Andrea Beláňová - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Andrea Beláňová
The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanes... more The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo which refers to the "disappearance of the sun". French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and all cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myth searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Lévi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite perfectly. What happens if we try to apply his approach on a myth from the cultural area which is absolutely different? Can this view bring something new? And what does it tell about Lévi-Strauss´s method itself?
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2022
Due to the lack of sufficient non-governmental prisoner re-entry services in the Czech Republic, ... more Due to the lack of sufficient non-governmental prisoner re-entry services in the Czech Republic, many post-release activities are provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). However, the Czech Republic is considered to be one of the most atheistic countries in the world. Most of the Czech population is at least apathetic toward organized religion. This study examines how re-entry FBOs present Christianity to the public in the religiously indifferent Czech Republic. The primary focus is on how
the organizations present themselves to the public. We employ qualitative content analysis examining names, logos, mission statements, and other documents of 14 reentry FBOs. The analysis reveals four general themes within the organizations’ public presentations: Ambiguity when expressing religious topics, Christianity as an offer, Christianity as a form of social movement (self-legitimization), and Christianity as a
pro-social lifestyle.
Human Affairs, 2020
This article presents the findings of a study on homeschooling in Czechia. It focuses on the gend... more This article presents the findings of a study on homeschooling in Czechia. It focuses on the gender aspects of this uncommon educational decision. Based on forty-three individual interviews with homeschooling parents, the article’s unifying thread is interest in understanding how mothers are involved in the decision to homeschool, and how the practice is embedded in gendered relationships within the society. We explore the results from two perspectives. First, we consider how the choice to homeschool lies simultaneously in embracing and opposing cultural imperatives of good mothering. Second, we explore the precarious status of homeschooling mothers in relation to economic independence. By shedding light on individual choice within social structures, we situate the practice of homeschooling within the gender inequalities of today’s society.
Journal of Beliefs & Values, 2020
ABSTRACT In the Czech Republic, home schooling is an increasing but still rare education practice... more ABSTRACT In the Czech Republic, home schooling is an increasing but still rare education practice. The country is at the same time not favourable to public demonstrations of religion. In such a specific context, we investigated the intersection of religion, spirituality, and home schooling. Drawing on a broad ethnographic research design, we identify three levels of strategies employed by religious or spiritual home-schooling parents to negotiate their ‘twofold otherness’. On the individual level, these parents significantly sought religious or spiritual support in their decision to home-school. On the societal level, the local community played a crucial role in assisting parents with home schooling. Simultaneously, fearing the reactions of home-schooling opponents, the families decided to keep their religion or spirituality to themselves. We conclude that the ‘twofold otherness’ is a vulnerable position for home-schoolers in the Czech Republic which forces the families to remain private about both their education style and spiritual or religious ideology.
Childhood, 2018
In our study of Czech homeschooling families, we discovered that the unifying theme of their just... more In our study of Czech homeschooling families, we discovered that the unifying theme of their justifying narratives was how the families rearranged the norm of “good parenting,” defined as the amount of time families spent together. The parents argued the importance of sacrificing their own time and educating their children themselves. They distinguished themselves from parents who are not willing to attend the children’s needs as much. Finally, we show that homeschooled children also actively adopt the family time management.
Journal of Religion in Europe, 2020
Czechia could be labeled as country of an indifferent approach to religious ideas, as religious f... more Czechia could be labeled as country of an indifferent approach to religious ideas, as religious faith is considered a private issue, and the role of religion in the public sphere is low. This article summarizes the first attempt to research Korean Protestant churches active in current Czechia. A total of fourteen churches is briefly overviewed stating that the churches are not successful in gaining new members throughout the Czech population. Also, a clear distinction cannot be drawn between diaspora and missionary churches, but rather mixed types can be observed. The findings show that the churches do not accommodate their mission strategies according to the religiously indifferent milieu in Czechia, mostly because the missionaries are not aware of this situation. Moreover, language is identified as the main barrier in communication. We conclude by stating that this topic is poorly understudied and difficult to follow due to its dynamic yet closed nature.
