Research Korner: Analytical Review Examples

1.0 Introduction             In an organization, it is important to recognize that individuals, groups and organizations have their individual needs and demands that must be satisfied. As a result, attention will be drawn towards the fact that organizations and the entities involved in it are dependent on a wider environment for different factors to survive. Thus, it pertains on the open system approach towards the organization (Morgan, 1998).             Utility Store is considered as one of the largest retail supermarket in Pakistan with 5,711 stores and with more than 16,500 employees. It offers fresh foods and dairy products to its customers (Utility Store, 2009). The organization is headed by the chairman of the company, with the board of directors under the organisational structure. Board of directors include non-executive chairman, chief executive, group retail director, group trading director, group finance director and senior independent director at the strategic level. At the tactical level, every store has independent store manager which connect the board of directors and operational staffs. Operational staffs are the duty manager and shop floor staff (Utility Stores, 2009).              Fresh products are all delivered into the temperature controlled warehouses and packed in the packing plants, and will be later on dispatched to stores in the entire country. On the other hand, Utility store sell milk, chocolates, confectionary, rice, flour, cooking oil, sugar and other home care products, which include Surf, Vim and Wheel, together with different personal products, such as Axe, Dove, Lifebouy, Lux, Rexona, Signal and Sunsilk (Utility Stores, 2009).             Working as customer service assistant at one of the Utility Store’s stores in Muzaffarabad Pakistan, the author had the opportunity to analyse the implementation and domain of information technology (IT) in the organisation. His main responsibilities are the customer services, co-ordination with the shop floor staff and regular reporting to the duty manager. This working relationship enables the author to have background information and experience with the strategies of the company, particularly the application of IT and information system (IS) in the company.

Introduction: A Reflection on the Use of Range of Theories in an Analysis of Utility Store Organisation

1.0 Introduction In an organization, it is important to recognize that individuals, groups and organizations have their individ...

The role of religious coping and superego 	anxiety on recovery from substance abuse and depression. 	  	 	Coping literature has shown that 	individuals are not merely passive victims of their circumstances. They are 	also active participants in their own affairs (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; 	Pargament, 1997a).  The same literature has also shown that coping is a 	process that changes with time (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Pargament, 	1997a).  Lazarus & Folkman (1984) and Marler & Thoresen (2002) suggested 	that in most circumstances individuals employ personal, social and 	situational factors in coping with stress. Pargament (1997a) and Koenig 	(1998) found that in stressful situations many people employ religion. They 	stated that for a religious person, religion contributes to both their 	self-definition and their coping strategies.  Since some who profess 	spirituality (belief in God) or religiousness (the exercise of spirituality 	in an organized manner) do not actually practice their religion, the present 	study will focus on the actual use of spirituality or religion in times of 	stress (religious coping) rather than the mere profession of spirituality 	(belief in God) or religiousness (the exercise of spirituality in an 	organized manner). In this sense, the term “religious 	coping” 	bridges some of the implicit differences between spirituality (belief in 	God) and religiousness (the exercise of spirituality in an organized 	manner). 	 	  	 	Conditions under which 	religious coping can be adopted. 	 	The adoption of religious coping depends on 	many factors that can be summarized into personal, social, and situational 	factors (Lazarus & Folkman 1984; Folkman et al. 1986; Bush et al., 1999; 	Pargament, 2000; Pargament, 2001; Harrison et al. 2001). 	 	First, the adoption of religious coping 	depends on the extent religion is incorporated into subject=s 	self-definition (Pargament, 2001).  For some subjects, religion is 	intrinsically part of their lives, for some it is not, and for some it is a 	direct opposite of their belief and/or life.  For some deeply religious 	people, religion is so ingrained in their subconscious that McIntosh (1995) 	speaks of religious schemas that influence how they receive and process 	information.   	 	Secondly, the adoption of religious coping 	also depends on how a particular situation is appraised (Lazarus & Folkman, 	1984; Folkman et al. 1986; Bush et al., 1999).  For example, if a situation 	is appraised as life threatening or falling outside the realm of human 	control, religiously minded individuals are more likely to adopt religious 	coping than when the situation is judged otherwise. Even when the situation 	is deemed life threatening, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) warn that individuals 	do not automatically adopt religious coping. 	 	Harrison et al. (2001, p. 90) tried to 	pinpoint situations under which religious coping is likely to be adopted.  	They found that religious coping is often adopted when faced with negative 	events or situations.  In these situations, religious minded individuals use 	God to give meaning and purpose to negative events that happen in their 	lives. For example, a religiously minded individual may interpret a 	misfortune as an opportunity for spiritual growth (Pargament et al. 2000). 	 	 	Pargament’s 	(2000, p. 520) study went a little further in noting that religious coping 	influences the appraisal of a supposedly stressful situation from harmful to 	benevolent, depending on whether the religious coping style adopted is 	either positive (empowering) or negative (demoralizing).  For example, if a 	situation is appraised negatively as a punishment from God or a lesson from 	a punishing God the reaction will be different from when the situation is 	appraised positively as a temptation, or a test of commitment to God.  	However, the study did not address why a religiously minded individual will 	adopt for example, a negative religious coping style instead of a positive 	religious coping style in a particular situation.  In addition, the study is 	unclear whether the accompanying relief from religious coping was temporary 	or permanent.     	 	Religious coping and 	spiritual coping 	 	             Initially, there was no 	distinction between religion and spirituality (Pargament, 1999).  Spilka and 	McIntosh (1996) held that the twosome were used interchangeably.  Recently, 	the concept “religion” 	has attracted diverse meanings (Pargament, Balzar, Van Haitsma, & Raymark, 	1995; Zinnbauer, 1997; Pargament, 1999); the literature suggests that 	religion is increasingly defined in organizational terms while spirituality 	is defined in more personal and experiential terms (Zinnbauer, 1997; 	Pargament, 1997; Pargament, 1999; Shahabi et al.; 2002).  	 	            Miller and Thoresen’s 	(2003) study stated that the multidimensionality of spirituality makes it 	easy for the concept to elude clear-cut definitions. They concluded it is 	easier to know what spirituality is not than what it is because people 	differ from each other when they are speaking of spirituality. 	 	This development according to Sheldrake 	1992 and Wulff 1997 has forced researchers to distinguish between 	spirituality (belief in God) and religion (the replication of that belief in 	organized way). 	 	            Spirituality has been defined 	in the context of a search for spiritual value (Pargament, 1999); or 	functional in nature as in the “search 	for universal truth” 	(Scott, 1997, p. 108), or as “a 	conscious or unconscious belief that relates the individual to the world and 	gives meaning and definition to existence” 	(Scott, 1997, p. 115) or as the opposite of materiality (Thoresen & Harris, 	2002).  In all, spirituality (belief in God) is dissociated from 	institution.  	 	            The new trend is attributed in 	part to the influx of eastern religions e.g., sects of Buddhism, which 	McLoughlin (1978) traced to the religious revitalization movements inherent 	in history. Other researchers such as Finke (1990); Finke & Stark (1986, 	1992); Iannaccone (1991), Marler & Hadaway (2002) trace it to the 20th 	century “free 	market” 	approach to religion. This trend has thrown into question the once accepted 	definition of religion because of the need to incorporate different sects 	and practices. The situation has led to not only a more narrow definition of 	religion but also the delineation of the concept of spirituality in order to 	accommodate the different sects and practices. 	 	The rise of secularism in the later part of 	the last century and the growing perception of institutional religion as a 	hindrance to personal religious growth and development is another reason for 	the development (Zinnbauer et al. 1997; Turner et al. 1995).  This trend, as 	well as the influx of eastern religions came also the inherent feeling among 	researchers and the public that something is lacking in the way religion is 	define or understood (Pargament, 1999b).  	 	            Furthermore, Pargament (1999b) 	and Bibby (1987) held that the prevalent trend toward individuation and 	autonomy created a disdain for institution and the need to 	deinstitutionalize.  The disdain toward institutions such as big governments 	and big companies was extended to religious institutions.  The sociologist 	Roof (1993) found that baby boomers in the United States mistrust 	institutions of all kinds.  Their tendency to pursue individualized beliefs 	and practice makes them more likely to commit to a spiritual quest than an 	institutionalized religion (Roof, 2000; Marler & Hadaway, 2002). Roof (2000) 	also found that spirituality was defined in personal and experiential terms, 	while religiousness included beliefs, practices and institution. 	 	            The findings of Roof (1993) and 	Bibby (1987) were replicated by Woods and Ironson (1999).  In addition, 	Woods & Ironson (1999) found that those who reported spirituality (belief in 	God) were more likely to see God as more loving, nonjudgmental and 	forgiving, whereas those who reported religiousness (organized expression of 	that belief) saw God more as a judgmental creator. 	 	            This development, according to 	Pargament (1999, p. 5), is novel because historically, religion has not been 	viewed in a purely institutional sense nor was it only about God.  	Evidently, it is no longer surprising to hear people say 	“I am not a 	religious person, but I am spiritual” 	(Pargament, 1999, p. 4).  The concepts “religion” 	and “spirituality” 	began to mean different thing to different people. 	 	If the popular parlance is to say, 	“I am not 	religious, but I am spiritual,” 	to what extent therefore does the academic understanding of the term 	religious coping reflect the public notion of the term?  This is necessary 	in order to abridge the gap between the academic construct of the terms 	“religion” 	and “spirituality” 	with the understanding of the concept by the participants in the study. 	 	 	Marler and Hadaway’s 	(2002) review found that the two concepts are mutually overlapping when they 	took the definition of the concepts to the streets. They asked regular 	people what might be the definition of religion and of spirituality. An 	older baby boomer from New England saw spirituality as “how 	you look at life” 	and religion as “the 	clothing for it.” 	An ex-conservative Protestant now married to a Muslim in Georgia saw 	religiousness as “being 	active in the church and all that,” 	while being spiritual was “more 	of inner feelings and self.” 	Among many respondents, religion was “organized 	spirituality,” 	“the 	practice of spirituality,” 	or “that 	part of spiritual experience that is institutionalized.” 	Marler and Hadaway (2002, 295) concluded that for most people spirituality 	is about a connection between the individual and some larger power, while 	religion is the organized expression of that connection.   	 	Zinnbauer et al. (1999) reviewed the 	literature on religion and spirituality.  They concluded that the two 	concepts are conceptually overlapping.  The same finding was also replicated 	by Hill et al. (2000) and Marler & Hadaway (2002). Both Zinnbauer et al. 	(1999) and Hill et al. (2000) warn against ignoring the reality that 	spirituality and religion are inherently intertwined and that those who 	polarize the concepts oversimplify them. 	 	In a broad based sample, Zinnbauer et al. 	(1997, 562) found that ninety-three percent (93%) of the respondents 	consider themselves spiritual; seventy-eight percent (78%) identify 	themselves as religious. However, they recognized that different religious 	and cultural groups assign different meanings to the term religiousness and 	spirituality.  They advocated operationalizing the definition of 	religiousness and spirituality in a way that reflects the variety of 	perspectives in the sample. They also found that seventy-four percent (74%) 	of their sample saw religion in the same way as spirituality and did not see 	the need to choose between them.  Although almost every one in the study 	believed they were spiritual, the correlation in the participants’ 	definition of spirituality was essentially zero.  There was even less 	correlation in the manner mental health professionals in the study rated 	themselves as spiritual or religious.  The study also found that more than 	any group, the mental health workers rate themselves spiritual more often 	than religious.  The study points to a potential bias in psychotherapy 	(Kelly, 1990; Schwen & Schau, 1990) where religious solutions may be 	considered maladaptive or the therapist may implicitly impose his or her 	spiritual or secular worldview on a religiously minded client. 	 	