Family Science Review
Research Articles
Lyle E. Larson
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to review the linkages between the religious factor and commitment to marriage. The nature and meaning of marital commitment is briefly discussed in the first section. Section two examines the research using religious affiliation as a predictor in explaining marital stability and satisfaction. Religious affiliation seems to be a significant influence in keeping marriages together. There is, however, increasing evidence that “affiliation” is a less elegant measure of the religious factor than actual participation in more conservative religious groups. The third section reviews the linkages between religious commitment (as indicated by religious attendance, measures of religiosity, and religious community) and commitment to marriage and family. Religious commitment is an apparent and quite consistent correlate of marital satisfaction and stability. The evidence, even so, is far from definitive. Several theoretical and methodological concerns in the use of the religious factor in research are raised. Suggestions are made for further research.
Elaine Shaw Sorensen
ABSTRACT: The review explores efforts to identify a relationship between religion and health, and then examines issues and implications for family health research and practice. First, studies that relate religiosity to individual physiological and psychosocial health are reviewed, highlighting the need for definition of terms and exploration of such issues as pain, healing, the meaning of religion, and the faith health connection within the family context. Second, theoretical considerations are offered, noting the need for definition of conepts and development of theoretical frameworks that include family science models. Finally, implications for research and practice in family sciences are presented. Emphasis is on the need for study from the family perspective, the need for observation of both healthy and ill populations within naturalistic family environments, the importance of qualitative data in such explorations, and the value of multidisciplinary approaches to research and therapy.
Thomas W. Roberts
ABSTRACT: This paper explores how a religious belief system could be considered an addiction in the same way alcohol and drugs are addictions. Various aspects of substance addiction are reviewed in terms of their implications for addiction as religious belief systems. A systems perspective of religious addictive families reveals that addictive families tend to have rigid communication patterns. In addition, religious addictive families tend to have an imbalance in the religious and secular rituals which may be expressed through family lift cycle transition dysfunctions. Treatment issues of religious addicts are multifaceted and represent a number of interdependent factors. Clinicians must view the religious addiction within the context which may extend beyond the family. The clinician views the religious addiction as symptomatic behavior which develops similarly to other family dysfunctions. In addition to reducing stress in the family life cycle, the clinician also may want to strengthen secular family rituals.
J. Robin Summers & Jo Lynn Cunningham
ABSTRACT: There are strong historical links between church and family. One of the most frequent manifestations of this link today is premarital counseling by clergy–the source of this experience for the majority of couples in the U.S. Clergy are the most frequently used source for all personal and family counseling in this country, and premarital counseling constitutes a major portion of the total counseling done by clergy. Limited research has been done concerning the role of clergy as premarital counselors. However, there is evidence that clergy tend to be relatively poorly prepared for their role as premarital counselors, either through their formal educational background or through other means. Recommendations are made for family life educators, clergy counselors trained in other disciplines, and researchers to contribute to ameliorating the present deficiencies in practice and in the literature, and a model is proposed of improving effectiveness of clergy as premarital counselors.
J. Elizabeth Norrell
ABSTRACT: The minister’s family provides a variety of complexities and possibilities for family scholars. This review covers many of the stresses felt by clergy and their families in terms of work and family conflict, specifically those relating to time, role, and behavior conflicts. Additionally, a model which is sensitive to individual differences between clergy families (using a systems approach) while allowing for differences between denominational beliefs and values (using Troeltschian model) is proposed.
Richard A. Hanson
ABSTRACT: Christian fundamentalism has emerged on the American scene with a powerful ideological message as well as with considerable political clout. In this paper, after a section defining Christian fundamentalism, the place of family within the fundamentalist consciousness is examined. As a pre-eminent symbol of social stability, protecting and enhancing the American family is a major goal of Christian fundamentalists. Factors delegitimizing the family are discussed along with gender roles, parent-child relations, the methodology of Christian fundamentalism, and social programs for families. The Christian fundamentalist agenda for the family is discussed along with the implications of fundamentalism for family science.
Roger L. Dudley & Margaret G. Dudley
ABSTRACT: Five studies are reviewed which explore relationships between religion and family life among members of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the United States and Canada. The tension between social learning and emancipation theories provide the basis for explaining the extent to which family practices influence the religious behavior of offspring. At the same time, intrinsic-extrinsic orientations to religion provide clues as to how religion influences family satisfaction. Studies on adolescent religious alienation, frequency of family worship, transmission of values, youth retention in the church, and marital satisfaction are reviewed within the theoretical framework outlined.
Max E. Stanton
ABSTRACT: The Hutterites represent one of the few cases in which an intentional religious group has survived as a long-term, multi-generational society. Strict communitarianism in the context of an agrarian colony (Bruderhof) is the central focus of the Hutteite pattern of living. The key factors in the successful preservation of the Hutterite Way have been the supportive commitment of the family unit to communal life and a deep, abiding sense of obligation to the religious principles upon which the foundation of a common ownership of goods and property (Guetergemeinschift) is based. The family is the central unit in this arrangement. The family is reinforced in its communal commitment through a network of intense and powerful mechanisms of socialization within the colony. This socialization process takes place within the context of a series of strictly controlled and monitored phases (cycles) of maturation from early infancy to adulthood. In this paper, I will discuss the interplay between the family and the five general phases of maturation within the overall context of colony life. Contemporary forces which are presenting challenges to the Hutterite Way forcing basic reassessment and redefinition of the role of the family in the community also will be discussed.
Bron B. Ingoldsby
ABSTRACT: This article is a review of Mormon belief and practice as it relates to family life. The principle of plural marriage is examined, followed by data on modern day practice in the areas of marriage, divorce, fertility, and family problems and strengths. Drawing heavily from religious sources, some conclusions about social change and accommodation are proposed.
