Ethnography of Parents of Children with Disabilities: Role of Class in the Construction of Parents' Lived Theology

““For parents, disability theology exists with many individual variations, and second, the wide spectrum of parents’ disability theology is a result of, and/or a continuing process of, a parents’ way of negotiating between (a) the material reality of the socioeconomic resources parents have available to them in regard to taking care of, or making sense of, their children’s disabilities and (b) parents’ metaphysical faith.” ”

Team Members/Contributors

Jeongyun April Hur Claremont School of Theology Contact Me

About this dissertation fellowship

My dissertation asks the question, “When parents have children with disabilities, what personal theology do these parents develop to help them cope?” To answer that question, I will use an ethnographic research method and the critical correlational method of practical theological hermeneutics. The overarching argument of my dissertation is that parents’ socioeconomic context plays an important role in constructing parents’ understanding of three theological concepts: understanding of hope, understanding of disability, and understanding of the relationship between parents and children. Specifically, I argue: First, for parents, disability theology exists with many individual variations; and second, the wide spectrum of parents’ disability theology is a result of, and/or a continuing process of, a parent’s way of negotiating between (a) the material reality of the socioeconomic resources available to them in regard to taking care of, or making sense of, their children’s disabilities and (b) parents’ metaphysical faith. These variant understandings of disability theology are to some degree constructed in relation to, or in reflection of, socioeconomic context, such as level of education, financial status, and social capital insofar as class shapes coping mechanisms. For example, a person’s class can shape strategies to protect themselves from the fear of being seen as different, to make meaning of the sacrifices they make for their children, and to cope with the financial, emotional, and physical toll they pay as they care for their children. If this is the case, parents — who might hold onto a belief in miracles, including a complete healing of their children’s disability, a perspective often seen as naïve and immature — can be understood and accepted rather than criticized for having a less-sophisticated or less-intellectual understanding of disability.