Special people? An exploratory study into re-entering missionaries' identity and resilience.
Home country re-entry from cross-cultural missionary work abroad may be associated with psychological distress. Re-entrants experience multiple losses including loss of identity which may be associated with personal/relational identity gaps and depersonalization/dehumanization. However, research suggests that some re-entrants are resilient with good mental health, while others are fragile with poor mental health. The aims of this paper are to explore the nature and frequency of re-entering missionaries' identity gaps and their depersonalization/dehumanization in resilient and fragile re-entrants. Fifteen re-entering adult Australian cross-cultural missionary workers from four interdenominational Australian mission organizations completed semi-structured interviews. Results were analysed using modified Consensual Qualitative Research methods. Links were established between personal/relational identity gaps, depersonalization/dehumanization and resilience on re-entry. Implications for re-entrants' care are discussed with suggestions for further research.
Selby
Susan
S
Discipline of General Practice, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. susan.selby@adelaide.edu.au
Braunack-Mayer
Annette
A
Jones
Alison
A
Clark
Sheila
S
Moulding
Nicole
N
Beilby
Justin
J
D000069:Acculturation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D001315:Australia; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D066189:Missionaries; D010819:Physician's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D008921:Religious Missions / Q000523:psychology*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012938:Social Perception; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires