FEATURE Dissertation
Examining the Facebook effect In a new monthly series we ask SISTAD* students to tell us about their degree dissertations. Major Keira Wood’s dissertation for her BA (Honours) in Pastoral Care with Psychology was called: ‘How do aspects of the Facebook effect impact on pastoral care practice?’
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HE opening lines of Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities are: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness.’ This statement, describing 18th-century France, could be applied to our 21stcentury online, virtual world. The rapid developments in social media are profoundly changing the way we communicate, interact and live. When choosing a research subject for my dissertation it was with conversations with officer colleagues ringing in my ears about the complexities and challenges of social media for spiritual leaders. How do we navigate the sometimes murky waters of Facebook? My research explored how Facebook is impacting pastoral care practice. David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect, says the effect is ‘when the service puts people in touch with each other… about a common experience, interest, problem or cause… on a small or large scale – from a group of two or three friends or a family, to millions’. The definition of pastoral care I used combined the four basic pastoral activities of healing, sustaining, reconciling and guiding within what Kate Litchfield calls the ‘messy reality of people’s lives’, while pastoring in a faith community to facilitate spiritual growth and development. I am not the only officer who has had to deal with issues relating to social media, personally or within corps life, so I was keen to discover whether there are benefits for pastoral care as well as how to negotiate the pitfalls. The research included a psychological approach, linking it with human behaviour and practice in the light of our virtual, digital society – the developing field of cyberpsychology – and also social psychology and behavioural psychology,
particularly recognising that personality and motivation are significant factors. Wide reading highlighted three common themes – community, connection and communication – so I decided to base my research on these areas and explore whether connecting and communicating with people in an online community impacts pastoral care practice in a corps. These key areas informed the questions for a questionnaire that was used to collect simple, generalised data. Other methods, such as interviews, were then employed, and themes from the experiences of corps members were identified. COMMUNITY The data highlighted that Salvationists valued being part of an online spiritual community – whether it was the wider corps fellowship or a smaller group, such as a band fellowship – and felt cared for as part of that community. This aspect of the Facebook effect impacts pastoral care within corps life because the spiritual community continues beyond Sunday and enables support to take place. However, the pitfalls of this online community were also evident, with broken relationships, negative and critical comments causing hurt within the church community and the lack of face-to-face contact. CONNECTION Being connected to that community was highly significant. In particular, the connection to an immediate, prayerful and empathetic community in the form of a support system was valued. The Facebook effect identified by Kirkpatrick specifically refers to putting people in touch with each other about a common experience or problem. This is what seems to happen in the context of a corps. COMMUNICATION The communication thread was also important – and significantly more so
between peers than between pastors and congregations. The role of the officer on Facebook appears to be secondary to the support system provided by the individual’s online peer community. The Army’s emphasis on the priesthood of all believers fits with the widely accepted theology and practice of pastoral care, and this research emphasised the role of everyone in the pastoral care of a corps. In addition, the biblical descriptions of good communication apply online: ‘Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger’ (James 1:19 New American Standard Bible) and ‘rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15 NASB). These principles sum up good pastoral care communication at all times, and also support the empathy and support system of the Facebook effect highlighted by this research. The limited study concluded that connecting and communicating with people in an online community such as Facebook is helpful for corps officers and members to an extent but, rather obviously, only as a complement to an already established pastoral relationship and practice in the real world. It recognised too that there are many more areas to research in depth. In this digital age of wisdom, foolishness, belief and incredulity there remains the great and growing challenge of integrating social media, pastoral care practice and Salvation Army corps life. *SISTAD is the territory’s School for In-Service Training and Development, which presents courses for officers and employees; visit salvationarmy.org.uk/ SISTAD for details
MAJOR WOOD IS CORPS OFFICER, BELFAST TEMPLE Salvationist 4 May 2019
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