Religion and Conflict in Marital and Parent-Child Relationships

This article discusses how religion can substantively influence the manifestation and resolution of conflict in marital and parent-child relationships. Religious systems of meaning are proposed to influence conflict by promoting which goals and values should be sought in family life and the appropriate means to achieve these ends. Conflict can be amplified or inhibited based on the extent to which family members differ and agree about such religiously based parameters. Religion also offers families strategies that may facilitate or hinder the resolution of conflict after it erupts. The limited amount of empirical research on how religion shapes the manifestation and resolution of marital and parent-child conflict is highlighted, and suggestions are made to advance research and clinical practice on this topic.     

Living on an island: consequences of childhood abuse, attachment disruption and adversity in later life

This paper reports on a study which sought to obtain greater knowledge and understanding of the life circumstances of a group of people who had experienced adversity and abuse in childhood. A qualitative research strategy involving in-depth interviews with individuals was used to help achieve the study's aim. The study found that interviewees detailed multiple risks to their development during childhood and adolescence, including experiences of child abuse, being placed in care and major grief and loss experiences. Most had left home in their mid-teenage years and had little or no contact with their families of origin. Interviewees had very limited social networks and described difficulties in making and keeping friends. Many reported unstable and often violent personal relationships. As suggested by attachment theory, this study supports the notion of developmental continuities from adverse childhood experiences into later life, particularly in relation to personal and social relationships. Recommendations for a number of suitable methods of intervention and support are outlined.     

Social Empathy: A Model Built on Empathy,Contextual Understanding,and Social Responsibility That Promotes Social Justice

ABSTRACT

A model of social empathy is described where social empathy is defined as the ability to more deeply understand people by perceiving or experiencing their life situations and as a result gain insight into structural inequalities and disparities. The three components of the model—individual empathy, contextual understanding, and social responsibility—are explored and explained. Social empathy provides a framework for more effective social policies that address disparities and support social and economic justice for all people. Social workers are well positioned to enhance social empathy, and application and suggestions for further enhancement and research are provided.     

Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth Among Adult Tsunami Survivors: The Role of Employment,Religion, and Family Attributes

ABSTRACT

This study examined the positive effects of trauma exposure among adult survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and was guided by a bioecological framework. A total of 301 adults from India were assessed for posttraumatic growth and a set of demographic, individual, family, and social capital variables. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that religion, employment, family type, family flexibility, and family communication were significant predictors of posttraumatic growth. Contrary to expectations, individual factors and social capital did not contribute to posttraumatic growth. Findings imply that helping survivors make meaning out of their traumatic experience may facilitate posttraumatic growth. Intervention to promote increased employment opportunities and family resources is highly recommended for adult trauma survivors. Future trauma research should explore the role of perceived as well as actual familial and community resources, in addition to personal resources, in fostering posttraumatic growth.     

Covering the birth of a nation: The rise of Saudi Arabia in The London Times, 1927–1937

Saudi Arabia is considered as one of the most conservative countries in the world with regards to the role of religion in shaping national politics. We use a history of Saudi Arabia and British imperialist policy to contextualize the framing of religion in news coverage of Saudi Arabia in The London Times between 1927 and 1937 to uncover themes that were available to British readers before and after recognizing Saudi Arabia as a nation on September 23, 1932. We found that religious fundamentalism was part of this coverage, providing one potential media framework for understanding Saudi Arabia that is consistent with current coverage and discussions. We also found instances of favorable framing of events and individuals, which seemed to intensify after Saudi Arabia's recognition as a nation.     

Research in spirituality, religion and aging

Research on the concept of "spirituality" demonstrates its overlap with "religion," so for many purposes they need to be considered together as "spirituality/religion." Investigations of age differences point to the likelihood that spirituality tends to increase during later adulthood. It has important positive relationships with various measures of life satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, and both physical and mental health. It benefits therapy for recovery from illness and is a source of meaning and purpose in life. Spiritual interventions help to relieve psychological distress and death anxiety, as well as the stresses of caregiving. Because of its therapeutic value, prayer is an important resource for coping with problems experienced during the life course. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale and many other instruments have been developed to measure spirituality and related concepts. As in all other domains of research on people, they all have limits and must be applied with caution for both technical and ethical reasons. Nevertheless, applications of the research findings, which overwhelmingly demonstrate the importance of spirituality to human well-being, already are improving the effectiveness of clinical work and social services in all of the health and human service professions. As scientific knowledge of spirituality expands, so does awareness of the need for further research, including the refinement of methodological procedures, expansion to new topics, and extension to international cultures and diverse religions. The outlook for research on spirituality and the consequent practical applications to benefit humanity is very promising.     

