Abstract
Religious and spiritual experience unfolds in the ever-changing milieu of culture, institution, social environment and physical place. But what happens when mass tragedy strikes? How might congregants be uniquely impacted when a shooting desecrates their synagogue, mosque, temple or church? Or when a hurricane obliterates their home, which is imbued with sacred significance for them? What role might local faith communities play in facilitating healing and resilience? This chapter explores the embodied experience of faith in the context of mass trauma and disaster, drawing on attachment, object relations, affective neuroscience and ecological systems theories. Specifically, we propose the multidimensional framework of embodied spirituality to capture the dynamic interplay of cognitive, affective and social processes in experiencing and restoring a sense of the sacred in the aftermath of mass tragedy and loss.
Keywords
- Embodied spirituality
- Religious attachment
- Place attachment
- Disaster psychology
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abu-Raiya, H. (2013). On the links between religion, mental health and inter-religious conflict: A brief summary of empirical research. The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 50(2), 130–139.
Aldrich, H., & Kallivayalil, D. (2016). Traumatic grief after homicide: Intersections of individual and community loss. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 24(1), 15–33.
Aldrich, D. P., & Meyer, M. A. (2015). Social capital and community resilience. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(2), 254–269.
Ano, G. G., & Pargament, K. I. (2013). Predictors of spiritual struggles: An exploratory study. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 16(4), 419–434.
Ager, J., Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., & Ager, A. (2015). Local faith communities and the promotion of resilience in contexts of humanitarian crisis. Journal of Refugee Studies, 28(2), 202–221.
Aten, J. D., Bennett, P. R., Hill, P. C., Davis, D., & Hook, J. N. (2012). Predictors of God concept and God control after Hurricane Katrina. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 4(3), 182–192.
Aten, J. D., & Boan, D. M. (2016). Disaster ministry handbook. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Aten, J. D., O’Grady, K. A., Milstein, G., Boan, D., & Schruba, A. (2014). Spiritually oriented disaster psychology. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 1(1), 20–28.
Aten, J. D., O’Grady, K. A., Milstein, G., Boan, D., Smigelsky, M. A., Schruba, A., & Weaver, I. (2015). Providing spiritual and emotional care in response to disaster. In D. F. Walker, C. A. Courtois, & J. D. Aten (Eds.), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy for trauma (pp. 189–210), Washington, DC: APA.
Aten, J. D., Smith, W. R., Davis, E. B., Van Tongeren, D. R., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., … Hill, P. C. (2019). The psychological study of religion and spirituality in a disaster context: A systematic review. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11(6), 597–613.
Aten, J. D., Topping, S., Denney, R. M., & Bayne, T. G. (2010). Collaborating with African American churches to overcome minority disaster mental health disparities: What mental health professionals can learn from Hurricane Katrina. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(2), 167–173.
Bonanno, G. A., Brewin, C. R., Kaniasty, K., & Greca, A. M. L. (2010). Weighing the costs of disaster: Consequences, risks, and resilience in individuals, families, and communities. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 11(1), 1–49.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment: Volume 1. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Butler, T. (2007). Memoryscape: How audio walks can deepen our sense of place by integrating art, oral history and cultural geography. Geography Compass, 1(3), 360–372.
Captari, L. E., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., Davis, D. E., Shannonhouse, L. R., Ranter, J. M., … Aten, J. D. (2017, August). The roles of religion and cultural humility in mental health and race relations following the 2016 Dallas shooting. In J. D. Aten (Chair), The psychology of religion and spirituality and mass shootings. Washington, DC: Symposium presented at the American Psychological Association Convention.
Captari, L. E., & Riggs, S. A. (in press). Attachment processes following traumatic loss: A mediation model examining identity distress, shattered assumptions, prolonged grief, and posttraumatic growth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
Centre of Research on the Epidemiology of Disaster [CRED]. (2016). The human cost of weather-related disasters. Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from https://www.unisdr.org/.
Coan, J. A. (2016). Toward a neuroscience of attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (3rd ed., pp. 242–269). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Cohen, A. B., Gorvine, B. J., & Gorvine, H. (2013). The religion, spirituality, and psychology of Jews. In K. I. Pargament (Ed.), APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality (Vol. 1, pp. 665–679). Washington, DC: APA.
Counted, V. (2016). Making sense of place attachment: Towards a holistic understanding of people-place relationships and experiences. Environment, Space, Place, 8(1), 7–32.
Counted, V. (2018). The Circle of Place Spirituality (CoPS): Towards an attachment and exploration motivational systems approach in the psychology of religion. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 29, 149–178.
