Social Justice and Religious Participation: A Qualitative Investigation of Christian Perspectives

Abstract

This investigation examines how self-identified Christians in the Midwest U.S. understand and work for social justice, with a focus on their process of social justice development and the role of religious congregations in promoting social justice. Using a grounded theory analysis of 15 in-depth interviews, results indicated multiple understandings of social justice such as meeting basic needs, fixing social structures and systems to create equal distributions of resources, promoting human rights and dignity, and as a religious responsibility. Participants also described a process of social justice development facilitated by exposure to injustice, mentors, educating others, and the importance of finding a social justice community. Distinct personal barriers to social justice engagement were identified such as resources and negative emotions, whereas congregational leadership was important for congregational involvement. General frustration with congregations was expressed regarding low social justice engagement; however, participants balanced this frustration with hope for the positive potential of congregations to promote social justice. Together these findings show multifaceted understandings of social justice and a dynamic process of social justice development for these self-identified Christians. Implications for future research and partnership with religious individuals and congregations also are discussed.

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

“…For example, Bass and Avolio (1993) note that expectations for member engagement are created based on where leaders focus their energy. Qualitative research by Todd and Rufa (2013) found that congregational leaders may be vital in creating and maintaining a norm for social justice and that some congregations may sponsor specific social justice activities or programs. In the current study, we expect that people who perceive their congregation to be involved in justice activities, thus aware of a norm for justice, will be more likely to participate in justice activities through or outside the congregation.…”

“…In this study we examine member perceptions of if their leader confronts social injustice to understand how such modeling may encourage member social justice involvement. Other research with counseling psychology trainees (Beer et al 2012;Singh et al 2010) and religious individuals (Todd and Rufa 2013) suggests that the presence of social justice models and mentors are important to facilitate social justice engagement. Religious leaders may be particularly important as members may ascribe referent power (i.e., power based on admiration and respect, French and Raven 1959) based on the leaders religious position and perceived religious authority.…”

“…Identifying and understanding the specific mechanisms by which congregations promote social justice involvement is important to guide collaboration and intervention with congregations and also contributes to the community psychology literature on social settings (Seidman 2012) and empowering community settings (Maton 2008). For example, conceptual and empirical scholarship indicates that congregational social relationships and leadership may be vital to promote individual social justice engagement (Putnam and Campbell 2010;Todd and Rufa 2013). We build on this research by examining how certain social processes (e.g., bonding capital) and congregational characteristics (e.g., facets of leadership) predict individual involvement in social justice activities.…”

Applying affiliation social network analysis to understand interfaith groups

“…Item content was based on theory, qualitative research, and research on congregational collaboration (Chaves, 2004;Todd, 2012;Todd & Houston, 2013;Todd & Rufa, 2013). For providing resources to community groups, participants read the prompt, "In the last year, to what extent did your group provide time, money, volunteers, or other resources to:" and then responded on a 1 (not at all) to 6 (to a great extent) scale for each of the following four items: (a) other religious congregations to address local community issues, (b) government to address local community issues, (c) secular non-profits to address local community issues, and (d) para-church organizations to address local community issues.…”

Differences in White Privilege Attitudes and Religious Beliefs Across Racial Affect Types

“…The sanctification of social justice builds on this research by examining how people imbue spiritual significance to working for social justice. Research supports this link, as some people connect their religious beliefs and spirituality to working for social justice (Beer, Spanierman, Greene, & Todd, 2012;Goodman, 2000;Todd & Rufa, 2013). In the current study, we examined whether students in PCRW types associated with greater racial justice engagement also report higher levels of sanctification of social justice.…”