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Loneliness And Deprivation: The Case Of Roman Catholic Priests, John F. Schnabel, John P. Koval

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using Roman Catholic Priests as a test in order to control for deprivation in relationships of intimacy while maximizing the need for social network relationships, an examination was made of their differential experience of loneliness.

The evidence suggested repeatedly that priests were more likely to experience loneliness as a serious problem when they perceived that the social network which they regarded as most significant in their lives (the Church) placed some kind of structural limitation on the extent of their involvement in it. Factors, for example, which help determine the individual priest's place in the structure of the Church are: …