RELIGIOSITY OF DISABLED COMMUNITY IN SEMARANG

AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT ON SELF-ACCEPTANCE

(A Case Study on Panti Pijat Tuna Netra Karya Gemilang in Krapyak Semarang)1

Abstract

It is undeniably that religiosity is a dimension increasingly studied by researchers in

psychology throughout the world. It is due to that religiosity is interesting phenomena which
never ends to be discussed and investigated. One of them is religiosity of disabled community
particularly blind people. It may be at first sight we assume that they have same religiosity
like other normal people. But it is absolutely wrong since if we investigate carefully, they
have a uniquely different religiosity. In short, their religiosity can be categorized into two
major groups; private and public religiosity in which each has a certain characteristic. It is
therefore in this research, we intend to conduct a research to expose their religiosity
comprehensively.

Keyword: religiosity, disabled, blindness, belief, faith

A. Background

Religion and religiosity are important to millions of individuals across all cultures.
Until recently, however, the religiosity of people with disabilities has been largely ignored by
both communities of faith and secular social service and educational systems, particularly, in
Indonesia. But how does religiosity relate to physical disability? Are persons who have
significant functional limitations more or less likely than their non-disabled counterparts to
be religiously involved? Research literature detailing the religious or spiritual lives of people
with disabilities is surprisingly sparse and reports published to date yield mixed answers.

In general, empirical evidence is weak for relationships between religiosity or

spirituality and functional capacity, and studies in this area are frequently beset by
methodological limitations such as failure to control for potential confounders. 2 That being
said, a broad overview of prior research suggests that the direction of any significant findings
will depend largely on the aspect of religious involvement being measured. On the one hand,

1
This research is conducted to fulfill the assignment of Psychology Course-Doctorate Program of Islamic Studies in
Postgraduate of IAIN Walisongo Semarang 2013-2014
2
Powell, Lynda H., Leila Shahabi, and Carl E. Thoresen, Religion and Spirituality: Linkages to Physical Health.
American Psychologist 58(1), 2003, p. 3652.
 the balance of evidence points to an inverse relationship between public religiousness and
disability.3 A well-designed and thorough longitudinal study by Idler and Kasl (1997a, 1997b;
cf. Benjamins 2004) suggests that public religious involvement (as indicated by service
attendance) may be protective against the development and worsening of disability among
older adults. This interpretation appears robust even in the face of the alternative explanation
that disabled persons attend services less often because participation is physically more
difficult for them. Idler and Kasl found that while the effect of new disability on declining
attendance is detectable, it is overshadowed by the consistency, size, and significance of the
evidence in the other direction.

On the other hand, the weight of evidence for connections between disability and
private religious practice or religious coping is less compelling. 4 Indeed, a number of studies
have failed to substantiate a clear association between private religious activity or religious
coping efforts and functional disability. However, indications are that any such links detected
will reflect the complexity inherent in the diverse realm of private religious or spiritual
expression. For instance, Haley, Koenig, and Burchett (2001) found the highest levels of
physical functioning among those senior citizens praying once a week, and higher levels of
impairments in activities of daily living among those praying either more or less often.
Indeed, it is reasonable to expect that religious coping measures will sometimes be inversely
and sometimes positively related to perceived disability. Successful coping with the
challenges posed by physical limitationwhether by religious or secular meansimplies an
outcome such as enhanced sense of mastery and empowerment, or at least realistic
acceptance of and accommodation to ones condition. Unresolved life difficulties related to
disability, however, are likely to elicit augmented religious activity such as prayer from
people having at least rudimentary religious inclination.5 Notably, the lack of resolution in
such cases frequently involves some distinctly religious or theological themeperhaps anger

3
Idler, Ellen L. and Stanislav V. Kasl, Religion Among Disabled and Nondisabled Persons I: Cross-sectional
Patterns in Health Practices, Social Activities, and Well-being. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 52B(6),
2002, p. S294S305
4
Sloan, R. P., E. Bagiella, and T. Powell, Religion, Spirituality, and Medicine. The Lancet 353(9153), 1999, p.
66467.
5
Makros, Jenny and Marita McCabe, The Relationship Between Religion, Spirituality, Psychological Adjustment,
and Quality of Life Among People with Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Religion and Health 42(2, 2003, p. 14359.
 at God, a questioning of ones own faith, or the notion that ones disability may be divine
punishment for sin. 6

Research Question
1. How is the pattern of religiosity of blind people community in Semarang?
2. What is relation between religiosity and psychological effect due to their blindness?
3. How is self acceptance of blind people in Semarang relating to their religiosity?

Objective
The research objectives are
1. To know how the pattern of religiosity of blind people in Semarang
2. To know how relation between pattern of religiosity and psychological effect due to their
blindness
3. To know how the self acceptance attitude of blind people in Semarang relating to their
religiosity

Benefits
a. Theoretically
This research theoretically gives information and new knowledge on religiosity model of
blind people and its psychological effect on self accepatance.
b. Practically
Practically, this research gives knowledge contribution to: first, parents, particularly who
have the disabled child (blind) to receive their child as other normal child and to regard
blindness as a grant from Allah so they will in turn treat him well. Second, for the blind
people, It will hope they will increase their belief and faith, and accept themselves
naturally. Third, for community, especially who have member as blind one in order to
treat them like other normal people, not because of affection or rejection.

Methodology
6
Burker, Eileen J., Donna M. Evon, Jan A. Sedway, and Thomas Egan, Religious Coping, Psychological Distress
and Disability Among Patients With End-Stage Pulmonary Disease. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical
Settings 11(3), 2004, p. 17993
 To answer and to examine the research questions, a qualitative research method was
utilized for the study. It is generally used as a vehicle for studying the empirical world from
the perspective of the subject, not the researcher. The framework for this research is a case
study, an in-depth exploration of a bounded system explored through detailed, intensive
data collection involving multiple sources of information, both primary and secondary, rich
in context. This case study includes an articulation of the research question, a thorough
description of the context, the identification of the issues related to religiosity of disabled
community (blind people) and an analysis of the information and data gathered during
fieldwork.

The study required data collection from various sources. Interviews were conducted
with some blind people in Panti Pijat Karya Gemilang Krayak. The documents and data
prepared and provided by them were carefully reviewed and analyzed. Development of this
study drew upon qualitative research literature. Shank (2002), for example, identifies three
approaches for performing a case study [that] predominate within the current qualitative
research literature.7 He first highlights the work of Stake who focused on the importance of
field observations for a case study, which should capture the details and nuances of a
particular case. Stake also noted the single case has to make its own case and not attempt
to be a proxy for multiple cases. Shank then points to the work of Merriam who noted that
qualitative case studies can be characterized as being particularistic, descriptive, and
heuristic meaning that the researchers efforts to capture vivid details of the case are only
rewarded if their recordation and reporting enable readers to understand and experience the
case more fully. Finally, Shank (2002) briefly describes the approach of Lawrence-Lightfoot
and Davis whose work he describes as moving beyond the simple notion of documenting a
case toward the richer and more complex notion of portraiture.8

Gay and Airasian (2000)9 stated that data analysis of qualitative research involves
simultaneous data collection and analysis as new data are collected. For the qualitative

7
Shank, G. D., Qualitative Research A Personal Skills Approach, Upper Saddle
River NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2002, p. 53
8
Shank, Ibid., p.54
9
Gay, L. R., & Airasian, P, Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2000.
 portion of the interviews, data analysis included coding, generating categories, and writing
interview summaries. This coding occurred by reading through the data and searching for
regularities and patterns, as well as for themes, and then classifying the information into
categories that represent different aspects of the data. This was done by grouping similar
units of meaning together and assigning them a category, or a theme.

Based on the above concepts, four steps were conducted to analyze the interview data
in the study: (a) record all that the researcher hears and observes from the interviewers, (b)
describe the coding and identify the major themes, (c) discuss the result of pattern codes,
and (d) contrast the results with the quantitative research questions.

Profile

Panti Pijat Tuna Netra Karya Gemilang is one several of reflection message centers in
Semarang. It is located in West Semarang, exactly in Sriwidodo street, Krapyak Semarang.
It is legally established on May 01, 2007. This message center is organized by 8 people but
formally, the owner is Gimo, a disabled people from Klaten.

Theoretical Framework
a. Meaning of Religiosity
It is acknowledgeable that there is no a universally agreed definition for religion 10 and
the search for a generally accepted theory faces enormous difficulties in the case of religion.11
Religion means different things to different people. Depending on social and cultural
contexts and their mind-sets, people perceive and understand religion in different ways. Even
within the same religious tradition, there are varieties of interpretations as to the meaning of
religion and its relations to individual and society. Religions cant be perceived monolithic
belief systems because monolithic approach to religion fails to appreciate varieties of
religious experience and expressions of religious orientation. 12 As displayed throughout
10
Fatmir Mehdi Shehu, The Concept of Religious Experience: A Quranic Perspective (article), p. 4
11
Safiek Mokhlis, Relevancy and Measurement of Religiosity in Consumer Behavior Research, Journal of
International Business Research, Vol. 2. No. 3., July 2009, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of
Malaysia Terengganu, p. 76
12
There are many many credible studies which support the argument that religious experince has a vast diversity
and variety. For this line of argument see William (1895) James The Varieties of Religious Experience, Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press (Original work published 1906). For an attempt to chart slamic religious experience
see Frederick M. Denny (1991) Varieties of Religious Experince in the Quran in S. Seikaly and R. Baalbaki (eds.)
Quest for Understanding, Beirut, Lebanon: American University Press: 185-202
 human history religions are not static but dynamic forces. It is this dynamism and fluidity
which enable religions to survive on personal as well as societal levels.

Religious commitment entails more than one dimension. Ones acceptance of and
position towards supernatural being, towards an ultimate reality and its manifestations,
involve a multidimensional process such as attitudes, beliefs, emotions, experiences and
rituals. Research on religious commitment indicates that religiosity is not a uni-dimensional
experience in individuals lives. This means that religious orientation has various
dimensions.13

Religiosity is a complex concept and difficult to define. 14 It is due to at least two

reasons. The first reason is the uncertainty and imprecise nature of the English language.
Colloquially, in Rogets Thesaurus (Lewis, 1978), religiosity is found to be synonymous with
such terms as religiousness, orthodoxy, faith, belief, piousness, devotion, and holiness. These
synonyms reflect what studies of religiosity would term as dimensions of religiosity, rather
than terms that are equivalent to religiosity. A second reason for this complexity is that
current interest in the concept of religiosity crosses several academic disciplines, each
approaching religiosity from different vantage points, and few consulting one another.15

For example, a theologian would address religiosity from the viewpoint of faith, while
religious educators could focus on orthodoxy and belief. Psychologists might choose to
address the dimensions of devotion, holiness, and piousness, whereas sociologists would
consider the concept of religiosity to include church membership, church attendance, belief
acceptance, doctrinal knowledge, and living the faith. This use of different terms across
academic disciplines to identify what could be thought of as like dimensions of religiosity
makes it difficult to discuss without an explicit definition from the viewpoint of religious
education and the application of that knowledge to the lived experience.16

13
Talip Kucukcan, Can Religiosity be Measured? Dimensions of Religious Commitment:
Theories Revisited (article), Theology Faculty, Uludag University, Turkey, p. 1
14
Petrua-Paraschiva RUSU & Maria-Nicoleta TURLIUC, Ways of Approaching Religiosity in Psychological
Research, The Journal of International Social Research, Volume: 4 Issue: 18, Summer 2011, University of Lai,
Romania, p. 354
15
Barbara Holdcroft, What Is Religiosity?, Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, Vol. 10, No. 1,
September, p. 89-103.
16
Barbara, Ibid
 Generally, all people who have approached this domain have found it difficult to define
religiosity when this concept is the subject of scientific research (as mentioned above). Thus,
there are multiple definitions and models. The majority of theorists say there is a distinction
between religiosity and spirituality. Shafranske and Maloney (1990) define religiosity as
representing the adherence to the practices and beliefs of an organized church or religious
institution, while spirituality is seen as having a personal, experiential connotation.

In this way, spirituality may or may not include religion and it can manifest itself within
or without a religious context. Hackney and Sanders (2003) perceive religiosity is a multi-
layered concept involving cognitive, emotional, motivational and behavioral aspects.
Richards and Bergin (1997) see religion as a subset of the spiritual, considering that is
possible for someone to be spiritual without being religious and to be religious without being
spiritual. Being spiritual means having a transcendental relation with a superior being,
whereas being religious means adopting a certain religious creed or church.

In simple term, religiosity may be referred to as the state of ones belief in God,
characterized by his piety and religious zeal. The higher his piety and religious zeal are,
hence the stronger his belief in God, the higher his religiosity is. But what seem to be
synonymous with religiosity - for instance religiousness, orthodoxy, faith, belief, piousness,
devotion, and holiness - are actually not exactly equivalent to religiosity. Instead, as rightly
argued by Holdcroft (2006), they are just the reflections of the dimensions of the religiosity.
Because of this, most of the generally cited authors of religiosity such as Lenski (1961), King
(1967), and Glock (1972) use the term `dimensions to measure religiosity. Only Verbit
(1970) measures the religiosity in terms of its components.17

Additionally, Fuad Nashori defines religiosity as follow:

Religiositas seringkali diidentikkan dengan keberagamaan. Religiositas diartikan
sebagai seberapa jauh pengetahuan, seberapa kokoh keyakinan, seberapa pelaksanaan
ibadah dan kaidah dan seberapa dalam penghayatan atas agama yang dianutnya. Bagi
seorang Muslim religiositas dapat diketahui dari seberapa jauh pengetahuan,
keyakinan, pelaksanaan dan penghayatan atas agama Islam.18

17
Muhammad Syukri Salleh, Religiosity in Development: A Theoretical Construct of an Islamic-Based
Development, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 2 No. 14 [Special Issue - July 2012],
Centre for Islamic Development Management Studies (ISDEV) School of Social Sciences, University of Sains
Malaysia, p. 266
18
Fuad Nashori dan Rachmy Diana Mucharam, op.cit, p. 71
 In relation to religiosity in Islam, he further explains;

Dari pengertian diatas maka religiositas dalam Islam menyangkut lima hal yakni
aqidah, ibadah, amal, akhlak (ihsan) dan pengetahuan. Aqidah menyangkut
keimananan kepada Allah, Malaikat, Rasul dan seterusnya. Ibadah menyangkut
pelaksanaan hubungan antar manusia dengan Allah. Amal meyangkut pelaksanaan
hubungan antara manusia dengan sesama makhluk. Akhlak merujuk pada spontanitas
tanggapan atau perilaku seseorang atau rangsangan yang hadir padanya, sementara
ihsan merujuk pada situasi dimana seseorang merasa sangat dekat dengan Allah Taala.
Ihsan merupakan bagian dari akhlak. Bila akhlak positif seseorang mencapai tingkatan
yang optimal, maka ia memperoleh berbagai penglaman dan penghayatan keagamaan,
itulah ihsan dan merupakan akhlak tingkat tinggi. Selain keempat hal diatas, ada lagi
hal penting yang harus diketahui dalam religiositas Islam yakni pengetahuan
keagamaan seseorang.19

b. Dimensions of Religiosity in Islam

In relation to dimensions of religiosity in Islam, we quote the opinion of Fuad Nashori

and Serajzadeh (1998), in his study on the Iranian Muslim youth and crime, developed an
adapted measure for religiosity based on the Glock and Stark's model. The assumption for
using the model was "since the three monotheistic religions (namely Judaism, Christianity
and Islam) seem to share similar elements in their structural tenets, some items developed by
researchers for Christianity and Judaism seem to be applicable to Islam too". For each of
Glock and Stark's five dimensions, Serajzadeh included or applied the aspects of the Islamic
faith. For example, for the "Ideological, dimension, the Islamic 'articles of faith' or the 'five
pillars' were used. For the 'Ritualistic' dimension, Serajzadeh included daily prayer (salat)
and fasting during the month of Ramadan (as part of the "Pillars of Islam"), reading the Holy
Book, the "Koran", attending public prayer (both daily and during the Friday prayer), taking
part in ceremonies held on holy days in mosques and others.20

The adaptation of the Glock and Stark's model to an Islamic religious context, although
more comprehensive than most multidimensional models measuring the Muslim populations,
has important short-comings that must be highlighted. Glock and Stark's model is an attempt
to universalize a set of primary religiosity dimensions, based on commonalties in "general
areas in which religiosity is manifested. This model, although perhaps achieving its general
19
Ibid, 72-73
20
Abdul Latif & friends, The Muslim Religiosity-Personality Measurement Inventory (MRPI)'s Religiosity
Measurement Model: Towards Filling the Gaps in Religiosity Research on Muslims, Journal of Pertanika/ Soc. Sci.
& Hum. 13 (2): University Putra Malysia Press, 2005, p. 131-145
 goal, neglects the uniqueness and spirit of the individual religious tradition, however,
including each tradition's unique understanding of what religion is and is meant to be in the
life of its followers. This stems ultimately from a faith's particular worldview.

Accordingly, Glock and Stark's model is suitable for a general religiosity, in that it was
developed by looking at commonalities across the religious traditions. However, for
measuring Islamic religiosity specifically, the Glock and Stark's model may be inadequate for
generalizability and commonalities with other traditions is of less concern. Rather, what is
desired is to capture the unique qualities and the most relevant dimensions of religiosity from
the perspective of lslam alone. Thus, the dimensions of Glock and Stark's model, although
they can be shown to exist within Islamic religiosity, may not be the most appropriate given
the makeup of the Islamic religious worldview and how the worldview is manifested in the
daily lives of Muslims.

This objection has been highlighted by Shamsuddin (1992) who indicated that Muslims,
in particular, need a relatively different scale to measure religiosity because"... the Islamic
concept of religion is fundamentally different from the [above mentioned] concept of
religion." Besides, there is a great deal of difference in specific forms of religious life
between of the Islamic and Judaeo-Christian tradition, the instruments available for
measuring the religiosity of the one religious tradition might not be appropriate for
measuring the religiosity of others. The scales available for measuring the religiosity of Jews
and Christian might not be quite appropriate for measuring the religiosity of Muslims
because Islam differs from both Judaism and Christianity in regard to : (i) the meaning and
scope of religion, (ii) the nature of the acts of worship, and (iii) the dimensions of religious
life as such.21

In response, Shamsuddin proposed a model of Islamic religiosity" represented by the

concept of taqwa (God-consciousness) - a multidimensional variable of religiosity that
includes knowledge ('ilm/ma 'rifah), belief (iman), practice ('amal), (natajah) and realization
of excellence (ihsan). Smce the scope of religion, i.e. its dimensions, are defined by the very

21
Quazi Shamsuddin Md. Ilyas, Dimensions of Muslim religiosity: Measurement considerations, In Qur'anic
Concepts of Human Psyche, ed. Zafar Maq Ansari, Islamabad: Institute of Islamic Culture, 1998, p. 100
 concept of religion, "... the content dimensions of the Muslim religiosity vary considerably
with the Judeo Christian religious tradition".22

In adapted measurements such as the Glock and Stark model, therefore, there remain a
lack of integration between the unique religious elements that comprise the Islamic tawhidic
worldview. The Glock and Stark's model does not reflect the Islamic religiosity elements
such as the role of the in religious practice, the different categories of knowledge that
comprise religious worldview, e.g., worldly and other-worldly dimensions of knowledge and
others that are inherent within the tawhidic worldview of Islam.

c. Dimension of Religious Involvement

Private religiosity. It means private manifestations of religiousness (perception of self as

religious, use of religious or spiritual beliefs in coping, and frequency of prayer). Private
religiosity may also relate more to intrapsychic components of health (e.g., perceptions of
distress and meaning). This index, comprising largely subjective indicators of religious
orientation, is derived from responses to questions assessing the following aspects of
religious experience: (1) perception of self as being religious (How religious are you? Would
you say you are very religious, moderately religious, not too religious or not at all
religious?); (2) use of religion or spiritual beliefs in coping (How often do you turn to your
religion or your spiritual beliefs to help you deal with your daily problems? Would you say
always, often, sometimes rarely or never?); and (3) frequency of prayer (About how often do
you pray? Several times a day, once a day, several times a week, once a week, less than once
a week, or never?). Membership in religious organizations. Based on responses to the
question Do you belong to a church, temple, synagogue, or mosque? Second, Public
Religiosity. It may be tied more closely to health-related behavior and social support. In other
word, public aspects of religious involvement to be assessed in this dissertation (membership
and service attendance).