Counted, V., & Watts, F. (2017). Place attachment in the Bible: The role of attachment to sacred places in religious life. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 45(3), 218–232.
Cox, R. S., & Perry, K. M. E. (2011). Like a fish out of water: Reconsidering disaster recovery and the role of place and social capital in community disaster resilience. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3–4), 395–411.
Crane, P. A., & Clements, P. T. (2016). Psychological response to disasters: Focus on adolescents. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 43(8), 31–38.
Davis, E. B., Epperson, T., Aten, J. D., Ranter, J., Hook, J., Van Tongeren, D. R., … Cuthbert, A. (2016). Psychological and religious/spiritual outcomes following the 2015 South Carolina flood: The roles of perceived social and religious support. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Denver, CO.
Davis, E. B., Granqvist, P., & Sharp, C. (2018). Theistic relational spirituality: Development, dynamics, health, and transformation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://psycnet.apa.org/search/display?id=610cacf0-07f9-ac30-3b66-bc80ab5feb06&recordId=2&tab=PA&page=1&display=25&sort=PublicationYearMSSort%20desc,AuthorSort%20asc&sr=1. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000219.
Davis, E. B., Kimball, C. N., Aten, J. D., Andrews, B., Van Tongeren, D. R., Hook, J. N., … Park, C. L. (2018a). Religious meaning making and attachment in a disaster context: A longitudinal qualitative study of flood survivors. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14, 1–13.
Davis, E. B., Kimball, C. N., Aten, J. D., Ranter, J., Hamilton, C., Captari, L. E., … Chung, J. (2018b). Faith in the wake of disaster: A longitudinal mixed-methods study of how natural disasters affect adults’ religious attachment. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
De Cuyper, N., Mäkikangas, A., Kinnunen, U., Mauno, S., & Witte, H. D. (2012). Cross-lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion: Testing gain and loss spirals according to the conservation of resources theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(6), 770–788.
Dirik, G., & Karanci, A. N. (2010). Psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis patients: An evaluation within the conservation of resources theory. Psychology and Health, 25(5), 617–632.
Drury, J., Brown, R., González, R., & Miranda, D. (2016). Emergent social identity and observing social support predict social support provided by survivors in a disaster: Solidarity in the 2010 Chile earthquake. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(2), 209–223.
Durà-Vilà, G., & Dein, S. (2009). The dark night of the soul: Spiritual distress and its psychiatric implications. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 12(6), 543–559.
Entwistle, D. N., Moroney, S. K., & Aten, J. (2018). Integrative reflections on disasters, suffering, and the practice of spiritual and emotional care. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 46(1), 67–81.
Feder, A., Ahmad, S., Lee, E. J., Morgan, J. E., Singh, R., Smith, B. W., … Charney, D. S. (2013). Coping and PTSD symptoms in Pakistani earthquake survivors: Purpose in life, religious coping and social support. Journal of Affective Disorders, 147(1–3), 156–163.
Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]. (2012). CCP Application Toolkit, Version 3.4. Washington, DC.
Flannelly, K. J. (2017). Religious beliefs, evolutionary psychiatry, and mental health in America. New York, NY: Springer.
Fogel, A. (2013). Body sense: The science and practice of embodied self-awareness. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
Frederick, T., & White, K. M. (2015). Mindfulness, Christian devotion meditation, surrender, and worry. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 18(10), 850–858.
Geertz, C. (1993). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York, NY: Fontana Press.
Granqvist, P., & Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2016). Attachment and religious representations and behavior. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (3rd ed., pp. 917–940). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Grattan, L. M., Roberts, S., Mahan, W. T., Jr., McLaughlin, P. K., Otwell, W. S., & Morris, J. G., Jr. (2011). The early psychological impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Florida and Alabama communities. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(6), 838–843.
Haynes, W. C., Van Tongeren, D. R., Aten, J., Davis, E. B., Davis, D. E., Hook, J. N., et al. (2017). The meaning as a buffer hypothesis: Spiritual meaning attenuates the effect of disaster-related resource loss on posttraumatic stress. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9(4), 446–453.
Herman, J. L. (2015). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—From domestic abuse to political terror. London, UK: Hachette.
Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337–421.
Hodge, A., Captari, L. E., Mosher, D., & Hook, J. N. (2018). Exploring the intersections of religious attachment, meaning, and culture. Religion, Brain and Behavior, 14(5), 1–6.
