Religion and Mental Health

ISBN-13: 9780195069853 / Angielski / Twarda / 1992 / 336 str.

John F. Schumaker

Opis

This is an interdisciplinary collection of previously unpublished papers on the controversial relationship between religious behavior and mental health. Schumaker has assembled a distinguished international roster of contributors--sociologists and anthropologists as well as psychiatrists and psychologists of religion--representing a wide range of opinions concerning the mental health implications of religious belief and practice. Taken together, the papers provide a comprehensive overview of theory and research in the field. Included are papers on the interaction of religion and self-esteem, life meaning and well-being, sexual and marital adjustment, anxiety, depression, suicide, psychoticism, rationality, self-actualization, and various patterns of anti-social behavior. Religion is also dealt with in relation to mental health of women, the elderly, and children. Contributions dealing with mental health in non-Western religious groups add an important cross-cultural dimension to the volume.

Recenzje

'This is an extraordinarily ambitious collection of twenty-four papers on the challenging subject of the relationship between religious behaviour and mental health. The editor has skilfully drawn together an international panel of contributors ... to examine the implications of religious belief and practice for mental health ... the book is admirable in its scope and depth ... this is a fascinating and important book and one which British mental health professionals would do well to read and debate. This book challenges many clichés about religious repression and guilt and I would particularly recommend it for those working in more multiracial, multifaith, urban environments.' Patricia d'Ardenne, Heythrop Journal