus select a scapegoat responsible for the problems of the Church institution.

Religiosity among women undergoing pregnancy termination for medical reasons: the experiences and views of Polish women.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the influence of religious and moral beliefs on contraceptive use, assisted reproduction and pregnancy termination in Polish women requesting a termination of pregnancy for medical reasons. METHODS: Between 1 June 2014 and 31 May 2016, women deemed eligible for a termination of pregnancy for medical reasons at a Polish tertiary care centre received an anonymous questionnaire comprising 65 items. A total of 150 completed questionnaires were collected. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 95% described themselves as Catholics, including 60% practising Catholics. The study revealed a discrepancy between respondents' beliefs and the teachings of the Catholic Church: an overwhelming majority of respondents used contraception, and 79% were in favour of in vitro fertilisation and believed the treatment should be refunded by the state. Interestingly, 66% of the respondents who attended confession did not perceive abortion as sinful. CONCLUSION: The study detected a considerable discrepancy between declared religiosity and individual interpretations of the commandments and teachings of the Catholic Church. Despite stating they were Catholics, most women did not perceive abortion as sinful and did not follow the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the sacraments for deceased children.

ChurchInAction: the role of religious interventions in times of COVID-19.

In a recently published letter to the editor of this journal, the authors have called for the need to establish psychological support structures that cater to people's mental health in this time of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. To be more holistic, we extend this call to include people's spiritual well-being as well. We highlight the initiatives of the Philippines' religious sector. In particular, we report some of the interventions made by the Roman Catholic Church that have led to the social media hashtag, #ChurchInAction. These religious and spiritual interventions showcase the efforts of the Philippine Church and play an important role in providing assistance in time of public health crisis.

"My Hands Are Tied": Abortion Restrictions and Providers' Experiences in Religious and Nonreligious Health Care Systems.

CONTEXT: Abortion is generally prohibited in Catholic hospitals, but less is known about abortion restrictions in other religiously affiliated health care facilities. As religiously affiliated health systems expand in the United States, it is important to understand how religious restrictions affect the practices of providers who treat pregnant patients. METHODS: From September 2016 to May 2018, in-depth interviews were conducted with 31 key informants (clinical providers, ethicists, chaplains and health system administrators) with experience working in secular, Protestant or Catholic health care systems in Illinois. A thematic content approach was used to identify themes related to participants' experiences with abortion policies, the role of ethics committees, the impact on patient care and conflicts with hospital policies. RESULTS: Few limitations on abortion were reported in secular hospitals, while Catholic hospitals prohibited most abortions, and a Protestant-affiliated system banned abortions deemed "elective." Religiously affiliated hospitals allowed abortions in specific cases, if approved through an ethics consultation. Interpretation of system-wide policies varied by hospital, with some indication that institutional discomfort with abortion influenced policy as much as religious teachings did. Providers constrained by religious restrictions referred or transferred patients desiring abortion, including for pregnancy complications, with those in Protestant hospitals having more latitude to directly refer such patients. As a result of religiously influenced policies, patients could encounter delays, financial obstacles, restrictions on treatment and stigmatization. CONCLUSIONS: Patients seeking abortion or presenting with pregnancy complications at Catholic and Protestant hospitals may encounter more delays and fewer treatment options than they would at secular hospitals. More research is needed to better understand the implications for women's access to reproductive health care.

Impact of Catholicism on the Attitude Toward the Donation of Organs Among African Residents in Spain.

