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Results for “Ceremonial Behavior”

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PubMed1999

An adolescent vampire cult in rural America: clinical issues and case study.

The emergence of cult related activities in rural America are examined. Cults and their attraction to adolescents are addressed as are methods of cult indoctrination and a profile of cult members and their leader. Clinical management along with a rationale for the attraction of some adolescents to cults are discussed. A case study of a vampire cult and the psychopathology identified in the leader of the cult are provided. Import for clinicians is offered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Healing and the human condition: scenes from the present moment in Navajoland.

The encounter of Navajo spirituality and healing practice with modernity in the present moment must be understood within an existential appreciation of temporality, tradition, domination, and immediacy. Examining the practical exigencies and experiential nuances in a performance of the Navajo Nightway ceremony allows us to elaborate this insight.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2004

Painful memories: ritual and the transformation of community trauma.

This paper explores the question of how ritual can heal community pain or trauma. Drawing together recent insights into the ideological nature of healing with a focus on ritual process, I argue that in cases of social violence and healing, ritual's ability to assuage pain is linked to the ways in which it draws pain into the process of reconstructing memory. The argument is illustrated through an examination of how the Betsimisaraka of east Madagascar used rituals of cattle sacrifice to transform the pain they experienced during an anticolonial rebellion that took place in 1947.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2003

Contribution of incense burning to indoor PM10 and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons under two ventilation conditions.

Burning incense to worship Gods and ancestors is a traditional practice prevalent in Asian societies. This work investigated indoor PM10 concentrations resulting from incense burning in household environments under two conditions: closed and ventilated. The exposure concentrations of particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were estimated. The factors of potential exposure were also evaluated. Under both conditions, samples were taken at three locations: 0.3, 3.5 and 7 m away from the altar during three periods: incense burning, the first 3 h, and the 4-6 h after cessation of combustion. PAH concentrations of incense smoke were assessed in the laboratory. Personal environment monitors were used as sampling instruments. The results showed a significant contribution of incense burning to indoor PM10 and particulate PAH concentrations. PM10 concentrations near the altar during incense burning were 723 and 178 microg/m3, more than nine and 1.6 times background levels, under closed and ventilated conditions, respectively. Exposure concentrations of particle-bound PAHs were 0.088-0.45 microg/m3 during incense burning. On average, PM10 and associated PAH concentrations were about 371 and 0.23 microg/m3 lower, respectively, in ventilated environments compared with closed conditions. Concentrations were elevated for at least 6 h under closed conditions.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2001

Finding meaning in religious practices: the relation between religious holiday rituals and marital satisfaction.

This study examined the relation between marital satisfaction and religious holiday ritual practices. One hundred twenty couples, married 9 years on average, completed measures of religious holiday practices (current family and family-of-origin) and marital satisfaction. Couples were interviewed about how important religion was to their family life. Marital satisfaction was related to religious holiday rituals beyond a global indication of religiousness. A different pattern was found for husbands and wives, with husbands' satisfaction more closely linked to ritual meaning and wives' satisfaction associated with routine practices. Family-of-origin rituals were connected across generations. Wives' marital satisfaction was related to husbands' report of religious holiday rituals but not the converse. Results are discussed in terms of how rituals affirm relationships, connect values and beliefs, and may have differential meaning for men and women.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

A review of 50 years of research on naturally occurring family routines and rituals: cause for celebration?

This article is a qualitative review of 32 publications appearing since J. Bossard and E. Boll's (1950) seminal work on family rituals was conducted. Definitions are offered whereby a distinction is made between family routines as observable practices and family rituals as symbolic representations of collective events. The relative occurrence of family routines, as described in the literature, appears to follow a developmental course and is affected by the cultural environment. Family routines and rituals were found to be related to parenting competence, child adjustment, and marital satisfaction. The studies were limited by inconsistent methods of assessing family routines, reliance on samples of convenience, and a failure to distinguish between direct and indirect effects. Recommendations are made to better integrate theory with empirical efforts to demonstrate the importance of family routines and rituals in contemporary life.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2002

Inclusion and belonging in the family rituals of gay and lesbian people.

