Putting virtues in context: engaging the VIA classification of character strengths in caregiving for orphans and vulnerable children across cultures
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2019-01-01
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© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The VIA Classification of Character Strengths has broken important ground for measuring character strengths across cultures. Because the VIA Classification is a closed system of abstract strengths, however, it is unknown how end-users engage strengths in particular cultural and practical contexts, define strengths for themselves, or identify additional strengths. In this study, residential care directors (n = 18) and other caregivers (n = 64) for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in five distinct global locations prioritized with a card-sort the VIA Character Strengths most important for the work of caregiving, defined these strengths, and proposed additional strengths. Supervisors were then asked how caregivers embodied their prioritized strengths. Participants most frequently prioritized Love, Honesty, Forgiveness, and Kindness as important for caregiving; demonstrated high concordance but also some deviation from the definitions of the VIA Classification; and proposed additional strengths (e.g. Caring, Self-drive, and Initiative) that were perceived not to overlap with existing VIA Character Strengths.
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Kinghorn, WA, CLM Keyes, HE Parnell, DE Eagle, BM Biru, C Amanya, V Vann, VG Krishna Kaza, et al. (2019). Putting virtues in context: engaging the VIA classification of character strengths in caregiving for orphans and vulnerable children across cultures. Journal of Positive Psychology. pp. 1–9. 10.1080/17439760.2019.1579363 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18181.
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Scholars@Duke
Warren A. Kinghorn
Medical Professionalism
Religion, Spirituality, and Psychiatry
Philosophy of Psychiatry
David E Eagle
I am an Assistant Research Professor the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research and the Duke Global Health Institute. I am an expert on the health of religious clergy, the changing shape of churches in North American society, and the implications of these trends for the professional training of ministers.
More recently, my research has begun to branch out internationally. I am doing research on clergy in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and studying the mental health of sexual and gender minorities around the world.
Methodologically, I am skilled in the collection and analysis of survey data, including longitudinal and social network data.
Kathryn Whetten
Director, Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research
Research Director, Hart Fellows Program,
Professor, Public Policy and Global Health
Professor, Nursing and Community & Family Medicine
Pronouns: they/them
Kathryn Whetten is the Principal Investigator on multiple grants and publishes numerous scientific articles every year. In addition, they mentor many students and give guest lectures and presentations throughout the year.
Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell
Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell is interested in the interplay between mental and physical well-being and has designed and tested interventions that integrate care for people with obesity and depression; HIV/AIDS and substance use; and hepatitis C and alcohol use.
Most recently, Rae Jean has been studying positive mental health as a way to prevent depression and promote caring for one's physical health. Her work currently focuses on caregivers, including clergy in North Carolina and caregivers of orphaned and vulnerable children in Kenya, Ethiopia, India, and Cambodia.
Soon, she will be testing four interventions to reduce stress symptoms.
As someone trained in both clinical and community psychology, Rae Jean is interested in the impact of systems and environmental contexts on individuals.
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