Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

1535.2.1 The Hermeneutical PerspectiveIt is the hermeneutical perspective that, by dint of the pastoral necessitiesof this extended reflection, meets the need for a dialogue between a pastoralpractitioner’s historically-derived theological assumptions, and the understandingof the Word of God that emerges from the specific pastoral context. It is theHermeneutical approach that best acknowledges the need for authentic dialoguebetween theological and social science modes of interpretation. Thus a holisticapproach to the interpretation and understanding of the people concerned, theirstories, and the context under consideration, can be developed. It is hermeneuticsthat permits the development of a valid process of pastoral reflection upontextualised narrative, either secular or scriptural, 408understanding of the context.while developing anWithin a generalised consideration of a hermeneutical methodology, thispastoral practitioner will be proposing a design structure commonly referred to asthe hermeneutical circle or spiral. The hermeneutical circle is defined as “aprocess of analysis in which interpreters seek the historical and social dynamicsthat shape textual interpretation.” 409In relation to this extended reflection the concept of ‘textualinterpretation’ can be understood to include the interpretation of the narratives ofthose with intellectual disability who are accommodated in the institutionalcontext under consideration.5.2.2 Constructivism as the Pathway to an Effective and MeaningfulHermeneutical MethodologyIt is incumbent upon this practitioner to develop a hermeneuticalmethodology that takes careful account of key design factors. Essential to thismode of enquiry is that, due to its qualitative nature, it takes careful note of thepeople and context in question and of pastoral practice. Lived reality needs to be408 Regarding the fundamental hermeneutical focus on textual analysis see, for example,Babbie, Earl. The Practice of Social Research. 8th ed. (Belmont: Wadsworth PublishingCompany, 1998), 81.Regarding the hermeneutical focus on textual analysis in terms of the Word of God see, forexample, Segundo, The Liberation of Theology.Lartey, Emmanuel. In Living Colour: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care andCounselling. (London: Cassell, 1997), 91-93.409 Kincheloe, Joe, and Peter McLaren. "Rethinking Critical Theory and QualitativeResearch." In Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by Norman Denzin and YvonnaLincoln. (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2000), 286.