Exploration of Spirituality Among African American Women, Research Paper Example

The question within the article was somewhat vague and mostly interpreted by the reader.  The author’s main point was to ask what role spirituality and religion play in the recovery of African American women from substance abuse problems.  However, the underlying question being asked was how this information could directly relate to the treatment methodology and understandings of recovery by nursing and medical professionals.  The question was not exactly clearly stated nor was it very concise.  The author began by explaining the issue that African American women experience substance abuse problems and provided statistics and a multitude of previous research and concepts.  The author then concluded that not enough information directly involves the recovery of African American women specifically.

The problem with the question is that the role of spirituality in an individual’s life is not exactly researchable.  The author chose to use a phenomenological approach method for studying previous substance abusers by interviewing them in the comfort of their own homes.  The research relied mainly on the responses of the subjects as well as the interviewer’s interpretation of what responses and stories would constitute the involvement of either spirituality or religion in a person’s life.  The significance of this question as far as the final results are concerned is that it mainly concentrates on raising the issue of spiritual awareness by nursing professionals.  The author suggests that this study shows fundamental proof that nursing professionals must be trained to understand their own personal spirituality before they can help others find their own.  These final conclusions are not statistically supported and the responses of only 15 women who each may have had a different definition of spirituality or whereby the interviewer may have misinterpreted their responses to support her conclusions are not warranted to draw any solid conclusions from this study.

The study is constantly supported by in-text citations from previous literature and theories that have been published on the problem of substance abuse or a lack of research on African Americans and women.  The author provides this information at the beginning of the article and throughout the ending discussion to show proof that experts in the nursing and psychology professions believe that this type of study is warranted.  Furthermore, the author uses the Giorgi method for collecting data and also supports her concept of substance abuse being directly connected to a lack of spirituality through Frankl’s research on “existential frustration.”  While the study may be warranted, the author uses much of the research out of context to support her claims.  Very little scientific evidence is used to suggest that the author’s study is worthwhile and valid for discovering a connection of this magnitude.  Meanwhile, the sample size available for the author’s study would not constitute as valid for any of the previous works that the author used to support her claims.

The review of literature was vast and accurate.  Although at times much of the information that the author used from previous literature was taken out of text to support her own conclusions.  The use of Frankl was perhaps the most compelling evidence and it was only discussed to describe substance abusers having a problem with existential frustration, not necessarily a problem with spirituality or any connectivity with a higher being or god.  Much of the literature review was spent describing Giorgi’s data collection method as a way to support her methods in the author’s current study.  While there are multiple examples of literature cited in the opening paragraphs, much of the information is either not warranted or does not apply for the question the author was specifically trying to answer through her study.

The research method was accurately and properly described.  The author chose the phenomenological method and properly supported her decision to use this method as opposed to other available methods.  The method was supported by previous research that had utilized the same concepts and it was connected with Giorgi’s method for collecting data, which was also properly and accurately described.  The methods that the author chose to utilize were probably best for this type of study and appeared to be carried out according to the descriptions found earlier in the article.

There were a total of 15 subjects used for this study.  They were selected mainly by networking with churches and substance abuse shelters to find the appropriate subjects.  These subjects were substance-free for at least one full year.  They were also between the ages of 29-49 and declared themselves as African American women.

The only data collection method used was the Giorgi method as previously described.  The study utilized phenomenological research methods that involved interviewing the subjects at home and analyzing the subjects’ responses through audio tape recordings and the interpretations of the interviewer.  These techniques were not appropriate because a clear definition of spirituality and what the interviewer proposed was to be considered spirituality was never discussed with the subjects.  Therefore, the interviewer made many assumptions as to specific phrases and naïve units that would constitute a reference to what she assumed were spiritual phrases.

The coding categories were described fully and appeared to be complete based on the tables and statistical information provided by the author.  Most of the examples of data fit each category that was presented, even when there were no data to support a category, it was still included to show a positive or negative appearance of data.  The researcher only took steps to validate findings by listening to the audio tape interviews and working to extract the naïve units for the study.

The question that the author originally proposed was answered.  However, the data found in the study does not warrant the answer to be used as proof for changing the ways that nursing professionals are trained in the health industry.  Although it appears that spirituality may have some impact on the recovery process or at least the subjects mostly perceived some sense of spirituality or higher power having an impact on their recovery, it does not provide empirical research to suggest that it must be included in health treatment techniques.  The final conclusions with this research should state that the author simply proved that individuals with spiritual beliefs must be catered to and supported in any way that does not restrict the nursing professional’s ability to do his or her job effectively.

This paper raises a lot of other questions that would best be answered by a more complete study with a larger sample size.  Making final conclusions to suggest a change in nursing training and health treatment techniques for substance abusers based on the responses and assumptions made by 15 subjects and the interviewer are very irresponsible.  Further research must be conducted to determine the applicability of spiritual concepts and treatment methods on the recovery of substance abusers, specifically for African American women.  This study should not be used as empirical research and should not be validated through citations by other medical professionals or students because of the incomplete ways in which the data were collected and false conclusions proposed by the author.

References

Wright, V.L. (2003). A Phenomenological exploration of spirituality among african american women recovering from substance abuse . Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 17(4), 173-185.