Jones, J. W. (1991). Contemporary psychoanalysis and religion: Transference and transcendence. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Jones, J. W. (2018). Playing and believing: The uses of D.W. Winnicott in the psychology of religion. In J. L. Jacobs (Ed.), Religion, society, and psychoanalysis (pp. 106–126). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kendrick, T. D. (1955). The Lisbon earthquake. New York, NY: Lippincott.
Koenig, H. G., King, D., & Carson, V. B. (2012). Handbook of religion and health. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Littleton, H. L., Axsom, D., & Grills-Taquechel, A. E. (2009). Adjustment following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech: The roles of resource loss and gain. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 1(3), 206–219.
Luthar, S. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology, 12(4), 857–885.
Manzo, L. C., & Devine-Wright, P. (2013). Place attachment: Advances in theory, methods and applications. New York, NY: Routledge.
Massengale, M., Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., Zelaya, D. G., Shannonhouse, L., Van Tongeren, D. R., … Hill, P. C. (2017). Attachment avoidance to God exacerbates the negative effect of tangible resource loss on psychological resource loss. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20(5), 489–501.
Mazumdar, S., & Mazumdar, S. (1993). Sacred space and place attachment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13(3), 231–242.
Mazumdar, S., & Mazumdar, S. (2004). Religion and place attachment: A study of sacred places. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(3), 385–397.
McAllister, K. E. (2011). Memoryscapes of postwar British Columbia: A look of recognition. In A. Mathur, M. DeGagne, & J. Dewar (Eds.), Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the lens of cultural diversity (pp. 421–447). Ottawa, ON, Canada: Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
McDargh, J. (2017). The paradigm-shifting research of Ana-Maria Rizzuto: Origins, strategy, reception, and horizons. In M. J. Reineke & D. M. Goodman (Eds.), Ana-María Rizzuto and the psychoanalysis of religion: The road to the living God. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
McElroy-Heltzel, S. E., Davis, E. B., Davis, D. E., Aten, J. D., Van Tongeren, D. R., Hook, J. N., & Hwang, J. (2018). Benevolent theodicies protect against PTSD following a natural disaster. Journal of Psychology & Christianity, 37(1), 6–16.
Meissner, W. W. (1984). Transitional phenomena in religion. In D. Capps (Ed.), Freud and Freudians on religion: A reader (pp. 220–225). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Merli, C. (2010). Context‐bound Islamic theodicies: The tsunami as supernatural retribution vs. natural catastrophe in Southern Thailand. Religion, 40(2), 104–111.
Moulton, S. M. (2015). How to remember: The interplay of memory and identity formation in post-disaster communities. Human Organization, 74(4), 319–328.
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism [START]. (2016). Global terrorism database [Data file]. Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd.
Newberg, A. (2018). Neurotheology: How science can enlighten us about spirituality. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Newton, A. T., & McIntosh, D. N. (2009). Associations of general religiousness and specific religious beliefs with coping appraisals in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 12(2), 129–146.
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E., & Kaniasty, K. (2002). 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 65(3), 207–239.
North, C. S., & Pfefferbaum, B. (2013). Mental health response to community disasters: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 310(5), 507–518.
Oe, M., Maeda, M., Nagai, M., Yasumura, S., Yabe, H., Suzuki, Y., … Abe, M. (2016). Predictors of severe psychological distress trajectory after nuclear disaster: Evidence from the Fukushima Health Management Survey. BMJ Open, 6(10), e013400.
O’Grady, K. A., Orton, J. D., White, K., & Snyder, N. (2016). A way forward for spirituality, resilience, and international social science. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 44(2), 166–172.
Pargament, K. I., Magyar, G. M., Benore, E., & Mahoney, A. (2005). Sacrilege: A study of sacred loss and desecration and their implications for health and well-being in a community sample. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44(1), 59–78.
Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2002). Spirituality: The discovery and conservation of the sacred. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopex (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 646–659). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 710–724.
Park, C. (2016). Meaning making in the context of disasters. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72, 1234–1246.
Pecchioni, L. L., Edwards, R., & Grey, S. H. (2011). The effects of religiosity and religious affiliation on trauma and interpretations following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Journal of Communication & Religion, 34(1), 37–58.
Pew Research. (2016). Religious landscape study. http://www.pewforum.org/religious‐landscape‐study.
Pfefferbaum, B., Jacobs, A. K., Houston, J. B., & Griffin, N. (2015). Children’s disaster reactions: The influence of family and social factors. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(7), 57–63.
Relph, E. (1976). Place and placelessness. London, UK: Pion.
Rizzuto, A. M. (1979). The birth of the living God. Chicago, IL: University Press.
Roberts, S. B., & Ashley, W. C. (Eds.). (2008). Disaster spiritual care: Practical clergy responses to community, regional, and national tragedy. Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Publishing.