The Effectiveness of Assigned Goals in Complex Financial Decision Making and the Importance of Gender

Evidence suggests that men are more confident and less risk averse in financial decision making. Researchers did not address how men and women respond differently to goals in financial decision situations, however. In the present study, men set more challenging personal goals and risked more resources than women in a complex financial decision task. Men did not report higher self-efficacy versus women. As expected, gender interacted with assigned goals to predict self-efficacy, risk behavior, and personal goals. Results concur with recent financial decision research that suggests men and women differ in their use of externally-provided information such as assigned goals. Suggestions for future research are offered and limitations are discussed.     

Pulpits Versus Ivory Towers: Socializing Agents and Evolution Attitudes*

Objective. Although debate concerning the theory of evolution is part of an ongoing U.S. dialogue over the proper role of religion in society, academics have provided little in the way of systematic understanding of public opinion on this issue. Important questions, such as the relative influence of socializing agents—religion and education—in shaping attitudes on evolution remain unanswered. Building on socialization and cognitive accessibility theories, we offer a framework for predicting public opinion on human origins and the teaching of evolution in public schools. Methods. We model attitudes on evolution and related policy through analysis of data from a 2005 national survey of U.S. adults. Results. Our analysis suggests that religion and education are key predictors of opinion, but that gender, partisanship, and ideology also play an important role. Conclusion. The socializing agent of religion outweighs the effect of education on attitudes related to evolution.     

研究中国宗教的社会学范式杨庆堃眼中的中国社会宗教

摘要：本文通过杨庆堃教授对中国宗教极其卓越和具有开创性的研究,来审视中国宗教的社会学范式。杨氏的《中国社会中的宗教》是一部堪称现代经典的华丽巨著,是中国宗教社会学研究的典范之作,是社会学学者研究中国宗教的重要参考书,具有极高的学术价值和理论创新意义。相对于西方宗教的制度性,杨氏提出发散性宗教的概念,指出散开宗教的信仰和仪式有机会发展为有组织的社会体系,同时它是作为社会组织模式整体的一部分,在散开的形式中,宗教发挥着多样的功能,以组织的方式出现在中国社会生活中。杨氏是第一个从宽阔的社会学角度来证明中国宗教存在形式、合理性以及历史传统的华裔学者,对于其后学者的研究奠定了重要的学术基础。     

Research ethics and clinical trials: Fostering collaboration with research participants

Accountability in research is a concept that applies to researchers and study participants alike. Human subjects play an active part in the success or failure of a clinical trial by virtue of their understanding of a study's goals expectations of personal gain, and adherence to study design. Trials must be designed to address patient concerns, offer an improved consent process, and move beyond our narrow conception of “patient rights.”; Problems with protocol adherence may be reduced by conceptualizing clinical research as an endeavor with mutual accountability within a relational ethic.     

Religion as a Meaning System: Implications for the New Millennium

Every human action, ranging from benevolence to inhumane violence has been justified in the name of religion, which has been a pervasive feature of human life throughout history. This article describes religion as a meaning system that is unique in centering on what is perceived as sacred, and in its special ability to address the quest for meaning. The article recommends the meaning system approach for the study of religion, suggesting that this approach can illuminate the resiliency of religion, and its complicated relations with individual and societal well-being. It describes the outline of the volume, and concludes with recommendations for research, education, and policies in the arena of religion that can facilitate well-being in the new millennium.     

