title: Locating the Social Origins of Mental Illness: The Explanatory Models of Mental Illness Among Clergy from Different Ethnic and Faith Backgrounds.
abstract: Clergy have historically provided 'healing' through various spiritual and medical modalities and even in modern, developed welfare economies they may still be an important help-seeking resource. Partnerships between religion and psychiatry are regularly advocated, but there is scant research on clergy explanatory models of illness. This paper aimed to explore their relationship with psychiatry and to examine how clergy in various faith groups conceptualised mental health problems. In this qualitative study using in-depth interviews, these issues were explored with 32 practising clergy in the UK from a range of different Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith organisations and ethnic backgrounds. This paper presents findings related to clergy explanatory models of mental illness and, in particular, how the social factors involved in causation are tinged with spiritual influences and implications, and how the meanings of mental distress assume a social and moral significance in distinctive localised matters.
authors.affiliation: Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Ulster University, Magee Campus, Northlands Road, Derry-Londonderry, BT48 7JL, Northern Ireland, UK. g.leavey@ulster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leavey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Loewenthal
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry, University College London, 6th Floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology; D002977:Clergy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D007599:Judaism / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012067:Religion; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Causal attributions; Clergy; Collaboration; Explanatory models; Psychiatry