Result

1. Religiosity of disabled community (blind) in Semarang

22
Ibid., p. 105
After conducting interview with blind people, we concluded that their religiosity is
basically influenced by religious knowledge and understanding, family and society
environment where they live, family background which gives a support and receives
them as member of community. Such situation and condition will definitely form
disabled people feel comfortable and safe so that it will improve the confidence and
independence.

I dont know very much about Islam, I just know prayer, fasting, charity. I studied Islam
when I was in primary school in my village. But everything changed when I was nine
years old in which my eyes gradually reduced, I couldnt see clearly. The doctor
diagnosed me cataract and vichsus and needed to be immediately operated. My parents
could do nothing because we come from poor family. We just tried to receive will of God.
After that, my passion to study Islam totally lost. It made me hopeless and I often got
angry easily because of small thing only. (respondent; Agus, 26)
On the contrary, the observation with the respondent who has and understand Islamic
knowledge well showed the different result as follow:

I know a lot about Islam. I have studied Islam when I was in my village. I together with
my friends used to study Al-Quran in musholla/masjid after maghrib prayer. I was
completely shocked when I couldnt see clearly and later I have just known that I got
cataract. It happened when I was in primary school. To tell the truth, at that time, my
dream totally lost and I sometimes disappointed with God why this happened to me. It
went for several years. Fortunately, my parents and friends always support me and I
started to undergo my life normally. I continued to study Islam and selected to study in
madrasah where I got a variety of Islamic knowledge such as aqidah, fiqh, akhlaq,
tajwid, and etc. After finishing my study there, I continued my study in pesantren belongs
to KH. Maruf Sragen for four years. At present, I sometimes used to attending
pengajian and mujahadah to improve my faith. (respondent: Eko, 35)
The religiosity comprises dimension of belief (iman), of religious knowledge, worship
practices, religious practices, and religious understanding. This is accordance with the
theory denoted by Djamaluddin Ancok and Fuad Nashori Suroso (1995): religious
behaviors consists a variety of aspects and dimension namely belief, worship, experience,
religious knowledge.

We identify several factors which can influence the pattern of their religiosity such as
religious knowledge and understanding, blindness level, time when it happened, and
environmental response (family and community). In relation to religiosity, the disabled
people have various responses. Those who receive the disability usually have good
 attitude toward religion and commitment to do the Gods command and realize to avoid
bad deed. Thus, this type of blind people has a sound religious behavior. On the contrary,
those who reject and havent received it yet usually tend to be unaware with religion.
They mostly ignore the religious rules and in the middle, those who receive and reject it
dont have the commitment to do the religion perfectly.

Since I was kid, I never do prayer and I didnt know very much about Islam because my
parents never gave me attention on religion, but I do fasting together with my friends
when Ramadhan came. (respondent, Agus, 27)
Then, parents and community also have a significant role in building their religiosity. The
family which treated their children normally, not differentiating between their children
and other normal children will make them feel comfortable. Likewise, it will also reduce
the depression because of their disability. It means that they will also grow normally.
However, for those who have problems either in family or community with their
existence will have psychological effect for their growth and development in the next.
Therefore, it can be said that the religiosity of blind people mostly depends on family and
community response toward their disability. Besides, because of their lack of religious
understanding and experience so their religiosity wont also develop well.