Survey data collected from 400 non-metropolitan gay men and lesbians were used to examine what factors lead them to attend a family-of-origin ritual and affect their sense of belonging during the event. The present study was inspired by qualitative findings regarding the production of outsider status during rituals. Attendance and belonging were both predicted by type of ritual and the quality of relationships with families of origin. Also, partners were more likely to be invited when the couple relationship was more visible. Residential community climate, age, income, and gender were not significant. The family membership complexities of gay and lesbian people are discussed, and a more nuanced understanding of membership during ritual is encouraged.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Integrating family routines and rituals with other family research paradigms: comment on the special section.

The articles in this special section represent cutting edge research on family routines and rituals. This comment discusses how this work may inform and be informed by other family research. This includes studying how routines develop, are maintained, and reorganize as well as how they influence individual outcomes through effects on socialization, security, and adaptation to stress. Applications of research on family routines to enhance prevention and treatment are also discussed. New directions for the study of family rituals are discussed, including how ritual events may have long-term effects on family interaction through discontinuous changes in relationship expectations of family members.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2002

Family rituals--from research to the consulting room and back again: comment on the special section.

This article offers a comment on the special research section on Family Routines and Rituals from the point of view of a family therapist who has made the use of rituals a specialty in clinical practice. Ways that the research usefully informs clinicians seeking to use rituals in therapy are highlighted. A critique of the articles, particularly in the area of ritual definition, is offered. The comment concludes with several suggestions for future research.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed1993

An ethnographic study of nursing culture as an exploration for determining the existence of a system of ritual.

The idea that much of nursing is 'ritualized' activity which is harmful to patient care assumes that 'ritual' itself is unacceptable behaviour or practice. At a time when market forces are clearly influencing the delivery of care and, in turn, changes in nursing practice, it has become important both to clarify what 'ritual' is and to determine its existence and 'form' within nursing. This study explored nursing culture for 'ritual' in a ward setting and used ethnography as both method and description. Rituals were found to exist in the working day of the nurses studied, but was not an indication that 'ritualized behaviour' is harmful to individualized patient care. There is a clear need, however, to determine specifically the difference between 'unsafe outdated practices' and ritual in a cultural 'sense'. This would ensure that what had to be relinquished would in no way jeopardize the future existence of nursing and nurses as socially cohesive groups with their own culture.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed1993

Health belief systems in perspective.

The author adopts a critical stance toward the assumptions, beliefs and behaviours underlying western biomedical tradition as it is enacted within the health care arena, in this paper. On the basis of a cross-cultural comparison of how health belief systems depict the nature of health, the nature of illness and the role of healers, this paper will analyse the degree to which traditions other than western biomedicine seem to influence much of our decision making and behaviour as practitioners and recipients of health care. Thus, locating our relationship to biomedical thought within the context of non-dominant belief systems provides an unusual angle from which to evaluate critically the way we think and behave. In concluding that western health beliefs are powerfully influenced by traditions far beyond biomedical ideology, the author raises implications for nursing's future directions as active participants in a global health movement.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1997

Nursing culture--some viewpoints.

The concept of culture is closely interwoven with the values espoused by a community. Culture is a deep structure that finds expression in people's knowledge, beliefs, convictions, morals, and laws. A few possible ways of approaching the culture of nursing are provided by rituals, gender and power.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2001

Reflective practice and clinical supervision: meticulous rituals of the confessional.

