Accepting Different Faiths: Insights from Religious Narratives of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in Poland

Monika Parchomiuk, Katarzyna Ćwirynkało () and Agnieszka Beata Żyta
Additional contact information
Monika Parchomiuk: Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, ul. Głęboka 43, 20-612 Lublin, Poland
Katarzyna Ćwirynkało: Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Dybowskiego 13, 10-723 Olsztyn, Poland
Agnieszka Beata Żyta: Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Dybowskiego 13, 10-723 Olsztyn, Poland

Societies, 2024, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: There is a dearth of research on how people with intellectual disabilities perceive different faiths, both their own and other people’s. The aim of this study was to explore certain aspects of religious identification among adults with intellectual disabilities: their declared affiliation with a specific denomination, their perceptions and subjective knowledge constituting the image of a “good follower”, their self-assessment, and their attitudes toward representatives of other denominations. In 2023, interviews were conducted with 34 adults with intellectual disabilities in three Polish cities to achieve this aim. The study was of an inclusive character and involved co-researchers with intellectual disabilities who participated in designing the research, conducting the interviews and the analysis. We found that people with intellectual disabilities do not always know how to define their religious affiliation and have limited knowledge and experience in relationships with individuals of different faiths, and their attitudes toward such individuals are varied. Nonetheless, they engage in various forms of religious activity.

Keywords: intellectual disability; faith; religion; diversity; openness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/9/165/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/9/165/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:165-:d:1467397

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().