Psychological Impact

Based on interview and observation, result showed that blindness causes psychological
effects which vary depend on several factors; when it happened, family, environment, and
self response. There are some factors:

a. Family response

The important thing for children is family response how they treat them. It become a
basis for childs psychological development including emotional, social and
personality. Naturally, the parents tend to have affection, protection, to give advice
and to try to do their best for children. Generally, there are three kinds of parents
 attitude toward the disabled children. First, democratic; the attitude which treats their
children like other normal children. They also support and give them an opportunity
of improving all potentials they have. Second, over protection; they give attention so
much to them and even too over and in turn the children couldnt grow and improve
their potentials well. Third, refusal/rejection; this response contradicts with the
second in which parents dont want to have the disabled children. They commonly
hide and exile their children to certain place so that people will not know that they
have the disabled child. The impact is off course the child become unconfident.
b. Community response
It is commonly well known that community mostly have a negative response to
disabled children. They regarded them as weak, dependent, powerless, hopeless and
etc. This assumption will make refusal, affection and stimulate to discriminate them.
Additionally, it will also cause them lack of confidence, solitary, and isolated.
c. Self response

The childs response toward disability can be refusal or acceptance. The refusal
means they deny for the disability. However, the acceptance means he recognizes it as
part of himself. 23
Generally I feel lack of lucky instead of others, but my feeling was gradually
reduced since my knowledge increased. It will make me realize that what
happened to me didnt need to be questioned and even blamed to God. I have to
undergo my life happily and tried to live as blind people commonly. And above all,
I just think how to improve myself to be better and better so that I can make my
dream come true. (Respondent, Eko, 35)

Self acceptance attitude

It should be noted here that self acceptance attitude of disabled people depends on
self realization and submission to God as a part of his religiosity. Those who have good
understanding on religion will definitely influence on solving all problems faced by
them in daily life. They believe that all are from God and the most important is how to
take wisdom behind this blindness. On the contrary, those who have lack of religious
knowledge and of submission to God will influence on his self realization and
eventually their religiosity wont grow and develop well.

23
Tien Supartinah, Psikologi Anak Luar Biasa, (Solo: UNS Press,1995), hal. 25
 Principally, I can accept my condition. I just try my best to improve my potentials
to be better. I realize that what happened to me was the will of God and it is my
life that I have to undergo. But to tell the truth, at that time, I was totally shocked
and depressed. In my heart, I wanted to be other normal children who could read
and write. However, I never think it now, and above all, I try my best to improve
myself. (Respondent, Gimo, 38)

The religiosity is basically interrelated with self acceptance attitude for disabled
people. It is manifestation of faith, virtuousness, submission, loyality, and practice
toward a certain religion they embrace. It is therefore that all entity in religious
structural comprising dimensions which are interrelated and interconnected will appear
in religious behavior. The power of ones faith, worship activity, practice, ritual,
religious understanding will absolutely determine their level of religiosity. It means that
the stronger his faith is, the better his uprightness and worship are. Likewise, it will also
impact on the character and good deed. Thus, the relation among those dimensions will
create realization and deep submission in oneself.

In the context of self acceptance, strong relation of those dimensions has a great
contribution. In other word, the blindness will be normally perceived by them if they
have a good foundation on religion. Those who have five dimensions of strong
religiosity as explained earlier will have in fact impact on good self acceptance since it
impossible appears if it isnt guided by religious realization. It is only religion which is
able to recover and cure unhappiness and sadness they face. This is accordance with
Nasiruddin Razaqs opinion outlined that human being needs guidance and direction to
right path in order to get happiness in here and hereafter coming from the most
beneficial, Allah, azza wa jalla. For this purpose, Allah gives us His mercy, religion.24

It is undeniably that ones religiosity is a manifestation of belief and faith to God

expressed through worship activities in order to reach high degree. The religiosity will
create religious behavior which is worship achievement as self actualization of religious
man. Being a proper religious one and a sound worship achievement will eventually
influence on self acceptance attitude because it will build total submission and self
realization.

24
Nasruddin Razak, Dinul Islam, (Bandung: PT Al-Maarif, 1973), hal 31
 REFERENCES

Connolly, Peter, Approaches to the Study of Religion, New York: Continuum, 2001.

Holdcroft, Barbara, What Is Religiosity?, Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice,
Vol. 10, No. 1, September.