Psychologie a její kontexty, 2022
The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with str... more The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with stress during an exam period in university students. The study emphasizes various manifestations of inner spirituality or religiosity and its effects on the perception of the academic locus of control (ALOC). This is a case study of perceiving the influenceability of the exam in correlation to spirituality. The study is a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews using the constructivist methodology. Twelve students of psychology from the Faculty of Education at Charles University were interviewed about their coping mechanisms. The study explores the mechanism of transforming spiritual believes into a form of spiritual coping in an academic environment. The design of the study is single-blinded, meaning that the participants did not know in advance that their spiritual coping is studied. Thanks to this, authors were able to interview a sample of students including those who do not ...
Religio: revue pro religionistiku, 2021
Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020
ABSTRACT The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech R... more ABSTRACT The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Firstly, it explores the interlinkage with the global conservative network and describes the shared strategies. Secondly, it focuses on the role of religion and church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with an emphasis on abortion attitudes in both countries. Thirdly, by pointing out the expected public role of religion in each country, the text examines the specific nature of anti-abortion activism in the political, public, and service spheres of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Drawing upon comparative design, the article argues that, despite the mutual history of the two countries, the anti-abortion movements are driven to choose different strategies with which to promote their cause that reflects the ‘national’ cultural and religious ethos of the country. Whereas in the secularized Czech Republic, activists follow a model of downplaying religious background, the decentralized Slovak movements oscillate between appealing to traditional Catholic morality and engaging in more secularized strategies similar to those adopted by the Czech movements.
The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Levi-Strauss on an old Japanes... more The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Levi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo which refers to the „disappearance of the sun“. French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and all cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myth searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Levi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite perfectly. What happens if we try to apply his approach on a myth from the cultural area which is absolutely different? Can this view bring something new? And what does it tell about Levi-Strauss´s method itself?
The article is reflecting application of the famous method of structural analysis by Claude Lévi-... more The article is reflecting application of the famous method of structural analysis by Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth. The French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myths searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Lévi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite well. What happens if we use his method for a myth from very different cultural area? And what does it tell about Lévi-Strauss’s method itself? The myth of god siblings of Amaterasu and Susanoo is usually declared as the explanation of „disappearance of the sun“. Could the view of Lévi-Strauss bring something really new?
Diskuse o výzkumne etice se stava v kvalitativni sociologii stale důležitějsi. Otazky moci, vyjed... more Diskuse o výzkumne etice se stava v kvalitativni sociologii stale důležitějsi. Otazky moci, vyjednavani a možných vztahů mezi výzkumnikem a zkoumanými nelze jednoznacně zodpovědět. Clanek nabizi reflexi vlastniho dlouhodobeho výzkumu autorky a možna řeseni potencialně konfliktnich situaci v terenu.
Acta Oeconomica, 2020
This paper examines the links between religion and job satisfaction. Its concern is to compare Ea... more This paper examines the links between religion and job satisfaction. Its concern is to compare Eastern and Western Europe. We use the 2015 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data covering both non-religious individuals and individuals affiliated to a religious denomination. While the Western European countries generally report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction compared to their Eastern counterparts, we test the hypothesis that religion also shows differentiated effects on job satisfaction and work attitudes. Our results indicate that religion has no significant effect on job satisfaction in either of the regions. In the West, religious affiliation has an influence on a larger variety of work attitude measurements compared to those in the East. In both regions, workers who regularly attend religious services would enjoy work significantly more even if they did not need money, consider high income as less important, and consider helping other people, contact wi...
Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 2020
Český lid, 2018
Being a chaplain in the Czech Republic is an uncertain role. The country has a very low rate of r... more Being a chaplain in the Czech Republic is an uncertain role. The country has a very low rate of religiosity and little trust in churches. The chaplains who provide spiritual care in the army, hospitals, and prisons face several sources of uncertainty: they must negotiate their position within the institutional structure; gain the acceptance of their clients, and often work with only little support. In this article, the author focuses on strategies the Czech chaplains devise to overcome these uncertainties. The text suggests that the effective way of support might be building non-threatening relationships with clients, maintaining working creativity, and strengthening the feeling of being called to chaplaincy by God.