Rolfe, R. E. (2006). Social cohesion and community resilience: A multi-disciplinary review of literature for rural health research. Submitted to the Rural Centre for Atlantic Canada, http://www.theruralcentre.com/SCCR%20Literature%20Review.pdf.
San Roman, L., Mosher, D. K., Hook, J. N., Captari, L. E., Aten, J. D., Davis, E. B., … Campbell, C. D. (2019). Religious support buffers the indirect negative psychological effects of mass shooting in church-affiliated individuals. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11(6), 571–577.
Scannell, L., Cox, R. S., Fletcher, S., & Heykoop, C. (2016). “That was the last time I saw my house”: The importance of place attachment among children and youth in disaster contexts. American Journal of Community Psychology, 58(1–2), 158–173.
Scannell, L., & Gifford, R. (2010). Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(1), 1–10.
Schruba, A. N., Aten, J. D., Davis, E. B., & Shannonhouse, L. R. (2018). A grounded theory of the practice of disaster spiritual and emotional care: The central role of practical presence. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 37(1), 57–73.
Seybold, K. S. (2016). Explorations in neuroscience, psychology and religion. New York, NY: Routledge.
Silver, A., & Grek-Martin, J. (2015). “Now we understand what community really means”: Reconceptualizing the role of sense of place in the disaster recovery process. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 32–41.
Slanbekova, G., Chung, M. C., Abildina, S., Sabirova, R., Kapbasova, G., & Karipbaev, B. (2017). The impact of coping and emotional intelligence on the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder from past trauma, adjustment difficulty, and psychological distress following divorce. Journal of Mental Health, 26(4), 334–341.
Sone, T., Nakaya, N., Sugawara, Y., Tomata, Y., Watanabe, T., & Tsuji, I. (2016). Longitudinal association between time-varying social isolation and psychological distress after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Social Science and Medicine, 152, 96–101.
Spialek, M. L., Houston, J. B., & Worley, K. C. (2019). Disaster communication, posttraumatic stress, and posttraumatic growth following Hurricane Matthew. Journal of Health Communication, 1, 1–10.
Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., & Hamedani, M. G. (2013). Who explains Hurricane Katrina and the Chilean earthquake as an act of God? The experience of extreme hardship predicts religious meaning-making. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(4), 606–619.
Stroebe, M., Schut, H., & Stroebe, W. (2005). Attachment in coping with bereavement: A theoretical integration. Review of General Psychology, 9(1), 48–66.
Sutton, S. (2017). Religious practices and community resilience. In D. Paton & D. Johnston (Eds.), Disaster resilience: An integrated approach. Charles C. Thomas: Springfield, IL.
Torr, S. C. (2018). A Winnicottian approach to biblical lament: Developing a true self in the midst of suffering. Journal of Psychology and Theology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647118795184.
Townshend, I., Awosoga, O., Kulig, J., & Fan, H. (2015). Social cohesion and resilience across communities that have experienced a disaster. Natural Hazards, 76(2), 913–938.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2004). Psychobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder. In J. Panksepp (Ed.), Textbook of biological psychiatry (pp. 319–344). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Liss.
Vinson, T. (2004). Community adversity and resilience: The distribution of social disadvantage in Victoria and New 638 South Wales and the mediating role of social cohesion. Report submitted to the Ignatious Centre, Jesuit 639 Social Services, University of New South Wales.
Welch, A. E., Caramanica, K., Maslow, C. B., Brackbill, R. M., Stellman, S. D., & Farfel, M. R. (2016). Trajectories of PTSD among Lower Manhattan residents and area workers following the 2001 World Trade Center disaster, 2003–2012. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29(2), 158–166.
Winnicott, D. W. (1953). Transitional objects and transitional phenomenon: A study of the first not-me possession. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34, 89–97.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and reality. London, UK: Burns & Oates.
Xu, J., & Liao, Q. (2011). Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic growth among adult survivors one year following 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Journal of Affective Disorders, 133, 274–280.
Zwiebach, L., Rhodes, J., & Roemer, L. (2010). Resource loss, resource gain, and mental health among survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23(6), 751–758.
Acknowledgements
This manuscript was made possible through the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (Grant #44040). The opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Captari, L.E., Hook, J.N., Aten, J.D., Davis, E.B., Tisdale, T.C. (2019). Embodied Spirituality Following Disaster: Exploring Intersections of Religious and Place Attachment in Resilience and Meaning-Making. In: Counted, V., Watts, F. (eds) The Psychology of Religion and Place. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28848-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28848-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28847-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28848-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)