A community psychology perspective on religion and religious settings.

Todd, Nathan R.

doi:10.1037/14953-022

Cited by 5 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 78 publications

(121 reference statements)

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“…Abstract Religious congregations are social settings where people gather together in community to pursue the sacred (Pargament, 2008). Such settings are important to understand as they provide a context for individuals to develop relationships, share ideas and resources, and connect individuals to larger society (Todd, 2017a). Yet, research to date has not deeply examined the inherently relational nature of religious congregations.…”

Section: Highlightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, scholars estimate about 40% of people in the United States attend a religious place of worship on a regular basis with about 150 million people attending over 330,000 religious settings (Linder, ). The rich potential of studying religious congregations as a type of social setting has not been lost on community psychology (Kloos & Moore, ; Pargament, ; Pargament & Maton, ; Todd, ); yet, only limited work in the field moves beyond religion as an individual attribute to study congregations as religious communities. This is a missed opportunity as studying congregations as a type of social setting holds promise to further our understanding of how settings work more generally, and to reveal the particular religious aspects that may be important to congregational life more specifically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

Highlights• Used social settings theory to frame hypotheses about relationships in a Christian congregation.• Examined friendship and spiritual support as two types of relational links.• Tested hypotheses about relationships in a congregation using social network analysis.• Used ERGM models to test hypotheses about relational activity, popularity, and homophily.• Showed utility of using network methods to test hypotheses related to social settings theory.Abstract Religious congregations are social settings where people gather together in community to pursue the sacred (Pargament, 2008). Such settings are important to understand as they provide a context for individuals to develop relationships, share ideas and resources, and connect individuals to larger society (Todd, 2017a). Yet, research to date has not deeply examined the inherently relational nature of religious congregations.

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confidence: 99%

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A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation

Todd

Blevins

2019

American J of Comm Psychol

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Religious congregations are social settings where people gather together in community to pursue the sacred (Pargament, 2008). Such settings are important to understand as they provide a context for individuals to develop relationships, share ideas and resources, and connect individuals to larger society (Todd, 2017a). Yet, research to date has not deeply examined the inherently relational nature of religious congregations. Thus, in this study, we used social settings theory (Seidman, 2012; Tseng & Seidman, 2007) to develop and test hypotheses about relationships within one Christian religious congregation. In particular, we used social network analysis to test hypotheses about relational activity, popularity, and homophily for friendship and spiritual support types of relational links. Our findings demonstrate how relational patterns may be linked to participation in congregational activities, occupying a leadership role, a sense of community and spiritual satisfaction, stratification, socialization, and spiritual support. Overall, this advances theory and research on the relational aspects of religious congregations, and more broadly to the literature on social settings. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for theory and religious congregations also are discussed.

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Section: Highlightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation

Todd

Blevins

2019

American J of Comm Psychol

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“…Additionally, we have wondered how CCDA's use of the principles compares to community psychology's understanding of the same principles, particularly neighboring (Nation et al, 2010;Perkins et al, 1996;Unger & Wandersman, 1985), sense of community (Brodsky et al, 2002;Christens et al, 2013;McMillan & Chavis, 1986;Prezza et al, 2001), empowerment (Maton, 2008;Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995;Todd, 2017), and citizen participation (Perkins et al, 1996;Putnam, 2000).…”

Section: Limitations and Constraintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, religion has also been shown to play a substantive role at the community level by providing resources, support, and networks (Kloos & Moore, ; Maton, , , ; Todd, ) as well as motivation, institutional resources, and justification for engagement in social issues through organizing and development (Barnes, ; Cavendish, ; Smith, ). Community organizing scholars have noted that religion is an important and often overlooked part of social movements (Smith, ), particularly through congregational organizing models such as Pacific Institute for Community Organizing (Speer & Hughey, ) and inter‐faith models of broad‐based organizing (Bretherton, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of community psychology in Christian community development

Eccleston

Perkins

2018

Journal Community Psychology

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This project examines the connections between community psychology and faith-based community development. We investigate whether and how 4 major principles of community psychology-neighboring, sense of community, empowerment, and citizen participation-are found in the theory and philosophy of practice of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a national faith-based community development network. We employ content analysis of four official CCDA publications to identify whether and how these four principles are embedded in the organization's espoused principles of practice. Our findings are as follows: (a) All four principles are found within CCDA theory and philosophy of practice, with the greatest emphasis on neighboring and sense of community and a less robust application of empowerment and citizen participation; (b) CCDA primarily focuses on the individual-level impact of these principles; and (c) CCDA Bases their application of these principles in Christian scripture and tradition. Our results indicate that the field could be strengthened by examining religious approaches to these principles and considering how organizations engage these concepts in both the theory and the practice. Additionally, faith-based organizations may foster a more effective application of these concepts in their social change efforts by partnering with community researchers and practitioners.

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Fostering Well‐being through Social Support: The Role of Evangelical Communities in the Lives of Dominican Women of Haitian Descent

Salusky

Tull

Case

et al. 2020

American J of Comm Psychol

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Women of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic experience oppression due to their gender, ethnicity, and economic status. They also exhibit high rates of participation in evangelical Christian communities, a paradoxical finding given the restricted roles women have traditionally played in these settings. The goals of this study were to explore the perceived benefits of participation in evangelical communities and the setting characteristics that lead to these benefits. The research team interviewed 19 current and former church participants aged 18–59. Thematic analysis revealed three perceived benefits of congregational life. Participants viewed their participation as: (a) an opportunity for personal growth and development; (b) protective against negative social influences; and (c) providing social support in the face of life challenges. In addition, dependable, expected, and reciprocal relational support was a key characteristic of evangelical communities. Findings extend the current understanding of how religious communities enhance well‐being for marginalized women through social support networks. Findings also explore the dialectical nature of settings as both empowering and disempowering. Implications for future interventions are discussed.

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A community psychology perspective on religion and religious settings.

Cited by 5 publications

References 78 publications

A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation

A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation

The role of community psychology in Christian community development

Fostering Well‐being through Social Support: The Role of Evangelical Communities in the Lives of Dominican Women of Haitian Descent

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