A proposed guidance program for the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, Melbourne, Australia

Added Title

Effect of changed structures on values in religious life.
Sister Peta: a case study

Date of Publication

1973

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Guidance and Counseling

Subject Categories

Counseling | Religion

College

Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC College of Education

Department/Unit

Counseling and Educational Psychology

Thesis Adviser

Josefina Santamaria

Defense Panel Chair

Justin Lucian, FSC

Defense Panel Member

Imelda Villar
Alexa F. Abrenica
Josefina Santamaria

Abstract/Summary

v. 1. The need for guidance characterizes formation programs for incoming members of religious institutes. However, techniques of education and training are being refined on the basis of new experiments, and in order to continue their work of service to the Church, the religious have responded to the call for renewal, involving adaptation of the apostolate to suit modern needs. Such a call also involves new or adapted approaches to programs of formation. Just as guidance programs have been integrated into the total educational plan at each school level, might such a scheme be modified to suit the needs of religious congregations and, in particular, that of the Sisters of Mercy, Melbourne, thus contributing to a better coordinated Religious Formation Programs serving all its members? In this paper, the problem of guidance within the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Melbourne, Australia, has been examined. The study dealt with introductory material showing the parallel between the objectives of guidance services in educational institutions and the guidance objectives in the setting of religious life. It also presented a description of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, its history and the present setting, and deals at length with the proposed program, its philosophy and objectives, the services to be included, the staff requirements, budget and location considerations, as well as factors that are particularly applicable to a guidance program which is to operate in the setting of a religious institute. A criterion for its future evaluation, were also suggested.

v. 2. To grow is to change and to change is to experience insecurity. Of all the institutions in the Church today, the religious life is perhaps the one, which is most forcibly placed in a position of insecurity. This insecurity is part of a wide background, for the whole Church is inhabited by a deep anxiety. This study was undertaken with a view to gathering data on the effect, which the changed structures in the life-style of the Sisters of Mercy of the Melbourne Province of the Australian Union of Sisters of Mercy, have had on the Sisters themselves. To do this, an Opinionnaire, using a Likert-type scale, was compiled having both positive and negative attitude statements relevant to the situation being studied. To validate the Opinionnaire, the cooperation of some of the Sisters was sought, twelve of whom, acted as judges in rating the suitability of the attitude statements. Based on these ratings, a trial opinionnaire of 26 items was composed and pre-tested with a typical community in the Province. An item analysis was performed on the results of this before selecting the items for the final Opinionnaire, which was then sent to all the remaining Sisters of the Province. An open-ended question was included to which each Sister was invited to respond. The findings from the scores attained by the Sisters in each age group were then compared with the comments made to the open-ended question by the respective group members. These findings support the hypothesis that the length of time of religious profession, which closely parallels age, acts as a strong influence to the acceptance of changed structures. It was found that the Sisters who belong to the 20-39 age groups are accepting of the changes, the 40-59 age groups are more heterogeneous in nature and show more hesitancy with regard to changes, while those in the groups above 60 years of age are, in the main, still opposed to change.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Print

Accession Number

TG00231

Shelf Location

Archives, The Learning Commons, 12F Henry Sy Sr. Hall

Physical Description

3 v. in 1, 28 cm. ; Typescript

Keywords

Educational counseling; Security (Psychology)--Religious aspects--Christianity; Nuns--Psychology

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