Sexuality and Spirituality v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How do Christian men having sex with men (MSM) experience the collaboration of sexual health professionals with the Church?
IRAS ID
231166
Contact name
Remziye Kunelaki
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Anglia Ruskin University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The research question is how do Christian men having sex with men (MSM) experience the collaboration between sexual health professionals with the Church.
The study will aim to understand the meaning of attending a series of workshops collaborated by the Lead Psychosexual Therapist of 56 Dean Street, Remziye Kunelaki and the Reverend, Simon Buckley of St Anne’s Church, both based in Soho.
An open evening will introduce a series of workshops and offer information regarding the study. A list of topics will be identified by the attendees, which will then be grouped into themes of the subsequent workshops. The principal investigator will keep a register of the participants interested to volunteer in the study and contact them on the phone to check eligibility a week later.
Men aged 18 and over, who self- identify as MSM and Christian and have experienced a struggle to reconcile their sexuality with their spirituality would be eligible. From start to finish the study is expected to finish in around 12 months.
Six workshops in total will run every month at the same time for two hours. Themes will be presented by the co-facilitators in a religious and psychosexual framework. Participants will explore each theme in small and big groups and give feedback of their experience.
The participants will be asked to fill questionnaires which will evaluate their mood, spiritual and generic well-being, sexual function, compassion and quality of life at the beginning of the first and at the end of the sixth workshops. Those will be analysed using statistical methods.
Once the workshops are complete, the principal investigator will conduct semi structured interviews at a confidential space at 56 Dean Street. The interviews will be audio recorded and then transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
Successful completion of the study is envisaged to demonstrate that attending collaborative workshops would be helpful for the overall well-being of MSM.REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EM/0448
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jan 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion