Addressing methodological and ethical challenges of qualitative health research on persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Qualitative studies of persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may affect clinical practice and social policy. However, methodological and ethical challenges may present during studies of persons with these specific mental illnesses. The purpose of this paper is to increase transparency about how researchers addressed these challenges during a recent grounded theory study about engagement in primary care. As the researchers addressed the challenges, they increased understanding about persons with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They also gained insight about the challenges of studying persons with these specific mental illnesses and about the rigor and credibility of qualitative methods.

Attributes of Spirituality Described by Survivors of Sexual Violence.

This study focuses on what aspects of attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley (1998) are most salient for female and male survivors of sexual violence. Content analysis of secondary narrative data, provided by 50 participants in a study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence, was coded to the five attributes of spirituality as defined by Martsolf and Mickley. The attribute aspects of connecting with others in spiritual ways and with God/higher power were particularly significant. The attribute of transcendence was found less important, and the attributes of value, becoming, and meaning were not found important. The Martsolf and Mickley framework helped organize narrative data for a content analysis of spirituality in survivors of sexual violence.

Being delivered: spirituality in survivors of sexual violence.

A theoretical framework explaining how survivors of sexual violence use spirituality to respond to or recover from sexual violence is presented. Data were drawn from open-ended interviews of 27 women and 23 men who participated in a larger, ongoing study of women's and men's responses to sexual violence. Grounded theory methodology was used to develop the core category of Being Delivered, reflecting the participants' experiences of being rescued, saved, or set free from the effects of sexual violence by a spiritual being or power. The theoretical framework describing Being Delivered is composed of three dimensions: Spiritual Connection, Spiritual Journey, and Spiritual Transformation. The framework can be used by clinicians to guide discussions of spirituality and healing with survivors of sexual violence.