Spiritual Coping Behaviors Among Injured Urban Black Men in Philadelphia

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Arch Psychiatr Nurs
• Personal Author:
  Boateng, Augustine C.O. ; Webster, Jessica ; Richmond, Therese S.
• Description:
  Purpose:
  
  High rates of firearm injury among urban Black men in the US can lead to long physical and psychological recovery times, worsened by limited access to mental health services. Spirituality can propel positive thoughts, actions, perceptions and behaviors about self and others yet how it is used among Black men recovering from firearm injury is underexplored. This study examined the role of spirituality in the recovery of Black male survivors of firearm injury.
  
  Method:
  
  Ten injured urban Black men in Philadelphia were interviewed using descriptive phenomenology. A subset of participants from the Emotional Responses and Recovery from Injury in Urban Black Men study who agreed to be recontacted for future studies were enrolled. Informed consent was obtained, semi-structured interviews were conducted via phone and were audiotaped, transcribed, and de-identified. Thematic content analysis was used to understand perceptions of spirituality and to identify spiritual coping behavior themes.
  
  Results:
  
  Findings suggest that injured urban Black men engaged in theistic and non-theistic spiritual activities that resulted in positive character development, reduced risk of re-injury, hope, improved mental health and social bonds.
  
  Conclusion:
  
  Spirituality may serve as a protective factor against firearm re-injury or retaliation by promoting desired behaviors and mental health among injured urban Black men. Combining culturally sensitive spiritual resources and psychotherapy may lead to effective trauma-informed care in addressing spiritual and existential challenges of injured urban Black men who may find spirituality important.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adaptation, Psychological Firearms Humans Male Philadelphia Reinjuries Spirituality Wounds, Gunshot
• Keywords:
  Black Men Firearm Injury Spiritual Care Spiritual Coping Trauma
• Source:
  Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 46:91-97
• Pubmed ID:
  37813511
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10562640
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 NR013503/NR/NINR NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R49C003083/CC/CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  46
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b76605cbed823ec254def8e0aeeb823c32f4c95687b295323054c04557a729aebbc209b357e7b598f2af3f5b81ec37eb0d79cff7cb7eb775379ccb8422155e81
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/135026/cdc_135026_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 183.11 KB ]