To date, little has been published about the place of spirituality in working with survivors of intimate partner violence. Overcoming Conflicting Loyalties examines the intersection of faith and culture in the lives of religious and ethno-cultural women in the context of the work of FaithLink, a unique community initiative that encourages religious leaders and secular service providers to work together. The authors present the benefits of such cooperation by reporting the findings of three qualitative research studies. Individuals in secular and sacral services who work with victims of domestic violence, as well as academics in the fields of social work, psychology, and religious studies, will benefit from the insights, depth of experience, and range of voices represented in this valuable book.
Irene Sevcik, Michael Rothery, Nancy Nason-Clark, and The Very Rev. Robert Pynn have brought their professional expertise and experiences to benefit FaithLink at different times and in different capacities. All of the authors live in Calgary except Nason-Clark, who lives in Fredericton.
Sponsored by The Calgary Foundation. Benefits of secular and sacral communities working together to help victims of intimate partner violence. It goes deeply and poignantly into intimate partner violence, taking a refreshing look at the cultures of secularism and religion/spirituality as complementary ways of understanding and responding to it. The book opens up thoughtful new ways of appreciating the assumptions and potentials of religion within a somewhat religiously skeptical society. – William Rankin, former President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, USA. Introduction, bibliography, notes, index "For individuals embedded in a religious tradition, their faith story and community can be a challenge or an asset to their journey to safety and wellbeing. Sacred and secular organizations can find themselves out of sync with each other around the challenge of IPV [Intimate Partner Violence]. Overcoming Conflicting Loyalties reflects on the grass roots practice and transdisciplinary model of FaithLink which effectively linked secular-based service providers and faith communities and so enabled families to move towards safety and health." [Full article athttp://bit.ly/1KaRIyh] "Authors Sevcik, Rothery, Nason-Clark, and Pynn present students, academics, researchers, and professionals working in a wide variety of contexts with an examination of the place of spirituality in working with survivors of domestic abuse. The authors have organized the main body of their text in nine chapters devoted to secular-religious conversations about violence, intimate partner violence, FaithLink, and a wide variety of other related subjects." VII Introduction
1 Dissolving Solitudes
Secular–Religious Conversations about Violence
Reflections
2 Intimate Partner Violence
Definitions and Context
Collaboration
3 FaithLink
Building Connections between the Sacral and the Secular
The Good Wife
4 Finding Their Voices
Religious/Ethno-Cultural Women Speak about Intimate Partner Violence
Mutations of the Heart
5 Incorporating Spirituality into Practice
How Service Providers Address the Spiritual Needs of Clients
Meditation
6 Contemplative Meditation
Its Efficacy with Service Providers Working with a Victimized Clientele
Faith and Belief
7 Reflections on the Book
A Panel Discussion, Part I
The Road
8 Reflections on the Book
A Panel Discussion, Part II
The Hours
9 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
