An investigation of religious coping processes in parents of hearing impaired individuals (The case of Hakkari)

Disability has been addressed from different perspectives depending on the social and economic conditions of the historical process. In the early periods, disabled people were excluded from society and even killed. However, in later periods, a positive perspective towards people with disabilities developed. Religious belief has been effective in the development of this perspective. In Islam, especially the Prophet Muhammad showed interest in disabled people and encouraged their integration into society. Historically, approaches towards people with disabilities have become more humane with cultural developments. This study highlights the emotional experiences of parents of children with disabilities and the impact of religious beliefs on these experiences. Parents use religious beliefs to cope with their children with disabilities and this is referred to as "religious coping". The aim of the study is to examine the impact of religious beliefs of parents with hearing impaired children on their coping strategies. Parents' methods of coping with these beliefs will be investigated. This study aims to understand how religious beliefs play a role in coping with the difficulties experienced by families with disabilities and to offer a new perspective in this field. In the study, a literature review and a questionnaire from quantitative research methods were used. In the study, a significant difference was found between ages in the positive religious coping sub-dimension related to the mother. A significant difference was found between education levels in the sub-dimension of positive religious coping. A significant difference was found between working mothers and housewives.