Religion and Spirituality in the meaning-making and coping experiences of African American women: A qualitative analysis

This qualitative study examines the ways in which African American women use religion/spirituality to cope and to construct meaning in times of adversity. Content analysis of the narratives of a sample of African American women respondents (n = 23) revealed a set of eight nonoverlapping themes that explicate religiosity/spirituality’s role inmeaning-making and coping. Findings suggest that religion/spirituality help women to (1) interrogate and accept reality, (2) gain the insight and courage needed to engage in spiritual surrender, (3) confront and transcend limitations, (4) identify and grapple with existential questions and life lessons, (5) recognize purpose and destiny, (6) define character and act within subjectively meaningful moral principles, (7) achieve growth, and (8) trust in the viability of transcendent sources of knowledge and communication. Narrative examples are used to elucidate each theme. Findings point to the importance of relationships and intimacy in the meaning-making enterprise. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. In the social sciences the lives of African American women are represented as rife with adversity. The singularity of this image, although seriously problematic, has inspired a wealth of research on the coping behaviors and experi-ences of African American women. That body of research suggests that in their efforts to cope with life’s challenges African American women employ myriad strategies includ