Pedagogická orientace, 2018
Studie je první výzkumnou sondou do problematiky sebepojetí absolventů domácího vzdělávání. Jedná... more Studie je první výzkumnou sondou do problematiky sebepojetí absolventů domácího vzdělávání. Jedná se o dílčí, ale velmi významné téma, kterému se v našich podmínkách ve vztahu k domácímu vzdělávání zatím nedostalo náležité pozornosti. Cílem studie je zjistit, jak děti s touto specifickou zkušeností samy sebe vnímají, a porovnat jejich výsledky se spolužáky, kteří domácím vzděláváním neprošli. První část textu je zaměřená na teoretická východiska, koncept sebepojetí a metodologii výzkumu, ve druhé části jsou prezentovány výsledky pilotního výzkumného šetření. Jedním z hlavních přínosů této pilotní studie je obrácení pozornosti k individualitě vzdělávaného, nikoli pouze vzdělávajícího, což je v případě studií zaměřených na domácí vzdělávání doposud převažující přístup, a ověření, zda lze Dotazník sebepojetí Piers-Harris 2 považovat za vhodný nástroj pro realizaci obdobně zaměřených výzkumů.
Psychologie a její kontexty, 2021
The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with str... more The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with stress during an exam period in university students. The study emphasizes various manifestations of inner spirituality or religiosity and its effects on the perception of the academic locus of control (ALOC). This is a case study of perceiving the influenceability of the exam in correlation to spirituality. The study is a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews using the constructivist methodology. Twelve students of psychology from the Faculty of Education at Charles University were interviewed about their coping mechanisms. The study explores the mechanism of transforming spiritual believes into a form of spiritual coping in an academic environment. The design of the study is single-blinded, meaning that the participants did not know in advance that their spiritual coping is studied. Thanks to this, authors were able to interview a sample of students including those who do not consider themselves spiritual. A concept of “equation of exam” was discovered during the qualitative analysis. The equation of exam means that controllable and uncontrollable factors were assessed by participants and the result of the equation is a feeling of gaining maximum control. Spiritual coping helps participants to cope with the uncontrollable factors by a belief that these are actually influenceable. This way, participants increased their inner locus of control over the result of the exam. Forms of spiritual coping using an external locus of control were rejected by all participants as undesirable. More complex spiritual believes lead to more sophisticated ways of increasing internal locus of control and subjective preparedness for the exam. The methodology used in this study leads to a finding that unspiritual people can use spiritual coping to a certain extent. The results indicate that while the use of spiritual coping varies, the form remains the same in all situations. But using spiritual coping in other life situations does not necessarily mean it will be used in an academic environment too. Two people can use the same strategy, but it does not mean it has the same meaning. A talisman is a good example. About half of the participants have experience with using a talisman. However, it serves as social support rather than spiritual. It reminds them of the close ones. Only one participant stated that they believed the talisman had power by itself. None of the participants use maladaptive coping, so it cannot be disputed that spirituality leads to a preference for adaptive coping. Even though the results of this study cannot be generalized, they could serve as a foundation for new research. Spiritual individuals do not necessarily use spiritual coping in an academic context, and at the same time, non-spiritual individuals may resort to this behavior. The results may also be correlated to anxiety caused by uncontrollable factors. This idea is worth considering in follow-up studies.
Czech Sociological Review, 2022
The article focuses on the understudied topic of contemporary hospital chaplaincy in the Czech Re... more The article focuses on the understudied topic of contemporary hospital chaplaincy in the Czech Republic, its development, and the current issues this work is dealing with. Based on a study conducted among Czech hospital chaplains affiliated with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, the Roman Catholic Church, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, and the Church of Seventh Day Adventists, the article examines the experiences of Christian providers of spiritual care in the secularised environment of a hospital and sheds light on how they perceive their work and role. Two waves of interviews were conducted among thirteen hospital chaplains, male and female, and subjected to an applied thematic analysis. This produced four thematic areas that the article explores in detail: (1) the localisation of the chaplaincy within the hospital, (2) the chaplains' methods of working with patients, (3) the chaplains' relationships with other hospital personnel, and (4) the selfidentification of the hospital chaplains. The results of this research revealed that the secularised environment of the Czech Republic is a crucial factor that affects the work of chaplains in several ways, but their role in the hospital has at the same time in ways that are separate from their religious affiliation, as the understanding dialogue they engage in with patients forms a core part of their work.
The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanes... more The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo which refers to the "disappearance of the sun". French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and all cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myth searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Lévi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite perfectly. What happens if we try to apply his approach on a myth from the cultural area which is absolutely different? Can this view bring something new? And what does it tell about Lévi-Strauss´s method itself?