INTRODUCTION: The African population is one of the largest immigrant groups in Europe. Religious beliefs are deeply rooted in most African societies and condition their attitude toward organ donation. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze the influence of Catholicism in the attitude toward organ donation among Africans residing in Spain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study participants were born in Africa and were residents in Spain. Data were obtained from the database of the International Donor Collaborative Project, which includes a sample of the population for 15 years, stratified by those who were born in Africa, as well as age and sex. The instrument used was a validated attitude questionnaire toward living kidney donation (PCID-DTO-Ríos). RESULTS: Of the population under study, 13% are Catholics (n = 475) and 80% (n = 2896) are Muslims. The favorable attitude toward the donation of cadaver organs is 53.7% (n = 255) among Catholics compared with 25.6% (n = 742) among Muslims (P < .001). On the contrary, 17.7% of Catholics have an unfavorable opinion (n = 84), while 45.5% (n = 1280) of Muslims have an unfavorable opinion; 28.6% of Catholics and 29.2% of Muslims are undecided. In addition, among Catholics who believe that their doctrine accepts organ donation and transplantation, 70.6% (n = 132) are in favor of donating a corpse compared to those who believe that Catholic doctrine is against (P < .001 ), with only 35% (n = 7) in favor of the donation. CONCLUSIONS: Africans who have converted to Catholicism have a more favorable attitude toward donating their own organs than those who continue in Islam.

A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of Roman Catholic Sisters and Successful Aging.

Purpose: To gain an understanding of how religious and spiritual practices might enable Catholic Sisters to age successfully. Design: A purposive sample of 12 retired Roman Catholic Sisters aged 75 years and older from two convent settings were interviewed. Method: Using a semistructured recorded interview, the Roman Catholic Sisters shared their lived experiences of aging, and practices of religion, spirituality, and meditation. Data analysis utilized thematic analysis of the interview texts. Findings: Thematic analysis identified the following themes: daily engagement in religious and spiritual practice and meditation; self-contentment and positivity regarding the meaning of successful aging; life acceptance; sense of faith and positivity regarding the afterlife; and intersection of meditation, prayer, spirituality, and cognitive engagement. Conclusion: This research contributes to the body of aging research and presents successful aging as understood and more specifically as experientially influenced. The findings of the study provided insight regarding the meaning and experience of successful aging, and the role of everyday religious and spiritual practices in the lives of the Catholic Sisters which influenced their individual life experiences as they age.

Factors associated with the suicide rates in Korea.

The suicide rate in the Republic of Korea remains among the highest in the world, which needs to be examined in various aspects. This study investigated factors associated with the suicide rates in Korea. The suicide rates of 251 districts in Korea in 2015 and their relationships with the prevalence of heavy drinking, health care provision, and religion as well as demographic characteristics were examined with a Pearson correlations and a multiple linear regression analysis. The suicide rate in Korea was 26.5 per 100,000 persons in 2015. The regression analysis showed that the income level of the region, as represented by the average national health insurance premium, had a negative association with the suicide rate and that the prevalence of heavy drinking and the percentage of the population aged 65 and above had positive associations with the suicide rate. While the unemployment rate and the proportion of Catholics showed negative relationships with the suicide rate in the correlation matrix, the association was statistically insignificant in the regression analysis. Special attention should be given to excessive drinking and socio-economically disadvantaged conditions in taking measures to prevent suicide.

You shall bury him: burial, suicide and the development of Catholic law and theology.

Whether physician-assisted dying should be legalised is a major debate in medical ethics and much has been written on it from both secular and religious perspectives. Less, however, has been written on one of the potential consequences of legalised physician-assisted death: whether those who undergo this procedure will be given funerals by religious groups who oppose the practice. This article investigates the Catholic Church's attitude to the burial of suicides, and how Catholic canon law has approached the question of ecclesiastic funerals for suicides throughout its history. From the sixth through the late 20th century, the Church technically did not bury anyone who willfully committed suicide. Broad shifts in the cultural attitude towards suicide, due in large part to new understandings of mental illness as disease, had a powerful effect on Catholic thought and practice in modernity, and the Church eventually dropped the ban on funerals for suicides from its law code altogether in the 1980s. The legalisation of physician-assisted death, however, raises again the possibility of a prohibition on funerals. The Church was able to drop its restrictions on funerals since suicide was seen as an act beyond the control of the deceased and thus worthy of mercy and compassion. In cases of physician-assisted dying, the patient must have consciously and willingly agreed to the procedure, undermining this understanding of suicide. The history of canon law on suicide funerals reveals the complexity of the Catholic attitude towards suicide and provides an important context to the current debate around physician-assisted death, and conflicts between medicine and religion more broadly.