Marler and Hadaway (2002) review suggested 	that the large discrepancy between the number of those who rated themselves 	spiritual rather than religious in most studies on spirituality and religion 	depends on how the question was framed. They stated that both Roof (1993) 	and 1999 Gallup poll from which many of the studies were based assumed that 	being religious and being spiritual were mutually exclusive and did not give 	the respondents the choice to be both spiritual and religious. They asserted 	that in the Zinnbauer et al. (1997) study in which the choice was given, 	seventy-four (74%) of the subjects rated themselves both spiritual and 	religious as opposed to nineteen percent (19%) that rated themselves 	spiritual or the four percent (4%) that rated themselves religious. In the 	Marler and Hadaway (1993) study where the same choice was available to the 	participants, sixty-four percent (64.2%) rated themselves both spiritual and 	religious as opposed to nineteen percent (18.5%) and the nine percent (8.9%) 	that are reportedly either spiritual or religious alone. 	 	The present study will therefore adopt 	Pargament’s (1999, p. 	15) broadband definition of religion which includes not just institutions 	but all sacredness including spirituality. Religion is defined as a “search 	for significance in ways related to the sacred” 	(Pargament, 1999, p. 11). By significance, he meant, 	“whatever people 	value in their lives – 	be it psychological, social, physical or spiritual; be it good or bad” 	(Pargament, 1999, p.11). Pargament (1999, p. 12) divided the search into 	“a pathway 	and a destination”. 	He posited that pathways might not necessarily lead to sacred destinations 	because people involve themselves in religion for many reasons that may not 	be spiritual. What was required of each search, according to Pargament 	(1999, p.12) was a sacred pathway. He likened sacred pathways with religious 	attendance, rituals, coping, etc. Hence, the search for the sacred qualifies 	as religious no matter the destination. In this vein, religion is considered 	a broader concept than the bad, narrow and institutionally definition that 	is an oversimplification of an otherwise complex construct.  	 	  	 	Psychoanalysis and 	religion 	 	 Religious coping (the use of spirituality 	or religion to cope in times of stress) has received both positive and 	negative evaluation from the fathers of psychoanalysis over the course of 	the history of psychoanalysis. 	 	In three papers, Freud (1907; 1928; 1939) 	discussed religious coping and its impact on the society. His view on the 	origin and use of religious coping is more negative than positive. First, 	Freud (1928) held that religious belief is the product of primitive man’s 	(sic) frustrations in confronting forces beyond his (sic) control 	(instinctual and external).  In man’s 	(sic) attempt to guide against unbearable forces and the subsequent anxiety 	from failure to deal with these forces, he (sic) projects his wishful 	fantasy of an omnipotent father onto the concept of God to guide and protect 	him from danger (Freud, 1939).  By using religion as a means of coping with 	feelings of helplessness, man (sic) fulfills his unconscious wish for an 	omnipotent father by actually living and acting as if there is an omnipotent 	father or God to guide and protect him (sic) in times of danger.  Therefore, 	religious coping, according to Freud fosters regression to childhood 	dependency.  Freud (1928) stated that the strength of man’s 	fantasy of an omnipotent father is contingent upon the strength of his 	dependency issues; the use of religious coping has provided the avenue for 	man’s 	(sic) fantasy to be sustained and maintained.  With the dawn of 	civilization, man (sic), according to Freud, attained the age of reason; 	subsequently religion outlived its usefulness.  Freud argues that it is 	incumbent that the wish for an omnipotent father is replaced because 	continual reliance on this fantasy fosters childhood neurosis by enabling 	illusory infantile wishes to be sustained and maintained.  Freud (1928, p. 	49) writes: “men 	cannot remain children for ever; they must in the end go out into hostile 	life.  We 	may call this education to reality.@ 	 	 	In Obsessive acts and religious 	practices, Freud (1907) held that religious rituals are analogous to 	symptomatic efforts to cope with unconscious guilt from the oedipal 	complex.  The emphasis on guilt and punishment prevalent in religious 	rituals, according to Freud, aim at assuaging unconscious guilt from the 	oedipal complex.  