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 2022
Due to the lack of sufficient non-governmental prisoner re-entry services in the Czech Republic, ... more Due to the lack of sufficient non-governmental prisoner re-entry services in the Czech Republic, many post-release activities are provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). However, the Czech Republic is considered to be one of the most atheistic countries in the world. Most of the Czech population is at least apathetic toward organized religion. This study examines how re-entry FBOs present Christianity to the public in the religiously indifferent Czech Republic. The primary focus is on how
the organizations present themselves to the public. We employ qualitative content analysis examining names, logos, mission statements, and other documents of 14 reentry FBOs. The analysis reveals four general themes within the organizations’ public presentations: Ambiguity when expressing religious topics, Christianity as an offer, Christianity as a form of social movement (self-legitimization), and Christianity as a
pro-social lifestyle.
Human Affairs, 2020
This article presents the findings of a study on homeschooling in Czechia. It focuses on the gend... more This article presents the findings of a study on homeschooling in Czechia. It focuses on the gender aspects of this uncommon educational decision. Based on forty-three individual interviews with homeschooling parents, the article’s unifying thread is interest in understanding how mothers are involved in the decision to homeschool, and how the practice is embedded in gendered relationships within the society. We explore the results from two perspectives. First, we consider how the choice to homeschool lies simultaneously in embracing and opposing cultural imperatives of good mothering. Second, we explore the precarious status of homeschooling mothers in relation to economic independence. By shedding light on individual choice within social structures, we situate the practice of homeschooling within the gender inequalities of today’s society.
Journal of Beliefs & Values, 2020
ABSTRACT In the Czech Republic, home schooling is an increasing but still rare education practice... more ABSTRACT In the Czech Republic, home schooling is an increasing but still rare education practice. The country is at the same time not favourable to public demonstrations of religion. In such a specific context, we investigated the intersection of religion, spirituality, and home schooling. Drawing on a broad ethnographic research design, we identify three levels of strategies employed by religious or spiritual home-schooling parents to negotiate their ‘twofold otherness’. On the individual level, these parents significantly sought religious or spiritual support in their decision to home-school. On the societal level, the local community played a crucial role in assisting parents with home schooling. Simultaneously, fearing the reactions of home-schooling opponents, the families decided to keep their religion or spirituality to themselves. We conclude that the ‘twofold otherness’ is a vulnerable position for home-schoolers in the Czech Republic which forces the families to remain private about both their education style and spiritual or religious ideology.
Childhood, 2018
In our study of Czech homeschooling families, we discovered that the unifying theme of their just... more In our study of Czech homeschooling families, we discovered that the unifying theme of their justifying narratives was how the families rearranged the norm of “good parenting,” defined as the amount of time families spent together. The parents argued the importance of sacrificing their own time and educating their children themselves. They distinguished themselves from parents who are not willing to attend the children’s needs as much. Finally, we show that homeschooled children also actively adopt the family time management.
Journal of Religion in Europe, 2020
Czechia could be labeled as country of an indifferent approach to religious ideas, as religious f... more Czechia could be labeled as country of an indifferent approach to religious ideas, as religious faith is considered a private issue, and the role of religion in the public sphere is low. This article summarizes the first attempt to research Korean Protestant churches active in current Czechia. A total of fourteen churches is briefly overviewed stating that the churches are not successful in gaining new members throughout the Czech population. Also, a clear distinction cannot be drawn between diaspora and missionary churches, but rather mixed types can be observed. The findings show that the churches do not accommodate their mission strategies according to the religiously indifferent milieu in Czechia, mostly because the missionaries are not aware of this situation. Moreover, language is identified as the main barrier in communication. We conclude by stating that this topic is poorly understudied and difficult to follow due to its dynamic yet closed nature.
Psychologie a její kontexty, 2022
The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with str... more The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with stress during an exam period in university students. The study emphasizes various manifestations of inner spirituality or religiosity and its effects on the perception of the academic locus of control (ALOC). This is a case study of perceiving the influenceability of the exam in correlation to spirituality. The study is a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews using the constructivist methodology. Twelve students of psychology from the Faculty of Education at Charles University were interviewed about their coping mechanisms. The study explores the mechanism of transforming spiritual believes into a form of spiritual coping in an academic environment. The design of the study is single-blinded, meaning that the participants did not know in advance that their spiritual coping is studied. Thanks to this, authors were able to interview a sample of students including those who do not ...