BACKGROUND: Reflective practice and clinical supervision are progressively asserting hegemony upon nursing practice with claims of emancipation and empowerment. However, this is being achieved in an environment where there is little critical debate about the assumptions on which these practices are based. AIM: This paper sets out to challenge the basis upon which reflective practice and clinical supervision are promoted within nursing discourse by employing Michel Foucault's (1982) concept of governmentality. Theme. A broad Foucauldian perspective is used to demonstrate how the technologies of reflective practice and clinical supervision have been accommodated within modern forms of government. These technologies are consistent with the flattened hierarchies and increasing dispersal of practitioners in contemporary health care. In this context reflective practice and clinical supervision can be shown to function in two independent but interrelated ways. First as modes of surveillance disciplining the activity of professionals. Second, as "confessional" practices that work to produce particular identities--autonomous and self-regulating.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed2002

Rituals and nursing: a critical commentary.

AIM OF THE PAPER: This critical commentary explores the concept of ritual in the nursing and social science literature in terms of investigating different understandings of its meaning and purpose. RATIONALE: The term 'ritual' is often used in a pejorative sense in nursing literature to refer to unthinking, routinized action by nurses, which lacks any empirical foundation. The purpose of this paper is to explore alternative understandings of the meaning of ritual, suggesting that the negative usage described above misses out on the wider symbolic meaning of the word. METHOD: The literature search used a combination of electronic databases (CINAHL, ASSIA, MEDLINE and RCN) from 1960 to 2000 and serendipitous references in texts. FINDINGS: The commentary is presented under the following two broad emerging themes: first, the complex issues surrounding the definition of ritual, including the relationship between rational and rational action and second, the purposes served by ritual. CONCLUSION: The paper concludes with the recommendation that the rituals nurses use in the performance of their care are worthy of research as a rich source of insight into the meaning and purpose of nursing actions.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed2002

The role of ritualistic ceremonial in removing barriers between subcultures in the National Health Service.

The role of ritualistic ceremonial in removing barriers between subcultures in the National Health Service Background. One of the ways in which it is possible to achieve successful organizational change is through the elimination of those ceremonies that reinforce or preserve the negative aspects of professional and work group autonomy, thus maintaining the barriers between subcultures. Conversely, the encouraging of ceremonies which reinforce positive aspects is likely to achieve more flexible, team-orientated changes. Aim. The paper considers those ceremonies, which perpetuate barriers in a National Health Service (NHS) Trust, and explores new ceremonies which may question, weaken or eliminate current dysfunctional practices. Design. Our research approach was mainly phenomenological, as we wished to elicit the symbolic significance of organizational routines. The primary source of data was spoken language. The findings are based on purposive sampling of informants by means of semi-structured interview and observation. Other types of information were also collected, including business plans, reports and brochures. Informants included the Chief Executive and four Board members, three consultants, the director of nursing and midwifery, 10 middle managers and eight junior, nonmedical and nonmanagerial employees. Findings. Two broad bands of ceremonies have been identified - those which preserve the existing norms and autonomy of professional and worker groups, which we have named Ceremonies of Preservation, and those which encourage change, which we have called Ceremonies of Change. Considerable data are provided to help to 'tell the story'. Conclusion. The paper argues that attention to ceremonial in the wider change process may facilitate the desired, specific change or changes in practice. It suggests that changes which confront unnecessary demarcation, but which do not undermine professional integrity, can create real benefits for NHS hospitals.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

Rituals and compulsivity in Prader-Willi syndrome: profile and stability.

BACKGROUND: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is characterized by an increased risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder. This study investigated the nature of compulsive-like behaviours in the PWS. METHOD: Parents of 50 individuals with PWS (aged 5-18 years) and 50 typically developing 4-year-old children completed the Childhood Routines Inventory. This instrument measures compulsive-like behaviours in normative childhood. RESULTS: Many childhood compulsive behaviours are prevalent among older children and adolescents with PWS. Group differences were observed in that the PWS group, independent of age, gender and cognitive dysfunctions, exhibited more intense compulsive behaviours related to insistence on sameness in many daily activities and social contexts. Findings also revealed an age-independent low-prevalent pattern of PWS compulsivity, probably related to other features in the PWS symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: Compulsions of childhood do not subside with age in adolescents with PWS. The findings indicate that the differentiation between delayed childhood rituals and pathological manifestations of compulsive features is complex in PWS populations.

Adolescent↗