Dingilian - A Paradigm For The Development And Validation Of Hopes In College Students In Armenia And The United States

268 Pages·1996·10.5 MB·English

by  Stepanos Dingilian

A
PARADIGM FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT AI{D VALIDATION OF HOPES
IN COLLEGE STUDENTS TN ARMENIA AI{D THE UNITED STATES:
A THEOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL AI{ALYSIS
A Dissertation Presented to
the Faculty of
the School of Theology at Claremont
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Stepanos Dingilian
April
L996
This dissertation completed by
SrppnaNos Dr¡lcu,raN
has been presented to and accepted by the
faculty of Claremont School of Theology in
partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
DocToR oF PHILoSoPHY
F'aculty Committee
William M. Clements
Kathleen Breiden
Jack Verheyden
Dean of the Faculty
Marjorie Suchocki
April 1996
Due to extenuating circumstances, final edits were not completed for this project.
Abstract
As an important ingredient to human existence, hope
appears in many situations and within a variety of cultural
contexts. The intent of this work is to develop a paradigm
that describes systematically, based on theological and
psychological foundations, the development and application
of hope from the hoping person's perspective within the
Christian context. A key element of this paradigm is its
potential use for correlating the hoping person's sense of
the human with his or her sense of the divine.
Karl Barth and Jurgen Moltmann are used as theological
sources in order to devel-op components that constitute this
Hope Paradigm. These components are compared to the
perspective on hope of the Armenian theologian Gregory of
Datev. The components of this Paradigm are then correlated
to a psychological framework based on the work of D.
W.
V{innicott.
This Paradigm indicates that hope is a holistic
experience which combines the hoping person's sense of the
future based on the past experiences within the context of
the present situation in life. Furthermore, hope is the
totality of the process of hoping based upon a content that
is of genuine concern to the hoping person, and results in a
significant effect upon that person's present experience of
Iife.
lhis Flope Paradigm is illustrated through the data
ii
gathered by interviewing Armenian and American college
students in the United States as weII as Armenian students
in Armenia. A comparison is made between a representative
student from each group. Some general findings about the
three groups are presented and discussed. Theological and
psychological analyses are made of the gathered responses.
Ihe Hope Paradigm is also compared to the works on the
subject of hope by Donald Capps and Andre\nr Lester in the
field of pastoral care and counseling. Similarities and
differences are dj-scussed. In addition, this Hope Paradigm
is applied to some of the case examples by Capps and Lester
in order to bring out the strengths and unique qualities of
this Paradigm.
Anong the unique aspects of this Paradigm is its
ability to provide a means for a systematic reflection upon
the development of hope in a person's life, contemplating
upon a person's sense of the human and the divine as well as
the interaction between the two. Another uniqueness is its
proposal that, from the hoping person's perspective, hopes
can be validated as being reaListic and realizable in the
context of the present time and place. A third uniqueness
is its potential as a means for creating an empor^rering
continuity from the past, through the present, and towards
the future in the hoping person's experience of life.
Information is given about life in Armenia in order to
help the reader develop an appreciation of the life of the
l_ l_ l_
Armenian students in that country. Portions of the
interviews from the three students are given in the
Appendix.
Lv
PREFACE
Throughout my life, I have found myself in the midst of
many conflicts. These include the L967 Arab-Israeli. l{ar,
the 1988 Earthquake in Armenia, and Armenia's struggle to be
independent in the early 1990s. Struggles have also come
from other sources. My mother survived the 1915 Genocide
when one and a half million Armenians hrere massacred, and
she has recounted to me repeatedly of the atrocities and
struggles she and others endured during the Genocide.
Further, I faced cultural shock when I moved from Egypt to
the United States at the age of fourteen; this shock lasted
for many years after we settled in this country. In these
and many other situations r have needed to discover hope in
my life hope that the future holds a better life for us.
Additionally, throughout my travels in Armenia and now as a
pastor to an Armenian Apostolic Church parish, I must often
encourage the development of hope for others. These
situations have given me the opportunity to appreciate the
importance and the power of hope during major conflicts and
changes in living situations. I could see that, especially
in extreme situations such as war, hope for a better life is
the only means of sustenance that a person has in the face
of utter destruction. Significantly, hope has given me' and
I believe it gives others as well, the power to develop
relationships with other people and/or with a higher po\^ler'
which, in turn, empowers the individual to totally and
realistically embrace life and maintain a passion for
living. Furthermore, these situations helped me recognLze
v
the commonality to the development and the effects of hope
throughout the struggles and cultural situations which I
experienced. It is this totality of experience that has
become the springboard for this work. My intent is to
provide a paradigm for hope that can help a person develop
or discover hope in his or her life.
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Tab1e of Contents
Preface
Chapter
1. Introduction
1
Statement of the Problem
3
Research Objective
5
Purpose
6
Thesis
7
Organization of Work 8
Scope 10
Definitions of
Terms L2
Developing Parameters for Hope
L6
2. Existing Uajor Pastoral Care and Counseling
Literature on the Topic of Hope
19
Donald Capps' Agents of Hope: A Pastoral
Psvchology 19
Andrew D. Lester's Hope in Pastoral Care and
Counseling
33
A Critique of Capps and Lester: The Strengths 46
Critique Of Capps' Agents of Hope: Gaps 52
Critique Of Lester's Hope in Pastotal lêre and
Counsel-inq: Gaps 57
Other Pastoral Care Discussions on Hope 60
Summary 65
The Theoretical Theological Basis for
3
the Hope Paradigm 67
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Approach 67
Karl- Barth and Jurgen Moltmann 68
The Seven Components of the Hope earadigm 86
Gregory of Datev 87
Summary 91
The Theoretical Psychological Basis for the
4
Hope Paradigm 94
Origins of the SeIf
95
The Erotic and the Aggressive 96
Good Enough Mothering 99
The True Self and the False Self 100
The Development of Hope 104
Antisocial Behavior . 105
o
Vüinnicottian Analysis
108
Ihe Female and the Male Elements 110
Regarding the Seven Components of
the Hope Paradigm 113
Summary 118
5. Development of the Hypothesis . .. . . . . 119
The Hope Paradigm 130
Discussing Terms of the Hope Paradigm 130
Summary 13 r.
6 Research Methodology 133
Background 133
In Search for a Vùay to Describe Hope 133
The Rol-e Model Concept L3s
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