An interview study of experiences from pastors providing military spiritual care within the Swedish Armed Forces

Grimell, Jan

doi:10.1080/08854726.2020.1796077

Cited by 10 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Additionally, characters of chaplains which are cultivated and shaped by secularised cultural institutions may develop contrasting features relevant to the performance of spiritual care in such contexts. For instance, to carry weapons and participate in camp defence as a military chaplain (in stark contrast to traditional service as a pastor) is very effective in order to stay very close to the troops and earn their trust (Grimell, 2020a(Grimell, , 2020b. To develop a non-normative theology which doesn't resonate to the doctrines of the Church of Sweden (in contrast to traditional service as a pastor or deacon) may be highly adequate in order to spiritually support and assist a wider and heterogenous group of patients within hospital contexts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The intent with the previous research projects was to recruit experienced participants (chaplains) within military and hospital contexts who had robust and unique experiences from chaplaincy services, were willing to participate, and could provide the studies with a variety of broad and wide qualitative nuances. The first group of military chaplains was recruited by assistance of the Head of Military Chaplains (see Grimell, 2020b) and the second group of hospital chaplains included participants from a larger urban Swedish hospital. The selection process was therefore designed as a purposeful sampling selection (Merriam, 2002).…”

Section: Participants and Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chaplains who experience tension may have to navigate strategically within the actual contexts in order to best serve as spiritual caregivers. They may also have to handle personal identity issues on their own within such contexts (Grimell, 2020b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The identity issues described above have been identified in two recent qualitative studies which have been launched during 2020 from the Unit for Research and Analysis within the Church of Sweden (see Grimell, 2020b). The first study involved twelve military chaplains, and the second study involved six hospital chaplains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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I-position as a tool to advance the understanding of pastors and deacons who navigate contrasting identities as chaplains: a narrative analysis

Grimell¹

2021

Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy

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Chaplaincy services form a vital complement for secular societal institutions which must accommodate spiritual needs, including but not limited to, hospitals, armed forces, and prisons. Yet cultures within societal institutions and churches or faith organizations are fundamentally different. The purpose of this article is to present a conceptual, methodological and occupational discussion around Swedish pastors and deacons serving as specialised chaplains in societal contexts. A narrative analysis coupled with the concept of an I-position (from the framework of Dialogical Self Theory) are presented as a useful methodology for advancing the understanding of pastors and deacons who navigate culturally contrasting identities as chaplains. The article draws from two recent studies and illustrates the methodology through case study examples of both hospital and military chaplains. This approach may be relevant to any chaplain who traverses culturally contrasting terrain and may encounter identity change or challenge. Future research is recommended regarding gender aspects related to male/ female dominated socital institutions and representatives from other faith traditions involved in chaplaincy services.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Participants and Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

I-position as a tool to advance the understanding of pastors and deacons who navigate contrasting identities as chaplains: a narrative analysis

Grimell¹

2021

Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy

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“…In his study of Swedish Lutheran pastors, Grimell (2020b) presents nine pastoral theological "principles." The third principle stresses the importance for chaplains to understand the military culture.…”

Section: Context and Care: A Tentative Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Military Context Shapes Spiritual Care Interventions by Military Chaplains

Pleizier

Schuhmann

2022

J Pastoral Care Counsel

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Spiritual care interventions depend upon the context in which care is provided, its institutional setting and the actors involved. In order to understand the relationship between interventions in spiritual care and the context in which care is provided, we study the spiritual interventions of military chaplains against the background of the armed forces. In our study, we demonstrate that the military context needs its own conceptualization to understand the pastoral practices of military chaplains. This article uses a qualitative comparative methodology and is based upon 13 case studies that have been generated over the course of five years by a team of eight military chaplains within the framework of the Dutch Case Study Project. The analysis results in four concepts that describe the relationship between spiritual care practices and the context of the armed forces in more detail: structuring pastoral availability, positioning within the military environment, existential negotiation of being human and being a soldier and transforming military time. We conclude that the study of spiritual care in context leads to a contextualized understanding of spiritual care practices and stimulates comparison of pastoral care practices across contexts.

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How Military Chaplains Strengthen the Moral Resilience of Soldiers and Veterans: Results From a Case Studies Project in the Netherlands

Schuhmann,

Pleizier,

Walton

et al. 2023

Pastoral Psychol

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In spiritual care research, studies on military chaplaincy are underrepresented, and most available studies center on moral injury. This article contributes to the existing literature on spiritual care in the military by presenting a study of 13 case descriptions of spiritual care provision by military chaplains from the Netherlands. These were analyzed using the framework method, a qualitative method of systematically searching for patterns in data sets, in order to answer the question: How do military chaplains contribute to the moral resilience of soldiers and veterans experiencing moral stress? The analytical framework was constructed on the basis of Doehring’s (Pastoral Psychology, 64(5), 635–649, 2015) conceptual understanding of moral resilience as the outcome of processes of spiritual integration of moral stress in caregiving relationships. This study shows that soldiers experience moral stress when core values associated with ‘being a soldier’ conflict with expectations or actions of soldiers themselves or of others, with the way the military organization functions, or with the spiritual notion of ‘being a good, loving and loveworthy human being’. In their responses to moral stress, chaplains contribute to moral resilience by engaging in co-creating spiritual orienting frameworks which accommodate a sense of goodness of self and others and allow for nuanced, biographically rooted moral views. Soldiers experience conversations and brief encounters with chaplains as relational ‘moments of goodness’, which may also contribute to moral resilience.

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An interview study of experiences from pastors providing military spiritual care within the Swedish Armed Forces

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

I-position as a tool to advance the understanding of pastors and deacons who navigate contrasting identities as chaplains: a narrative analysis

I-position as a tool to advance the understanding of pastors and deacons who navigate contrasting identities as chaplains: a narrative analysis

How the Military Context Shapes Spiritual Care Interventions by Military Chaplains

How Military Chaplains Strengthen the Moral Resilience of Soldiers and Veterans: Results From a Case Studies Project in the Netherlands

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