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

    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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