Attachment in Cloistered and Contemplative Women Religious in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore and expound on themes of attachment in women religious living the cloistered or contemplative vocation in the United States. Specifically, elements of their attachment relationship to God have been examined by utilizing the God Image Scales (GIS) and the Attachment to God Inventory (AGI). An empirical inquiry such as this had not been previously made with this population. Having a more firm understanding of the nature of attachment exhibited in these religious women will tremendously benefit formators, vocation directresses, religious superiors, and those discerning a call to the cloistered religious life because it can provide insight about the qualities of the attachment patterns in those who commit their lives to such a calling. Additionally, it can bring awareness about what attachment to God looks like in this population. This dissertation explains what the religious life is by drawing out the important distinctions between cloistered, contemplative, and active religious life. The dissertation also includes a comprehensive synthesis of the history and purpose of Attachment Theory, specifically as it has come to us through the writings and research of John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth, Mary Main, and others. In understanding the history of Attachment Theory and in considering the literature, it is evident that the abundance of writings and data on Attachment Theory can be applied very well to this population in order to understand their attachment to God more clearly while simultaneously adding to the research on attachment. This dissertation is a pilot study which presents a detailed analysis explaining the methodology of how the participants were surveyed, an overview of the GIS and AGI, an explanation of the results indicating that the participants tended to be securely attached to God with the relationship being chiefly characterized by Acceptance, Benevolence, and Avoidance, the procedures utilized for examining the data, and the work concludes with discussion of the results and possible directions for future study.