Freud (1907) held that through religious rites and 	rituals, the community’s 	unconscious guilt as well as the efforts to assuage guilt is reinforced and 	maintained; community neurosis is thereby sustained and maintained.  This, 	according to Freud, (1928) hinders ego development by consistently fostering 	regression and obsessional neurosis.  	 	Freud did not advocate immediate 	eradication of religious coping because that would create by his admission a 	dangerous void.  For the unsophisticated, Freud allowed religious coping as 	their only means of sustaining civility in the state.  Freud (1928/1913) saw 	in psychoanalysis a vehicle through which preparation for the replacement of 	religion can be achieved.  Despite his idea that religion helps to maintain 	stability in the state for the unsophisticated, he was never in doubt that 	societies and individuals will be better, if individuals rely on science 	rather than religion in dealing with their problems.  If religious coping 	fosters childhood and societal obsessional neuroses and needs to be replaced 	by science, there is no gainsaying that Freud’s 	view of religious coping is at most not favorable. 	 	In A Common Faith, John Dewey (1934, 	p. 46) distinguished between what he called religion and religious 	experience.  Like Freud, he held that religious coping is a hindrance to man’s 	attainment of his potentialities.  Through religious coping, man (sic) 	continues to sustain the idea of God’s 	intervention in human affairs thereby relying on some external power to 	fulfill his responsibilities. 	 	 Flugel (1945) held that religious coping 	is a defense against anxiety from noxious impulses that are difficult to 	confront. He stated that the concept of God or an omnipotent father is a 	projection of a weak ego in defense of the anxiety from having to deal with 	the conflict between the demands of the id (basic drives) and superego 	(conscience).  Flugel (1945) explained it by saying that the developing ego 	lacked libidinal energy to confront the conflicts between the instincts and 	the demands of conscience.  In defense, the developing ego projects a 	disguised superego that now appears as an outside observer, otherwise known 	as an omnipotent and independent person i.e. God, as a defense against the 	anxiety of mediating between the conflicts of the id and the superego. In 	this sense, religious coping provides an opportunity for man to hide from 	his responsibilities by relying on external factor or God instead of facing 	realities. 	 	Karl Marx regarded religion as 	“the opium of the 	masses.”  	He advocated eradication of religious coping because of his belief that 	religious coping hinder the working class from seeking their due rights. For 	Marx, religious coping represent both an expression of symptoms as well as a 	resistance to real expression of symptoms. It is an unconscious effort to 	maintain substitutive fantasy of an omnipotent God and some reward that 	comes with a fulfillment of an action either here or hereafter. In religious 	coping, this fantasy is not only maintained but lived out in religious rites 	and rituals such that prayers and religious rites become magical means of 	realizing these fantasies (Argyle, 1959). 	 	Unlike Freud, Jung traced religious coping 	to the human psyche.  In Psychology and religion, Jung (1938) stated 	that religious coping is a psychological phenomenon that is ingrained in the 	collective unconscious. Like Freud, Jung held that religious coping is 	symptomatic of unconscious conflicts but unlike Freud, Jung believed that 	religious coping is also therapeutic, in the sense that through religious 	coping unconscious conflicts are not just played out but also sublimated. In 	this vein, religious coping facilitates ego development through the process 	of identification and misidentification.               	 	 In Psychoanalysis and religion, 	Fromm (1950) stated that the relationship between psychoanalysis and 	religion is too complex to be forced into either one or two categories. 	 	In 1983, Bergen reviewed the literature on 	the relationship between religious coping and mental health. He found that 	the literature was inconclusive. Forty-seven percent (47%) of the studies 	reported positive relationship between religion and mental health, 	twenty-three percent (23%) reported negative correlation between religion 	and mental health while thirty percent (30%) reported no relationship 	between the two. 	 	In another review by Gartner, Larson, and 	Allen (1991), the emphasis was on how mental health was defined.  They found 	that when the definition of mental health was based on what they called 	Ahard 	variables@ 	or “behavioral 	events that can be reliably observed and measured,” 	a positive correlation was found between religion and mental health. 	