Inscriptions on roadside memorials in Poland.

This paper focuses exclusively on inscriptions on roadside memorials. We conducted a review of studies of roadside memorial inscriptions and a field study of 29 inscriptions found on 156 roadside memorials in Poland to understand the similarities and differences between these inscriptions and those in other countries. The uniqueness of Polish inscriptions is their religious meaning. They reflect the inscription authors' and/or the deceased's relationship with Catholicism. We proposed a typology of inscriptions (limited and developed) that may be useful in further comparative studies on roadside memorialization.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: America's public critic of psychoanalysis, 1947-1957.

This paper examines the role of Bishop Fulton Sheen in the popularization of Freudian psychoanalysis in the United States during the 1940s and 50s. Social historians argue that Freudian ideas were pervasive in American culture during this period. While their claim speaks mainly to the impact of psychoanalysis on the cultural elite and college educated, they also suggest that Freudian ideas affected ordinary men and women. In the former case, the group impacted is small and not representative of the population as a whole; in the latter, the evidence is sparse and impressionistic. Neglected in their consideration is the influence of Fulton Sheen whose opinions on Freud reached an audience of 30,000,000 during the height of the popularity of his TV show, Life is Worth Living. Sheen's audience was more inclusive and representative of mainstream America. The negative and highly cautionary view of psychoanalysis he presented to many Americans was contrary to that which was promoted to and embraced by many of the college educated and likely shaped both their views of Freud and psychoanalytic therapy.

Can Religious and Spiritual Struggle Enhance Well-Being? Exploring the Mediating Effects of Internal Dialogues.

Although a number of studies have demonstrated links between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being, only a few have examined what makes religious/spiritual struggle increase or decrease well-being. The present paper aims to examine different forms of internal dialogues (IDs) as potential mediators of the relationship between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being among Roman Catholics. There were 143 respondents (81 female) who participated in the study. We applied the Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale, the Internal Dialogical Activity Scale, and the Psychological Well-Being Scale. The results showed that religious/spiritual struggle triggers IDs. Three types of IDs-ruminative, supportive, and social simulation dialogues-were mediators in the relationship between religious/spiritual struggle and well-being. Although religious/spiritual struggle decreased well-being through its effect on ruminative dialogues, it improved well-being through its effects on supportive and social simulation dialogues.

Yes to Life: An Opportunity for Partnership Between Medicine and Religion.

Pope Francis recently spoke about perinatal palliative care and the dilemmas that parents of critically ill babies encounter. In his speech, the Pope beautifully captured what many parents feel. They love their baby even if they know that the baby cannot survive. They need compassionate care of the sort that will allow them to express that love, even if it is only for minutes or hours, and even if the expression of love takes the form of comforting the dying baby rather than intervening medically or surgically to try to prolong life. "Many times," the Pope said, "Those few hours in which a mother can cradle her child in her arms leave an unforgettable trace in her heart." For those who work in perinatal palliative care, this affirmation and endorsement of their efforts by the Church is a welcome offer for an important collaboration. Medicine and religion can work hand in hand, here, to help parents and doctors who struggle to do the right thing when all the choices seem bad.

Pope Francis and Perinatal Palliative Care: Advancing the Culture of Mercy.

For the last 25 years, the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church have been vocal proponents of palliative care in an effort to promote human dignity, decrease human suffering, and discourage euthanasia and suicide. They have supported efforts to expand the scope and provision of palliative care. Recently, Pope Francis has focused on the need to provide perinatal palliative care. He has emphasized the need to do so as an act of mercy, love, and solidarity. His approach builds on the main pastoral theme of his Papacy, the mercy of God. This article outlines the thought of Pope Francis on the mercy of God and how he wishes to see this mercy motivate and invigorate not only the Church but all people. Perinatal palliative care becomes a further outgrowth of the love and mercy we show one another. It is a pastoral practice encouraged by the Church and consistent with Catholic doctrine and the mission of Catholic health-care facilities.