Religious Congregations and Social Justice Participation: A Multilevel Examination of Social Processes and Leadership

American J of Comm Psychol

Blevins

2019

Self Cite

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.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Relationships and Religious Congregationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

American J of Comm Psychol

Blevins

2019

Self Cite

“…In addition to core activities, empowering community settings theory is interested in setting characteristics that promote empowerment and help groups to achieve their goals (Maton, ; Tseng & Seidman, ). According to this theory, setting characteristics such as demographics, composition of the group, the group‐based belief systems, and practices within the group may contribute to setting outcomes (Houston & Todd, ; Maton, ). Although we cannot examine causal questions, in the current study, we can examine similarities and differences among interfaith groups to explore how setting characteristics may correspond to groups working on certain sets of issues.…”

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Community Issues of Interfaith Groups

Journal Community Psychology

Houston-Kolnik

Suffrin

2017

Self Cite

Community psychologists are interested in community‐based organizations that work to address community issues. To extend research in this area, we use k‐means cluster analysis with a sample of 81 interfaith groups from across the United States to understand what types of issues they work on in their local communities. We demonstrate three typologies of how groups work on explicitly religious and/or more general social issues (i.e., religious and social issues, social but not religious issues, religious but not social issues). Moreover, we show typologies differ on group characteristics such as religious and racial diversity, the degree of religious and community information sharing at meetings, and the extent groups sponsor events or organize protests. Overall, this study furthers an understanding of the different ways interfaith groups contribute to community change efforts by working on distinct sets of issues in their community. Limitations and directions for future research and collaboration are discussed.

“…Termed “mediating structures” by Berger and Neuhaus (), these settings “mediate,” or serve as spaces for individuals to gather together in efforts to connect to their larger community. Religious settings, such as religious congregations, are one example of a mediating structure that link members to the wider community by providing opportunities (a) to create social networks for religious and social support (Putnam & Campbell, ), (b) to develop skills that may translate into civic engagement (Schwadel, , ; Verba, Schlozman & Brady, ), (c) for political awareness raising, engagement, and mobilization (Chaves, ; Christens & Speer, ; Todd & Houston, ), and (d) to participate in a wide range of social service or social justice efforts (Chaves, ; Houston & Todd, ; Houston‐Kolnik & Todd, ; Todd & Rufa, ). Clearly, congregations mediate various links to wider society and provide an example of how religious settings may serve as mediating structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interfaith Groups as Mediating Structures for Political Action: A Multilevel Analysis

American J of Comm Psychol

Boeh

Houston-Kolnik

et al. 2017

Self Cite

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.