Religio: revue pro religionistiku, 2021
Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2020
ABSTRACT The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech R... more ABSTRACT The article focuses on the changing strategies of anti-abortion activists in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Firstly, it explores the interlinkage with the global conservative network and describes the shared strategies. Secondly, it focuses on the role of religion and church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with an emphasis on abortion attitudes in both countries. Thirdly, by pointing out the expected public role of religion in each country, the text examines the specific nature of anti-abortion activism in the political, public, and service spheres of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Drawing upon comparative design, the article argues that, despite the mutual history of the two countries, the anti-abortion movements are driven to choose different strategies with which to promote their cause that reflects the ‘national’ cultural and religious ethos of the country. Whereas in the secularized Czech Republic, activists follow a model of downplaying religious background, the decentralized Slovak movements oscillate between appealing to traditional Catholic morality and engaging in more secularized strategies similar to those adopted by the Czech movements.
The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Levi-Strauss on an old Japanes... more The article reflects using of famous structural analysis of Claude Levi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth of Amaterasu and Susanoo which refers to the „disappearance of the sun“. French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and all cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myth searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Levi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite perfectly. What happens if we try to apply his approach on a myth from the cultural area which is absolutely different? Can this view bring something new? And what does it tell about Levi-Strauss´s method itself?
The article is reflecting application of the famous method of structural analysis by Claude Lévi-... more The article is reflecting application of the famous method of structural analysis by Claude Lévi-Strauss on an old Japanese myth. The French scholar left a monumental work which is a big challenge for every student of anthropology and cultural studies. His specific way of analyzing the myths searches for the universal structure of human thinking. Lévi-Strauss focused especially on the myths of North American Indians where his theory works quite well. What happens if we use his method for a myth from very different cultural area? And what does it tell about Lévi-Strauss’s method itself? The myth of god siblings of Amaterasu and Susanoo is usually declared as the explanation of „disappearance of the sun“. Could the view of Lévi-Strauss bring something really new?
Diskuse o výzkumne etice se stava v kvalitativni sociologii stale důležitějsi. Otazky moci, vyjed... more Diskuse o výzkumne etice se stava v kvalitativni sociologii stale důležitějsi. Otazky moci, vyjednavani a možných vztahů mezi výzkumnikem a zkoumanými nelze jednoznacně zodpovědět. Clanek nabizi reflexi vlastniho dlouhodobeho výzkumu autorky a možna řeseni potencialně konfliktnich situaci v terenu.
Acta Oeconomica, 2020
This paper examines the links between religion and job satisfaction. Its concern is to compare Ea... more This paper examines the links between religion and job satisfaction. Its concern is to compare Eastern and Western Europe. We use the 2015 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data covering both non-religious individuals and individuals affiliated to a religious denomination. While the Western European countries generally report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction compared to their Eastern counterparts, we test the hypothesis that religion also shows differentiated effects on job satisfaction and work attitudes. Our results indicate that religion has no significant effect on job satisfaction in either of the regions. In the West, religious affiliation has an influence on a larger variety of work attitude measurements compared to those in the East. In both regions, workers who regularly attend religious services would enjoy work significantly more even if they did not need money, consider high income as less important, and consider helping other people, contact wi...
Sociológia - Slovak Sociological Review, 2020
Český lid, 2018
Being a chaplain in the Czech Republic is an uncertain role. The country has a very low rate of r... more Being a chaplain in the Czech Republic is an uncertain role. The country has a very low rate of religiosity and little trust in churches. The chaplains who provide spiritual care in the army, hospitals, and prisons face several sources of uncertainty: they must negotiate their position within the institutional structure; gain the acceptance of their clients, and often work with only little support. In this article, the author focuses on strategies the Czech chaplains devise to overcome these uncertainties. The text suggests that the effective way of support might be building non-threatening relationships with clients, maintaining working creativity, and strengthening the feeling of being called to chaplaincy by God.
