The experience of spirituality in the lives of Anglican gay men
| atmire.migration.oldid | 182 | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Alderson, Kevin | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Strong, Tom | |
| dc.contributor.author | Hollowell, Barry | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2012-07-19T21:43:36Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2012-11-13T08:01:14Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-07-19 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2012 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this qualitative study is to open a window of articulation and understanding into the lived experience and meaning of spirituality in the lives of gay men who, in the past or present, identify as being members of the Anglican expression of Christianity. While over the last 50 years or so institutionalized religious institutions have been declining in their social influence and membership numbers, there has been an increase in interest and attention to spirituality. Institutional religious movements in the past have been nearly uniformly negative or condemnatory of individuals identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (GLBT), and of same-gender sexual expressions. Recently, however, attitudes have been changing in some branches of Christianity. Within the worldwide Anglican Communion,and more particularly in the Anglican Church of Canada, official and unofficial voices have expressed positions along a continuum ranging from condemnatory to affirming of same-sex affection, desire, and relationships. This study’s aim is to shed light on how gay men with roots in this particular religious community live out their gay identity and how they experience and express spirituality in their lives. Participants (N = 14) took part in two interviews. The starting points for the second interview were the photographs they brought reflecting their experience of spirituality. Utilizing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), two interrelated principal lenses were identified through which participants created meaning about that experience. The first lens, Influences, identified the location of various influences impacting participants’ experiencing spirituality. The second lens, Interpretative Engaging, explored how participants sifted, sorted, and sewed together both negative and growthful experiencing of these influences as they created meaning about spirituality in their lives. Identifiable qualities characterizing these participants’ experiencing also emerged. These qualities were that spirituality was (a) relational, (b) intentional, (c) directional, and (d) transformational. Limitations of this research are discussed, along with identifying potentially fruitful avenues of future research. Implications particularly for counselling psychology are also identified, especially noting the rich potential in utilizing photographic images as tools expressing and exploring experiential areas of life when words themselves fall short. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Hollowell, B. (2012). The experience of spirituality in the lives of Anglican gay men (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28145 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/28145 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11023/126 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Graduate Studies | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | en |
| dc.publisher.place | Calgary | en |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | Education--Guidance and Counseling | |
| dc.subject.classification | Spirituality | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | sexuality | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | gay | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Anglican | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Photography | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | qualitative | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Counselling | en_US |
| dc.title | The experience of spirituality in the lives of Anglican gay men | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Educational Psychology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true |