Abstract
Home country re-entry from cross-cultural missionary work abroad may be associated with psychological distress. Re-entrants experience multiple losses including loss of identity which may be associated with personal/relational identity gaps and depersonalization/dehumanization. However, research suggests that some re-entrants are resilient with good mental health, while others are fragile with poor mental health. The aims of this paper are to explore the nature and frequency of re-entering missionaries' identity gaps and their depersonalization/dehumanization in resilient and fragile re-entrants. Fifteen re-entering adult Australian cross-cultural missionary workers from four interdenominational Australian mission organizations completed semi-structured interviews. Results were analysed using modified Consensual Qualitative Research methods. Links were established between personal/relational identity gaps, depersonalization/dehumanization and resilience on re-entry. Implications for re-entrants' care are discussed with suggestions for further research.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1007-1023 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Journal of Religion and Health |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Acculturation
- Depression
- Mental health
- Missionaries
- Resilience
- Reverse culture shock
- Social identity