Title

The integral place of religion in the lives of rural African-American women who use cocaine

Authors

Authors

E. J. Brown

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Relig. Health

Keywords

rural; African-American; women; ethnography; religion; cocaine; SPIRITUALITY; CHURCH; RECOVERY; DENOMINATIONS; ATTITUDES; DRUG; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Religion

Abstract

To understand the culture of rural African-American women who use cocaine, ethnographic research was conducted in rural North Central Florida using in-depth interviews and participant observations with 30 respondents. Fourteen major themes emerged from the data; however, this paper focuses on one theme, that of religion. Nine sub-themes about religion and spirituality emerged. Religion was viewed as a personal relationship with God, which is not dependent on socializing with other church members, but was helpful in sustaining the respondents. While religiosity was a stable and consistent place in the respondents' lives and some relied on their faith in God to replace their addiction, faith was not uniformly utilized by all respondents in this manner. Religiosity among African-American women who use cocaine cannot solely overcome the lack of drug treatment or treatment options and the stigma associated with drug use although it maybe a resiliency factor, which warrant promoting.

Journal Title

Journal of Religion & Health

Volume

45

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2006

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

19

Last Page

39

WOS Identifier

WOS:000238101600003

ISSN

0022-4197

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