In Simonic’s and Klobucar’s (2017) article entitled “Experiencing Positive
Religious Coping in the Process of Divorce: A Qualitative Study,” the
researchers found positive spiritual or religious coping to be highly
adaptive and even transformative for those having undergone the major
stressor of divorce. The researchers utilized Colaizzi’s (1978) “method of
phenomenological inquiry” (as cited in Simonic & Klobucar, 2017, p.
1649). This methodology resides in the camp of structuralism as it seeks
to identify current feelings, phenomena, thoughts, and sensations that
exist presently in the mind. After Simonic and Klobucar analyzed the input
received through phenomenological methodology, they came to the
following summation regarding three themes of lived experience for the
divorced participants: “experiencing the burden of divorce, which related
to experiencing the relationship with God and the ways of spiritual coping
with divorce, and experiencing the effects of religious coping with
divorce” (p. 1649).
For this study, Simonic and Klobucar interviewed eleven participants
that had undergone divorce in the last five years. Margulis (2007) claimed,
“Divorce takes place on different levels and covers different areas:
emotional divorce, legal divorce, economical divorce, parental divorce,
mental divorce, as well as divorce from a community (social network of
friends, neighbors, school, etc.)” (as cited in Simonic & Klobucar, 2017, p.
1647). The reality is divorce impacts every domain of human functioning,
including relationships with self, others, and God.
In this particular study surrounding divorce, all participants utilized
positive spiritual or religious coping. Pargament (2002) defined positive
religious coping as the following:
[It] includes forms stemming from a secure relationship with God, the
feeling of connection with him as well as with the members of a religious
community, a positive belief that it is possible to find meaning in life, and
the feeling that we can learn from hard experiences. (as cited in Simonic
& Klobucar, 2017, p. 1646)
Sometimes a concept becomes clearer when the opposite is defined.
Thus, Pargament (2002) clarified positive spiritual coping by explaining
negative spiritual or religious coping:
Negative religious coping, on the other hand, is marked by a frightened
attitude to God, related to an anxious view of the world and complicated
searching of the meaning of life, frequent inner spiritual tension and
internal battles with oneself, with others and with God or a transcendent
being. (as cited in Simonic & Klobucar, 2017, p. 1646)
All parties involved in this study did not report engaging in negative
religious coping.
The results revealed that positive spiritual coping helped individuals
manage the various impact levels of divorce. Primarily, the relationship
with God helped participants “experience security and support” (Simonic
& Klobucar, 2017, p. 1651). Furthermore, their spirituality or relationship
with God helped individuals to develop a personal resilience and
confidence to persevere through hardship. Simonic and Klobucar
explained, “[Participants] experienced deeper inner transformation, since
in the experience of the relationship with God, they received genuine
affirmation, acceptance, and dignity” (p. 1651). Thus, these individuals
were able to receive unconditional love from God, which aided in
redeeming their view and thoughts about themselves that were
fragmented or weakened through the divorce. This study as well as other
research illustrated that positive spiritual coping through divorce provides
“lower levels of depression and anxiety” (Webb, 2010, as cited in Simonic
& Klobucar, 2017, p. 1651).
I am not surprised by the findings of this research as it seems very
logical and straightforward. However, I was slightly befuddled by the lack
of human support mentioned in the application of positive spiritual coping.
Certainly, the support of others was mentioned in the definition of positive
spiritual coping; however, the results and conclusion section spoke very
minimally, if at all, about the value of walking with other believers through
divorce, especially the encouragement provided through divorce support
groups. On the other hand, I valued the researchers’ understanding
regarding the breadth and depth of divorce’s devastation to every domain
of an individual’s life: psychologically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally,
financially and relationally. Throughout the article, the Allies model of
Entwistle (2015) was demonstrated as the worldview was inexplicably
Christian, but the principles for providing both an understanding of
humans and help to humans were both psychological and theological in
nature. There were no issues in this article between the two camps of
psychology or theology, as these camps “have a common Author, and
describe a single reality” (Entwistle, 2015, p. 250).
Their methodological research for this study was based upon
structuralism, but their findings were both functional and relational.
Functionally, the mind and the body influence one another and cannot be
separated. For example, those walking through divorce typically have
symptoms of depression, which impact the mind and the body, as well as
relational domains. Relationally, positive spiritual coping places a primacy
on an individual’s relationship with God. This relationship is paramount to
coming through a major stressor like divorce with both resilience and self-
acceptance. Divorce can fragment one’s self-concept. If an individual will
utilize positive spiritual coping, which is seeing God and one’s self rightly
(as deeply loved and accepted instead of unloved from divorce), then
relational transformation of the self can occur. The researchers evaluated
in depth one’s relationship with self and with God in this study. In both
relationships, positive spiritual coping provided adaptive habits of
depending upon God for one’s needs, which can support the individual
through, not only the major stressor of divorce, but also other hardships in
the future.
References
Entwistle, D. N. (2015).Integrative approaches to psychology and
Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical
foundations, and models of integration(3rd ed.). Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Simonic, B., & Klobucar, N. R. (2017). Experiencing positive religious
coping in the process of divorce: A qualitative study.Journal of Religion
and Health, 56(5), 1644-
1654.http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10943-016-0230-y
