Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies) by Subject "Indigenous peoples -- Elliotdale (South Africa) -- Religion"

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    Understanding, interpretation and expression of spirituality and its influence on care and wellbeing : an explorative case study of a South African indigenous community
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Ohajunwa, Chioma Ogochukwu; Mji, Gubela; Kalenga, Rosemary; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Centre for Rehabilitation Studies.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : With the historical entrance of western spirituality and healthcare into Africa, and the philosophical frameworks they embody, tensions have been created within South African indigenous contexts that impact negatively on the social determinants of health and community wellbeing. Indigenous South African communities assert that western healthcare and spirituality have sidelined their indigenous spiritual practices. This sidelining has created divisions within the community which have informed this case study and the need to explore spiritual understandings that contribute to a collective wellbeing for this community. This study is focused on exploring the ways that indigenous communities understand, interpret and express their spirituality and how these ways of seeing spirituality influence care and wellbeing. The study also aims to explore what factors can contribute to building a collective spirituality framework that contributes to community wellbeing. The study is positioned within a constructivist interpretive paradigm using an exploratory ethnographic case study approach. Data-gathering methods include focus group discussions, observations, one-on-one in-depth interviews, opportunistic conversations (Chilisa, 2012), journaling and photography. Purposive sampling with n=52 study participants from the four Gusi village clusters of the Elliotdale district in the Eastern Cape was carried out. An analytical strategy of theoretical propositions (Yin, 2009) stemming from the guiding proposition and research questions guided the analysis. The Bomvana communities understand spirituality as a multi-level process that involves caring relationships within all of nature. These understandings are influenced by history, context and access to spiritual resources to position the four communities within the subliminal, liminal and supraliminal spaces on a continuum of wellbeing, supporting cultural disruption or supporting cultural continuity to influence wellbeing. The first community still resides within the ideal spirituality space at the start of the continuum although it is beginning to move towards the liminal space, while the other three communities have moved on the continuum into the liminal spirituality space. The communities are experiencing tensions and a lack of wellbeing due to the different ways of expressing their spiritualities. Narratives of participants regarding Ubuntu are utilised to build a thesis on an understanding of African Indigenous Transcultural Spirituality to inform wellbeing. This concept is proposed as a collective spirituality framework that has the potential to support a community-led approach when engaging with African indigenous communities.