From Assistance to Prevention: Categorizing Young Carer Support Services in Australia,and International Implications

Young people who provide unpaid care for a relative with chronic illness or disability are a growing focus of public policy and research in Australia and internationally. Support services for these young carers have emerged, but not enough is known about their effectiveness. This article develops an analytical framework that categorizes young carer support services according to their goals and the types of intervention provided. The analytical framework is based on Australian data. It is applied to young carer support services available in Australia but may be applicable to other countries. The aim of the framework is to provide a structure for assessing the effectiveness of current services in supporting young carers by clarifying service goals and identifying gaps in existing service provision. The framework contributes to conceptual discussions about young carer supports, and it can be used to guide future policy development. The article draws on Australian and international literature as well as findings from a recent Australian study on young carers. The proposed framework groups young carer support services according to three overarching goals: assisting young people who provide care; mitigating the care‐giving responsibility; and preventing the entrenchment of a young person's caring role. The framework is applied to an audit of Australian support services for young carers, illustrating how it can be used to assess existing supports for young carers and inform future policy development. The findings suggest that most services in Australia fall into the categories of assistance and mitigation, while few contain preventative elements.     

Meaningful life and happiness: Perspective from Malaysian Youth

As suicide rates among young people are rising globally, a mixed-mode research was conducted to investigate the perception of young people in Malaysia of what is meant by “Meaningful Life”, and its association with “life is determined by myself”. Two hundred and seventy young people aged 15–24 were recruited in this cross sectional survey. A thematic qualitative approach was used to analyze open-ended questions and the findings reveal that happiness, relationships with family members and friends and having specific goals in life were the top three contributors to meaningfulness in young peoples’ lives. The Chi-square test for independence showed significant association between the coded variables and gender. Females perceived life to be meaningful when the people around them were happy and males perceived life to be meaningful when having good relationships with people around them, and both thought that having goals in life make it meaningful. The result also showed that there was a significant association for females between “life is determined by myself” and “meaningful life”. Present findings suggested that meaningfulness in life is not a pure individual affect or personal construct but a relational concept; it is related to the meaningful activities in which young people engaged. Future researcher may further explore the relationship between youth perceptions of meaningful life and autonomous environments, among the immediate ecological systems of family, peers, and school surroundings.     

Faith,Flight and Foreign Policy: Effects of war and migration on Western Australian Bosnian Muslims

This article examines the nexus between war, religion and migration through a series of qualitative interviews with Bosnian Muslim humanitarian entrants to Western Australia. By utilising a three‐tiered model for assessing religiosity, the interviews reveal that a substantial number of participants placed a greater emphasis on Islam during the Balkan conflict. The way in which individual religiosity was expressed upon resettlement in Western Australia was largely determined by pre‐migration religiosity and postmigration contact with other Muslims. In particular, migrants with a low level of Islamic knowledge tended to internalise the values and ideas of more conservative Muslims upon arriving in the receiver‐nation. Meanwhile, those with a well‐developed pre‐migration understanding of Islam tend to resist outside influence and continue their original beliefs and practices. The findings demonstrate that conflicts at the state level frequently precipitate psychological crises of identity at the personal level; this in turn has an effect on the cultural and political landscape of migrant receiving nations.     

Spiritual assessment in aging: a framework for clinicians

Older adults may benefit from clinical conversations about the role of spirituality in their lives, but social workers and other helping professionals often do not have an understanding of where to proceed beyond initial questions of whether spirituality and/or religion are important and if so, what religious preference is held. Much has been written about definitions of spirituality and religion, but the literature has not yet provided a clear focus on ways to assess whether these are integrated positively or negatively in the lives of older adults. This article identifies eleven domains in spirituality that might be assessed. Within each domain an explanation is provided as well as a brief discussion of the rationale for including it in the classification. Sample interview questions and an illustrative vignette are included. Together these eleven domains build an important framework and resource for spiritual assessment with older adults.     