However, when the emphasis was on what they called 	Asoft 	variable@ 	that is, “paper 	and pencil personality tests which attempts to measure theoretical 	constructs,@ 	religion was found to correlate negatively with mental health. 	 	In their review of the literature eighteen 	years later, Harrison et al. (2001) found that religious coping is linked to 	a variety of psychological and health indicators. They also found a great 	deal of variations in the size and strength of the relationship between 	religious coping and mental health. The study found that religious coping 	was common among many groups; people were more likely to adopt religious 	coping when faced with hopelessness and helplessness. Religious coping was 	prominent in situations such as terminal illnesses (Mickley et al., 1998), 	bereavement (Thompson & Vardaman, 1997), depression (Bickel et al., 1998), 	chronic pain (Bush et al., 1999), and serious life stressors (Park, Cohen, 	and Herb, 1990).  In all, religion was found to correlate with mental health 	when the emphasis is on positive religious coping (Pargament, 2001) and 	positive appraisal (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984).  	 	Although there is significant empirical 	evidence supporting a positive correlation between religious coping and 	mental health, there is a dearth of literature on how religious coping may 	interact with substance abuse and superego anxiety in depressed substance 	abusers. Depressed substance abusers share a sense of helplessness and 	hopelessness reminiscent of those who use religious coping to deal with life 	threatening situations but whether this helplessness and hopelessness rises 	to the level experienced by bereaved or terminally ill patients is not 	clear. 	 	In some studies, a negative correlation was 	found between  religiousness and substance abuse disorders (Gartner, Larson, 	& Allen, 1991; Gorsuch, 1995; Kendler, Gardner, & Prescott, 1997; Miller, 	1998), in the sense that substance abusers were less likely to go to church, 	temple or synagogue; in another study, it was found to depend on the type of 	substance used (Uchendu, 2002). 	 	The relationship between substance use and 	depression is well documented in addiction literature. In Civilization 	and its discontents, Freud (1930) saw addiction as a flight from 	“unpleasures” 	by escaping to a fantasized world. Like Freud, most psychodynamic theories 	adopted the notion that substance abuse is a medication for underlying 	psychological problems. The exact nature of this underlying problem has not 	been resolved. It has been described as depression (Rabo, 1933), euphoria of 	drunkenness (Fenichel, 1945), Character problems (Wieder & Kaplan, 1969), 	childhood trauma (Raskin, 1970), painful affect from ego deficits 	(Khantzian, 1985), defect in the self (Kohut, 1977), vulnerability or 	deficiency in self-regulation and efforts to overcome them (Golden, 1990). 	In all, substance abuse is considered a mask to an underlying psychological 	problem. The choice of depressed substance abusers for the present study is 	based on the idea that substance abuse is a mask for an underlying 	depression. In the present study, the degree of substance abuse will be 	predicated on the severity of depression, while the severity of depression 	will be contingent on the measure of superego anxiety. 	 	  	 	Purpose of Study 	 	This study aims at contributing to the 	literature by pointing out that the various outcomes often associated with 	religion depends on the type of religious coping adopted 	– positive or 	negative. It hypothesizes that the negative outcome often associated with 	religion and mental health is based on the erroneous identification of 	religion with negative religious coping.  The present study also 	hypothesizes that the adoption of negative religious coping is associated 	with harsh superego or strong parental disavowal. 	 	            Building on the negative 	correlation between church attendance and substance use (Chang et al. 2001; 	Koenig, 2001), and the correlation between positive religious coping and 	mental health, the study aims at a psychotherapy technique that incorporate 	positive religious coping for clients with substance abuse and depression.  	In addition, the study has implication for both religiously and 	non-religiously minded clients who may be using negative religious coping 	style in attempts to cope with stressful situations like substance abuse and 	depression. The whole idea is summarized in these hypotheses. 	 	  	 	Hypothesis: 	 	I. Subjects who score high in positive 	religious coping  will also report a high length of recovery from substance 	abuse. 	 	