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The Institute for Global Health and Development

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/9

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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.Faith

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    Rethinking pathways to well-being: the function of faith practice in distress alleviation among displaced Muslim women affected by war
    (Frontiers Media, 2025-07-21) Rutledge, Kathleen K.
    Background: For many populations globally, coping approaches employed during times of extreme adversity are rooted in religious convictions. Positive religious coping following potentially traumatic events and in times of crisis is widely evidenced as resilience promoting. Despite international mandates for aid and mental health responses to enable such coping, there is limited guidance for work with distinct faith groups and limited quantitative evidence overall. This mixed methods study examined the role of faith in mental health among displaced Muslim women affected by conflict, highlighting implications for responders. Methods: A total of 160 questionnaires, 50 interviews, and four focus groups were conducted among 160 Sunni Muslim women in an Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDP) camp with subjects who had been affected by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) conflict. A total of 19 faith leaders, MHPSS providers, and humanitarian workers were interviewed as key informants. Qualitative responses were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, while statistical tests examined variable correlations between the mean scores of response groups. Results: Religious meanings were attributed to every aspect of daily life, in addition to shaping fundamental understandings of wellbeing, the ultimate goals of life, and the coping strategies employed. Religiosity was high. Prayer, reciting, or reading the Qur’an, and fasting were widely reported as a means of comfort, stress relief, divine protection, and daily provision. The function of faith practices in distress alleviation was mediated by the individual’s beliefs regarding the afterlife and by their perception of God’s “care” for their life and situation. Self-appraised “inadequate” faith practice—seen as incompatible with the fundamental goal of life for many in the study, entering Paradise after death—and feeling that God does not “care”, were variables associated with higher distress and poor mental health. Gender-blind approaches in the camp and exclusion of faith needs from assessments and response actions compounded distress by creating access barriers. Ensuring access to gender- and faith-sensitive coping resources (when requested by the affected individuals) is likely to boost mental health outcomes, particularly when such supports align with recovery and/or strengthening of the individual’s sense of connectedness to a benevolent, responsive God.
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    Editorial: The role of faith in the mental health and integration of forcibly displaced populations
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2025-07-08) Rayes, Diana; Robinson, Courtland; Ahmad, Ayesha; Ager, Alastair
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    The Role of Faith in Child Marriage: Empirical Evidence from Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-08-16) Jailobaeva, Kanykey; Kraft, Kathryn; Barrett, Hazel; Niyonkuru, Pascal; Lim, Desmond; Marin, Alberto; Cossa, Eduardo
    Traditional and religious justifications have been identified to support the continued practice of child marriage. However, the role of faith in child marriage has not been widely studied. This mixed-method study investigates the role of faith in child marriage in Mozambique, Nepal, and the Philippines. Faith and religion are deeply ingrained in these communities, as most survey respondents identified with a faith group and practiced their religion in both private and public domains. Faith was found to have an impact on child marriage through beliefs around gender roles. Although this trend was observed in all countries, there were variations between them, highlighting the significance of local context. Addressing child marriage requires a comprehensive approach that considers both faith and gender norms.
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    Help seeking, trust and intimate partner violence: Social connections amongst displaced and non-displaced Yezidi women and men in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq
    (BMC, 2020-08-28) Strang, Alison; O'Brien, Oonagh; Sandilands, Maggie; Horn, Rebecca; Funding for the study was provided by Tearfund UK
    Background: Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Effective humanitarian assistance requires understanding the social capital that shapes patterns of help seeking in these circumstances - especially with stigmatised issues such as violence against women (VAW) and intimate partner violence (IPV).