Pedagogická orientace, 2018
Studie je první výzkumnou sondou do problematiky sebepojetí absolventů domácího vzdělávání. Jedná... more Studie je první výzkumnou sondou do problematiky sebepojetí absolventů domácího vzdělávání. Jedná se o dílčí, ale velmi významné téma, kterému se v našich podmínkách ve vztahu k domácímu vzdělávání zatím nedostalo náležité pozornosti. Cílem studie je zjistit, jak děti s touto specifickou zkušeností samy sebe vnímají, a porovnat jejich výsledky se spolužáky, kteří domácím vzděláváním neprošli. První část textu je zaměřená na teoretická východiska, koncept sebepojetí a metodologii výzkumu, ve druhé části jsou prezentovány výsledky pilotního výzkumného šetření. Jedním z hlavních přínosů této pilotní studie je obrácení pozornosti k individualitě vzdělávaného, nikoli pouze vzdělávajícího, což je v případě studií zaměřených na domácí vzdělávání doposud převažující přístup, a ověření, zda lze Dotazník sebepojetí Piers-Harris 2 považovat za vhodný nástroj pro realizaci obdobně zaměřených výzkumů.
Psychologie a její kontexty, 2021
The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with str... more The article describes the mechanism of spiritual coping as a coping strategy for dealing with stress during an exam period in university students. The study emphasizes various manifestations of inner spirituality or religiosity and its effects on the perception of the academic locus of control (ALOC). This is a case study of perceiving the influenceability of the exam in correlation to spirituality. The study is a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews using the constructivist methodology. Twelve students of psychology from the Faculty of Education at Charles University were interviewed about their coping mechanisms. The study explores the mechanism of transforming spiritual believes into a form of spiritual coping in an academic environment. The design of the study is single-blinded, meaning that the participants did not know in advance that their spiritual coping is studied. Thanks to this, authors were able to interview a sample of students including those who do not consider themselves spiritual. A concept of “equation of exam” was discovered during the qualitative analysis. The equation of exam means that controllable and uncontrollable factors were assessed by participants and the result of the equation is a feeling of gaining maximum control. Spiritual coping helps participants to cope with the uncontrollable factors by a belief that these are actually influenceable. This way, participants increased their inner locus of control over the result of the exam. Forms of spiritual coping using an external locus of control were rejected by all participants as undesirable. More complex spiritual believes lead to more sophisticated ways of increasing internal locus of control and subjective preparedness for the exam. The methodology used in this study leads to a finding that unspiritual people can use spiritual coping to a certain extent. The results indicate that while the use of spiritual coping varies, the form remains the same in all situations. But using spiritual coping in other life situations does not necessarily mean it will be used in an academic environment too. Two people can use the same strategy, but it does not mean it has the same meaning. A talisman is a good example. About half of the participants have experience with using a talisman. However, it serves as social support rather than spiritual. It reminds them of the close ones. Only one participant stated that they believed the talisman had power by itself. None of the participants use maladaptive coping, so it cannot be disputed that spirituality leads to a preference for adaptive coping. Even though the results of this study cannot be generalized, they could serve as a foundation for new research. Spiritual individuals do not necessarily use spiritual coping in an academic context, and at the same time, non-spiritual individuals may resort to this behavior. The results may also be correlated to anxiety caused by uncontrollable factors. This idea is worth considering in follow-up studies.
Czech Sociological Review, 2022
The article focuses on the understudied topic of contemporary hospital chaplaincy in the Czech Re... more The article focuses on the understudied topic of contemporary hospital chaplaincy in the Czech Republic, its development, and the current issues this work is dealing with. Based on a study conducted among Czech hospital chaplains affiliated with the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, the Roman Catholic Church, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, and the Church of Seventh Day Adventists, the article examines the experiences of Christian providers of spiritual care in the secularised environment of a hospital and sheds light on how they perceive their work and role. Two waves of interviews were conducted among thirteen hospital chaplains, male and female, and subjected to an applied thematic analysis. This produced four thematic areas that the article explores in detail: (1) the localisation of the chaplaincy within the hospital, (2) the chaplains' methods of working with patients, (3) the chaplains' relationships with other hospital personnel, and (4) the selfidentification of the hospital chaplains. The results of this research revealed that the secularised environment of the Czech Republic is a crucial factor that affects the work of chaplains in several ways, but their role in the hospital has at the same time in ways that are separate from their religious affiliation, as the understanding dialogue they engage in with patients forms a core part of their work.