Religiosity, Spirituality In African American Women

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

Evidence has linked a strong relationship between spirituality and medicine. There is a positive correlation between a patient’s spirituality or religious commitment and health outcomes. A spiritual assessment as a part of a health assessment is a practical step to incorporating patient’s spiritual needs into practice. The FICA Tool and HOPE Questions provide serve to assist clinicians in the spiritual assessment process. By examining the research done using these tools, it has been determined that the FICA Tool is easy to use and provides basic data on a patient’s spirituality. The FICA tool is both reliable and valid. The HOPE Questions are

As an African-American in the United States, I participate in activities to help me identify with my race. Yes, there are many types of African-Americans, but we all share similar ideas, values, and traditions that bring everyone closer. As African-Americans, we strongly believe in religion. Since slavery, religion has played a tremendous role in contributing to our beliefs. We believe there is a greater divine who knows our purpose, and has the power to control it. In addition, we believe prayer changes things especially when times become rough and unbearable. It is common for Black children to “grow-up” in the church and attend with their families every Sunday. Although I am in college, this has not change. I attempt to at least go twice out the month.

Spirituality plays a very important role in African American culture. As we know, traditional healing practices and spirituality are closely related. This deep spirituality comes from their motherland African culture but was reinforce during the rough periods of slavery and enforced discrimination. Spirituality makes people of believing that only God is responsible for health, illness, and healing. Thus, spiritual beliefs provide comfort and are an effective way for remaining healthy, coping, and healing (Johnson, Elbert-Avila, Tulsky, 1992). Giger, Davidhizar, and Turner (1992) recalled that a number of African Americans still linking good health with luck or success and disease or illness with bad luck, fate,

By 1815, slavery within America was already institutionalised affecting the majority of African Americans; by 1860, there were 3.5 to 4.4 million enslaved African Americans as a result of the Atlantic Slave Trade in comparison to the 488,000–500,000 free African Americans. The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed all enslaved African Americans; nonetheless, African Americans were still considered inferior. Especially African American women who were treated significantly worse- sexually exploited, rejected by various southern suffragette groups as well as the National Woman Suffrage Association which opposed the 15th Amendment, enabling African American men to vote, fearing the setback it could cause women in obtaining the vote. Historian Deborah Gray White highlighted the status of being an African American woman stating that being "Black in a white society, slave in a free society, woman in a society ruled by men, female slaves had the least formal power and were perhaps the most vulnerable group of antebellum America." From 1815 to 1917, the lives of white women improved economically, socially and politically. Nevertheless, the improvement of African American women could be questioned. Therefore, this essay will focus on how the lives of African American women from 1815 to 1917 were marked by continuity rather than a period of change and improvement.

Spirituality is one of the most important aspects of life to some communities, cultures, and nations. People who believe in God usually become more spiritual as they age. In American societies, the mosques and churches have older people than younger people. In most cases, we become more spiritual or at least start looking for religious answers when we are faced with a death in the family. In a study by Moremen,(2005), 26 older women who had not experienced a life changing even or recent death in their families were interviewed on their views in terms of “their place” in society” and the “order of things”. None of the participants were facing a terminal illness. The majority stated that they wanted to understand things and were looking towards

There is a risk for a type 1 error in this study because of the multiple comparisons in this study.

There are so many views on how the African American community joined a massive movement called, “Christianity”. This religion has been a key role in the lives of the African-American since being bought over to America from the motherland of Africa. It is said that the white British men who kidnapped our ancestors, made them slaves and forced them to believe in this religion. In research, it is found that there were several polytheistic religions in African and Christianity was one. It is believed that when Christians were brought over from Africa, along with most of their own religions, some of them brought Christianity along with them, but those who believed in other religions were soon forced to convert to Christianity which they looked to freedom. During my studies, I came across a book entitled “The Talking Book” by Allen Dwight Callahan. In this book, he speaks about how the African American race accepted Christianity. One interesting story he spoke about in his book was when slave masters use to sit and read their bibles as the slaves were working. He said that while they were reading, the slaves would ask “What is that master?” and the slave owner would reply “the book is talking to me.” So, when the slave owner would leave, the slave would go pick up the book and put it to his ear to hear the book speak. While in Africa, their Christian belief was not molded by the words of a book, but rather the words of their ancestors. In

The history of religion in the United States comes a long way dating from the early 1600s when the first pilgrim settlers came to this country. It has been noted that these settlers were highly influenced by the Protestant faith which led to a community level of influence in this country as well. The faith of theses settlers were motivated from the New World of Europe where they practiced their religion in a peaceful environment. Later in history, it was noted that people of Spanish decent started the famous network of the Catholic missions in California. When California became a part of the United States, Catholic churches and institutes were formed. These churches and institutes were also formed in New Orleans and Louisiana.

Have you ever found yourself telling a stranger about something near and dear to you? Entrusting them with revealing details with the hopes that they could provide support, solutions, or maybe even comfort? If yes, you’re not alone, it is actually very common, and millions of people around the world do it. In fact, many of us put complete trust in someone we have never met. If you have not figured it out by now, the answer is God. So many people put their faith in this Supreme Being involved with different religions people often instill these beliefs and practices in their children which perpetuates it throughout generations. One of the more commonly practiced religions is Christianity, which is a prevalent specifically in the African American

African American’s experience with cancer treatment is different than other ethnicities in the treatments they choose and how the treatments ultimately work. “Although breast-conserving surgery rates have increased among African American women, they still lag behind utilization rates of white women” (Shaver, Brown 339) Although black women choosing mastectomy over breast-conserving may be culturally relative, there are clear quality of life improvements for those who chose breast conserving surgery. (Shaver, Brown 339) If so, then why do African American women choose mastectomy more often? A possible reason can be a lack of knowledge concerning breast cancer and its treatments. Going back to the idea that viewing cancer as a white person’s disease will lead to a lack of interest in learning about cancer. Another aspect to treatment is rejecting treatment all together. It has been shown that “older blacks prefer the use of self-help treatment rather than medical treatments” (Goodwin et al 978) The preference for self-help treatment stems from religious ideologies. Treatment of cancer is directly related to how likely someone will be able survive cancer. Some treatments are proven to be more effective than others yet African American women “had shorter overall survival and disease free survival than white women who received similar adjacent chemotherapy rates.” (Shavers, Brown 338) This difference in prognosis after

However, there should be something constant about religion, especially when it touches a community and is so intrinsic in a community such as the African-American community as a standard for righteousness and purity in a world that doesn’t make sense.

A spiritual is a type of religious folk song that is connected with the subjugation of African individuals in the American South. The melodies multiplied over the most recent couple of many years of the eighteenth century paving the way to the abolishment of authorized bondage in the 1860s. The African American spiritual is also called the Negro Spiritual constitutes one of the biggest and most significant types of American folk song. Spirituals are ordinarily sung in a call and reaction frame, with a pioneering ad-libbing a line of content and a melody of vocalists giving a strong abstain as one. The songs of the slaves represented their sorrows, rather than their joys. Like tears, they were a relief to aching hearts Sometimes they were a means of releasing locked up emotions and expressing sorrow.

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

I jumped at the opportunity to complete the extra credit assignment because of the topic. I have always wanted to attend an African American Baptist Church. I was raised Catholic in a predominantly white community and for the chance to experience something different was appealing. I’ve seen the stereotypes in movies and on TV about what an African American Baptist church looks like but I wanted to experience it myself. I wasn’t sure on what to expect but kept an open mind about the situation.