ABSTRACT

SANTOS, Genivalda Araújo Cravo dos. Education, danger profession: burnout, depression and spiritual treatment in spiritism. Dissertation (Mastering in the Science of Religion) – Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, 2004.

We are here looking forward to present, through the views of interviewed professionals, researchers and spiritism - a relation between education, health and religion. Our scientific methodology was developed based upon a holistic, qualitative and phenomenological view and we came to the conclusion, while investigation, that education is a danger profession. The health of education workers interviewed is not well, a picture that will be evidenced in the first chapter, in which we will show the alternatives sought for by the interviewees when on state of anomy because of burnout syndrome and depression. It’s verified here that one of the alternatives sought for is religion, the spiritual treatment is especially looked for in spiritism. In the second chapter, we will analyze and comprehend the role of religion in the search for health, nomia and symbolic life and, in the third chapter the history of spiritism theodicy and spiritual treatment in that religion. Concluding, we will demonstrate the corroboration of our hypothesis, showing that religion carries out the role of comforting and giving answers to the reasons for ailments and re-establishment of symbolic life and nomia of people in the search for health; and that workers in education look for in spiritism the spiritual treatment of burnout syndrome and depression, in the belief of re-establishment of symbolic life and nomia, by means of explaining theodicy offered by this religious expression.