II. Subjects who score high in positive 	religious coping will also report a high length of recovery from depression. 	 	III. Subjects who score high in negative 	religious coping will report a lower length of recovery from substance 	abuse. 	 	IV. Subjects who score high in negative 	religious coping will also report a lower length of recovery from 	depression. 	 	V. Subjects who score high in superego 	anxiety measure will also report negative religious coping because of 	introjected parental disavowal or harsh superego anxiety. 	 	VI. Subjects who score high in superego 	anxiety measure will also report a lower length of recovery from substance 	abuse. 	 	VII. Subjects who score high in superego 	anxiety measure will report a lower length of recovery from depression. 	 	VIII. Subjects who score low in superego 	anxiety measure will also score high in positive religious coping. 	 	IX. Subjects who score low in superego 	anxiety measure will report a higher length of recovery from substance 	abuse. 	 	X. Subjects who score low in superego 	anxiety measure will report a higher length of recovery from depression. 	  	 	Method 	 	Subjects: 	 	The subjects (50) will be drawn from 	outpatient substance abuse treatment centers and AA groups in Nassau and 	Suffolk counties in Long Island as well as in Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens' 	boroughs of New York.  A majority of the participants will be drawn from the 	outpatient substance abuse program in Creedmoor psychiatric center in 	Queens' village.  Participants will be made up of depressed substance 	abusers.  The criteria for inclusion will include: 	 	(a)          	Subject must be an adult (at least 18 years of age 	by the time of the interview). 	 	(b)          	Subjects must have at least a year history of 	substance abuse and depression. 	 	(c)          	Subjects must have a clinical diagnosis of 	substance abuse and depression. 	 	(d)          	Subjects with psychosis e.g. schizophrenia, are 	ruled out. 	 	  	 	Procedure: 	 	This is a correlational study. The measures 	will consist of a demographic form that will include among other things 	subjects’ 	family history, history of depression, history of substance abuse, days of 	abstinence, and length of recovery from substance abuse and depression. 	Subjects’ 	psychiatric history is tailored to rule out subjects that do not meet the 	criteria of inclusion. Three scales will be used, the Beck depression 	inventory (BDI-II), Pargament et al. (2000) religious coping scale (Rcope), 	Early memory test, and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).  	 	  	 	Religious Coping Scale 	 	Pargament et al. (2000) religious coping 	scale (Rcope) consists of 21 subscales of 5-items to which participants 	respond on a 4-point scale ranging from “O” 	representing “not 	at all” to 	3, which represents “a 	great deal.”  	The scale was normed with a college and a hospital sample.  Reliability 	estimates of the subscales were generally high (alpha = .80 or greater) with 	the exception of two scales none of which were adopted for the present 	study.  The four subscales selected for the present study are not only among 	the most reliable but also among the most commonly used subscales. The four 	subscales include, seeking control through a partnership with God in problem 	solving (collaborative religious coping subscale - alpha = .89). Redefining 	stressor as benevolent and potentially beneficial (benevolent religious 	reappraisal subscale - alpha = .91). Dissatisfaction with God’s 	relationship with the individual in the stressful situation (spiritual 	discontent - alpha =.88), and passively waiting for God to control the 	situation (passive religious deferral - alpha = .83). The four subscales 	were selected to satisfy two positive and two negative sides of Rcope. The 	variations in internal consistency between positive and negative subscales 	were underscored by Pargament et al. (2000). 	 	Beck Depressive Inventory 	II (BDI-II). 	 	            The BDI-II is a self-report 	analysis of occurrence and severity of depressive symptoms.  BDI-II 	reliability studies indicate a coefficient alpha of .92 for an outpatient 	population.  This is an improvement because BDI-I had a coefficient alpha = 	.86.  Unlike BDI-I, BDI-II is positively correlated with the Hamilton 	Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (r.71, n = 87; Beck et al. 1996).  	It is also consistent with DSM-IV criteria for depression (Smith & Erford, 	1998).  Like most measures, it is not an actual diagnosis of depression 	(Sundberg, 1987) because that will require in addition, a clinical 	judgment.  BDI-II contains 21 items on a scale of 0-3 rated according to 	severity.  It was written at the 5th grade reading level 	(Conoley, 1987).  