Shante B. Colston, Psy.D.
Counselors’ Experience Working with Inmates Who Report the Use of Religious Coping”
Chair: Josette Banks, Ph.D.
Abstract
Religious coping, the use of prayer and other spiritual activities to make meaning, has been a widely researched method of coping. However, while research supports the benefits of using religious coping strategies (RCS), there is limited study of the use of religious coping strategies by individuals subject to extreme amounts of stress, such as prison inmates. There is also little information concerning what counselors – particularly those with and without spiritual/religious training – see and think of inmates’ use of RCS. Such information would not only shed light on inmates’ coping methods, but would help train future counselors in forensic settings.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with spiritual and mental health professionals with forensic clinical experience. Each participant was asked to provide information about their experiences and understanding of counseling inmates who reported using religious coping techniques. A qualitative grounded theory data analysis process was used to extract significant themes that arose from the interviews. Ten themes were identified: ‘Reasons for using RCS’; ‘Types of RCS used’; ‘Empathy and understanding’; ‘Counselors’ understanding’; ‘Training and counseling’; ‘Behavioral changes’; ‘Interpersonal changes’; ‘Drawbacks’; ‘Interdisciplinary care’ and ‘Church and state’. Religious and mental health counselors agreed that use of religious coping strategies were beneficial to inmates. However, mental health professionals were most likely to point out negative aspects of religious coping than spiritual counselors. Chaplains reported that they often using their personal experiences when counseling inmates and discussing RCS while mental health professionals did not. Implications for future research, clinical interventions and forensic counselor training are discussed