H.W.Tan, Jonathan & Vogel, Claudia, Religion and Trust: An experimental Study, Discussion
Paper/No. 240-2005, European University Friadina Frankfurt, Department of Business
Administration and Economics.

James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press (Original work published 1906)

Jerome & Friends, Educational Counter Cultures: Confrontations, Images, Vision, Trentham
Books.

Kucukcan, Talip, Can Religiosity be Measured? Dimensions of Religious Commitment:

Theories Revisited (article), Theology Faculty, Uludag University, Turkey.
________, Multidimensional Approach to Religion: A Way of Looking at Religious Phenomena,
JSRI, No. 10/ Spring 2005.

Lowenthal, Kate.M, Psychology of Religion: A Short Introduction, England: One World

Publication, 2000

Latif, Abdul & friends, The Muslim Religiosity-Personality Measurement Inventory (MRPI)'s
Religiosity Measurement Model: Towards Filling the Gaps in Religiosity Research on
Muslims, Journal of Pertanika/ Soc. Sci. & Hum. 13 (2): University Putra Malysia Press,
2005.

Mehdi Shehu, Fatmir, The Concept of Religious Experience: A Quranic Perspective.

Mokhlis, Safiek, Relevancy and Measurement of Religiosity in Consumer Behavior Research,

Journal of International Business Research, Vol. 2. No. 3., July 2009, Faculty of
Management and Economics, University of Malaysia Terengganu.

Nashori, Fuad & Mucharam, Rachmy Diana, Mengembangkan Kreativitas dalam Perspektif
Psikologi Islam, Yogyakarta: Menara Kudus, 2002.

Paraschiva RUSU, Petruta & Nicoleta TURLIUC, Maria, Ways of Approaching Religiosity in
Psychological Research, The Journal of International Social Research, Volume: 4 Issue:
18, Summer 2011, University of Lai, Romania.

Quazi Shamsuddin Md. Ilyas, Dimensions of Muslim religiosity: Measurement

considerations, In Qur'anic Concepts of Human Psyche, ed. Zafar Maq Ansari,
Islamabad: Institute of Islamic Culture, 1998.

Razak, Nasiruddin, Dinul Islam, Bandung: PT Al-Maarif, 1973

Supartinah, Tien, Psikologi Anak Luar Biasa, Solo: UNS Press,1995

Stolz, Jorg, Explaining religiosity: towards a unified theoretical model, The British Journal of
Sociology 2009 Volume 60 Issue 2, p.347

Syukri Salleh, Muhammad Religiosity in Development: A Theoretical Construct of an Islamic-

Based Development, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 2 No.
14 [Special Issue - July 2012], Centre for Islamic Development Management Studies
(ISDEV) School of Social Sciences, University of Sains Malaysia.

Soroush, Abdul Karim,Types of Religiosity, Kiyan, No. 50, 1378/2000, quoted from
http://www.drsoroush.com/English/By_DrSoroush/E-CMB-20000300-
Types_of_Religiosity.html.
Sumrahadi, Abdullah, The Religious Experience of Youth: An Indonesian Sociological
Perspective, The International Journal of Humanities, Volume 9, Issue 5/2012.

RELIGIOSITY OF DISABLED COMMUNITY

(A Case Study in Panti Pijat Tuna Netra Karya Gemilang Krapyak Semarang)

This paper is written to fulfill the assignment of Psychology Course

Supervised by Dr. H. Fuad Nashori, S.Psi., M.Si., Psi
 By
Nanang Nurcholis

DOCTORATE PROGRAM POSTGRADUATE

IAIN WALISONGO SEMARANG
2013

Respondent:
1. Agus
Tempat/tTgl Lhr: Wononogiri, 20 Agustus 1987
Alamat : Desa kaliwungu, Tirto Moyo, Wonogiri
2. Eko
Tempat/tTgl Lhr: Sragen, 15 Juni 1976
Alamat :-
3. Gimo
Tempat/tTgl Lhr: Klaten, 06 April 1975
Alamat :

Panti Pijat Karya Gemilang

Berdiri: 1 Mei 2007
Jl. Sriwododo

Nasruddin Razak, Dinul Islam, Bandung: PT Al-maarif, 1973