Since BDI-II is a new diagnostic tool, much is not known, 	except that five percent of the standardization samples were minorities. It 	is also said to be an updated version of BDI-IA, which was found to apply 	across racial/cultural categories (Ames, Gatewood-Colwell, & Kaczmarek, 	1989). 	 	            However, differences were found 	in frequency and severity in the expression of depressive symptoms between 	men and women in the standardization sample (Beck, Brown, & Steer, 1989). 	 	  	 	Thematic Apperception 	Test (TAT): 	 	Joseph’s 	(2003) superego anxiety measure will be used to score five depression and 	substance abuse eliciting TAT cards (1, 2, 3BM, 3GF, 13MF) to determine 	subjects’ 	level of superego anxiety. Participants will be required to make up a story 	with this directive: “Use 	the picture to make up a story as you please.  Describe first, what is 	happening in the picture right now. Secondly, write briefly, what led to it 	and thirdly, what happened after it.  Describe what the character(s) in the 	picture is (a) feeling and, (b) Thinking.”  	 	 	            The cards were selected because 	they were associated with depressive symptoms (Coche & Sillitti, 1983).  In 	addition, Coche and Sillitti (1983) reported that the presence of depressive 	themes on the TAT was correlated with measures of depression on MMPI and 	Beck Depression Inventory, one of the scales in the study. 	 	  	 	Picture # 1: 	 	This is a picture of a boy sitting at a 	table looking at a violin placed on the table in front of him. 	 	            The picture elicits how 	subjects deal with impulse versus control, personal demands and external 	controlling agent, and general attitude toward authority (Groth-Marnat, 	1999). 	 	  	 	Picture # 2: 	 	This is a picture of a country scene with a 	woman holding a book in the foreground. In the background, a man is working 	a field while a woman watches. 	 	            This picture elicits issues of 	autonomy from the family versus status quo. It also deals with how 	individuals cope with challenges of people living together, competition 	among siblings etc (Groth-Marnat, 1999). 	 	Picture # 3: 	 	A boy is huddled next to a couch.  On the 	floor next to him is an ambiguous object that could be a set of keys or a 	revolver. 	 	            This picture centers on an 	individual who has been emotionally involved with another person or who is 	feeling guilty over some past behavior he has committed. Drug addicts often 	perceive the person in the picture as an addict (Groth-Marnat, 1999). 	 	 	  	 	Picture # 4: 	 	A woman is standing next to an open door 	with one hand grabbing the side of the door and other holding her downcast 	face. 	 	This picture elicits stories on 	interpersonal loss and contemplated harm because of guilt over past behavior 	(Groth-Marnat, 1999). 	 	  	 	Picture # 5: 	 	A young man is standing in the foreground 	with his head in his arms.  In the background is a half-naked woman lying in 	a bed. 	 	            This picture elicits stories on 	sexual conflicts.  It also focuses on guilt induced by illicit sexual 	activity (Groth-Marnat, 1999). 	 	  	 	Joseph Superego Anxiety 	Measure 	 	Joseph’s 	(2003) superego anxiety measure was designed to measure three ways of 	expressing critical attitudes from narrative material.  This measure 	consists of three subscales.  The subscale I measures self-criticism.  The 	subscale II, measures perceived criticism of others, and the subscale III 	measures criticism of others, condition, situation or environment. 	 	The narratives from the early memory and 	TAT stories will be scored by reading and scoring each sentence for the 	presence or absence of subscale I, II and III.  Sentences receive one score. 	Since it is a measure of explicitly stated attitudes, sentences are scored 	only when critical attitude are reflected in them.  A sentence may be scored 	for the presence of any of the three types of criticism at the same time. 	Critical attitudes are not scored in sentences unless explicitly stated.  	With no training, Joseph’s 	superego anxiety scale was found to enjoy a moderate level of interrater 	reliability (r= .4 to .6).  By the third time of scoring patient narratives, 	interrater reliability was found to be over .7. Three doctoral students 	trained in Joseph’s 	(2003) superego anxiety scale will rate the stories independently.  	 	 	Reference 	 	Ames, M. H., Gatewood-Colwell, G., & 	Kaczmarek, M. 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A Literature Review Paper: The role of religious coping and superego anxiety on recovery from substance abuse and depression.

The role of religious coping and superego anxiety on recovery from substance abuse and depression. Coping literature has sho...