TY - JOUR
T1 - Anonymous pastoral care for problems pertaining to sexuality
AU - van Drie, A.
AU - Ganzevoort, R.R.
AU - Spiering, M.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Anonymous pastoral care is one of the options for help in problems pertaining to sexuality. This paper explores the topics they seek help for, the religious aspects involved, and the relation between the normativity of their church tradition on the one hand and sexual and spiritual health criteria on the other. We analyzed helpseeking questions of two protestant Christian organizations in the Netherlands providing anonymous pastoral care: Refoweb and EO-Nazorg. Sexual themes were addressed in 19 and 2.3 % of the submitted questions, respectively. Of the helpseekers, 56 % is female, 15 % male, and 29 % unknown. Questions and problems for which people seek anonymous pastoral care focus primarily on premarital abstinence, gender roles, contraception, sexual orientation and masturbation. The authority of the Bible seems to be important for questioners, especially when dealing with ethical questions. Different relations between the normativity of the church tradition and sexual and spiritual health are discussed. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
AB - Anonymous pastoral care is one of the options for help in problems pertaining to sexuality. This paper explores the topics they seek help for, the religious aspects involved, and the relation between the normativity of their church tradition on the one hand and sexual and spiritual health criteria on the other. We analyzed helpseeking questions of two protestant Christian organizations in the Netherlands providing anonymous pastoral care: Refoweb and EO-Nazorg. Sexual themes were addressed in 19 and 2.3 % of the submitted questions, respectively. Of the helpseekers, 56 % is female, 15 % male, and 29 % unknown. Questions and problems for which people seek anonymous pastoral care focus primarily on premarital abstinence, gender roles, contraception, sexual orientation and masturbation. The authority of the Bible seems to be important for questioners, especially when dealing with ethical questions. Different relations between the normativity of the church tradition and sexual and spiritual health are discussed. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
U2 - 10.1007/s10943-013-9746-6
DO - 10.1007/s10943-013-9746-6
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-4197
VL - 53
SP - 1634
EP - 1652
JO - Journal of Religion and Health
JF - Journal of Religion and Health
IS - 6
ER -