Psychosocial and relationship-based theories for child and family social work: political philosophy, psychology and welfare practice

Psychosocial perspectives on children’s development are allied to theories that recognize the ‘self’ as essentially a social entity. The quality of relationships that children experience in their social environment have a profound effect on their socio-emotional development, personality formation and social competence. To this extent, psychosocial theories of children’s development and wellbeing can provide child and family social workers with a powerful framework within which to analyse, assess and practise. However, it is also recognized that the character of child welfare practices and policies are influenced by prevailing political climates. A simple dichotomy is described between political philosophies of the right and left; libertarianism and communitarianism; individual freedom and collective action. It is argued that the present swing to libertarian individualism has brought about major changes in the policy and practice of much child and family social work, including a preference for theories that emphasize people’s psychological independence, rationality and personal responsibility. In such a climate, child and family social work becomes more legalistic, orientated towards principles of justice rather than welfare, and towards rights and responsibilities rather than personal relationships and social competence. Psychosocial developmental theories, with their emphasis on the importance of social relationships and the emotional interconnectedness of people in community, fare less well under the rigours of psychological individualism and free-market economics. The paper concludes that if children’s psychosocial development and competence are a product of their social history, practices that psychologically ‘disembed’ people from their relationship environment are unable to consider children’s needs within a coherent, well-grounded theoretical framework. If child and family social work is premised on helping children develop social understanding and emotional wellbeing, theory and practice are best served by taking a psychosocial perspective.     

Guided by ethics: religion and spirituality in gerontological social work practice

This random national survey anonymously explored 299 gerontological social workers' attitudes about spirituality and the use of spiritual interventions in practice. Respondents support the inclusion of religion and spirituality in education and practice as a diversity component, as part of holistic assessment, and as a fundamental aspect of human life. Nearly 70% of respondents report little or no preparation on spiritual issues during their schooling and only 24.5% report satisfaction with their educational preparation on this topic. While respondents' personal spirituality correlates positively and weakly with the use of spiritual interventions, it is ethical attitudes toward spiritual interventions that predict the use of spiritual interventions by gerontological social workers.     

Normative, Gain and Hedonic Goal Frames Guiding Environmental Behavior

This article discusses new developments about goal-dependent framing and multiple goal frames (sometimes also called "multiple motives"), which are highly relevant for understanding environmental behavior. We introduce goal-framing theory, which postulates that goals "frame" the way people process information and act upon it. Three goal frames are distinguished: a hedonic, gain, and normative goal frame. In general, multiple goals are active at any given time, which may (or may not) be compatible; that is, the strength of the focal goal may be influenced by other goals that are in the background. Based on an extensive review of studies in environmental psychology, we suggest those conditions under which each goal frame may be dominant in influencing environmental behavior. In the environmental context, normative goal frames imply acting pro-environmentally, while gain and hedonic goal frames often result in not acting in an environmentally sound manner. Next, we argue that pro-environmental behavior may be promoted by strengthening normative goals or by making gain and hedonic goals less incompatible with normative goals. Finally, based on goal-framing theory, we suggest questions to be addressed in future research.     

In God We Trust: Religion and Optimism Toward Biotechnology*

Objectives. Biotechnology has been called a new industrial revolution. This revolution has and will produce many ethical and moral questions. Religion could have a significant role in these debates, yet little is known about how religion affects views of biotechnology. Methods. The 1997–1998 U.S. Biotechnology Study, a nationally representative data set resulting from telephone interviews, is analyzed to see how belief in a personal God and other religion variables affect scores on an optimism scale. Results. The analysis shows that church attendance and personal religiosity do not affect optimism. However, holding an image of a personal God who hears individual prayers produces a more optimistic view of biotechnology. Conclusions. I argue this finding is because holding an image of a personal and powerful God makes one more confident due to the safety net of having a God that could help guide biotechnology and protect against any negative consequences.     

Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations, 2005 Smith College School for Social Work

Abstract

This essay reflects on personal transformative experiences as explored using ideas from transformative learning, developmental perspectives and the practice of spiritual direction. This reflects the multi-disciplinary, relationally based perspectives that are useful in exploring transformation when spirituality is an essential dimension of understanding the meaning of critical incidents or events in one's life. Using the metaphor of spinning a kaleidoscope to identify memories that elucidate critical transitions in a personal narrative, there are memories from childhood, early professional life and recent events which afford an opportunity to revisit and explore the meaning of those events. The essay provides insight into the practice of spiritual direction that has similar parallels in clinical practice. These parallels include: the importance of attending to the relationship; of paying attention to one's own stillness and silence; and of engaging the other in owning the transformative power of insights from their explorations.