Spiritual Transformation | Scientific Research Program

Abstracts

The Neurobiology of the Mystical Experience

Principal Investigator: Mario D. Beauregard, Université de Montréal (Canada)

Vincent Paquette, Research Assistant (Université de Montréal)

General goal: to use, for the first time, three of the most powerful functional neuroimaging technologies (functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRl, positron emission tomography or PET, and multichannel EEG) to identify the neuroelectrical (multichannel EEG) and neurochemical (PET) correlates of the mystical union with God (in the Christian sense), as well as the underlying neural circuitry (fMRl). These functional neuroimaging technologies will be used in a group of Carmelite nuns (from the Montreal area) while they are either in a contemplative state (Unio Mystica - activation task) or a Self state (reference task). Specific aims, research design, and methods: in Experiment 1, fMRI will be used to identify the neural substrate of Unio Mystica. In Experiment 2, we will use the a- [11C]methyl-L-tryptophan (or a- [11C]MTrp)/ PET method to measure 5-HT neurotransmission during the same two experimental conditions. In Experiment 3, multichannel EEG will be used to identify the dominant frequencies and relative power in delta (0-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), and beta (13-28 Hz) frequency ranges during the Self state and Unio Mystica. We will also localize the neural generators of the EEG activity recorded in the two experimental conditions. At the end of each experiment, subjects will be asked to complete a French- Canadian version of the Mysticism scale. Significance of the research program: this research program should provide precious information regarding the various neurobiological correlates (neuroelectrical, neurochemical, and functional neuroanatomical) of Unio Mystica. Once we will have identified these correlates, it is conceivable that, in a near future, we will have enough neurobiological knowledge to be able to assist spiritual transformations of individuals, by combining the use of metacognition (a form of higher-order self-awareness) and external (audio-visual) stimulation of the brain.

Mario D. Beauregard is Associate Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Psychology, Université de Montréal(Canada). He obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience (1992) from Université de Montréal. Beauregard has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Texas Medical School and McGill University. Beauregard's research concerns the neural substrate underlying self-consciousness, volition, and emotion regulation with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and multi-channel EEG. Other major research interests involve the mind-brain question and the neurobiology of spiritual transformation.

A Spiritual Transformation Scale for Cancer Patients

Principal Investigator: Brenda Cole, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

Clare Hopkins, Co-Investigator (Carlow College)
Andrew Baum, Consultant (University of Pittsburgh)
John Tisak, Consultant (Bowling Green State University)

There is considerable evidence that a diagnosis of cancer disrupts one's world view and sense of well-being, at least initially (Collins, Taylor, & Skokan, 1990). Additional studies suggest that while negative effects are prevalent, positive effects also occur and may even occur more frequently (Curbow, Somerfield, Baker, Wingard, & Legro, 1993). Empirical data and anecdotal reports indicate that spiritual resources often play a role in the adjustment process for people facing medical illness, and cancer in particular (Musick, Koenig, Larson, & Mathews, 1998; Pargament, 1997). Moreover, profound spiritual changes or transformations are evident in the narratives of cancer survivors (e.g., Cole & Hopkins, 2002). However, little is known about the nature of these transformations or their effects on adjustment. One of the reasons for this lack of knowledge is the unavailability of an instrument to assess spiritual transformations (ST) for people coping with cancer. This study will respond to this lack by developing and testing the Spiritual Transformation Scale (STS) for people coping with cancer. In the first phase, 40 preliminary items will be generated based on a literature review, pilot data, and clinical experience. In the second phase, qualitative interviews will be conducted with approximately ten people diagnosed with cancer who report having had a significant spiritual change through their cancer experience. Open ended questions will be used to gather information about their experience. They also will be asked to complete the preliminary STS and provide a critical examination of each item. During the third phase, the STS items will be refined in light of the data obtained during Phase Two and the scale will be administered, within a battery of questionnaires to test the scale's psychometric properties, to 225 people diagnosed with cancer. A principal factors analysis with iterations with oblique rotation will be conducted and each identified factor will be tested for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The construct validity (correlations between the STS and intrinsic religiousness, religious coping, and post- traumatic growth), predictive validity (correlations between the STS and measures of spiritual and psychological adjustment), and incremental validity (the ability of the STS to predict adjustment while controlling for related constructs like religious coping) of the STS will be assessed.

Brenda Cole is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). She has conducted research on the role of spirituality and existential issues in the adjustment to chronic illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. She has also written on related topics: defining the concepts of spirituality and religion, spiritual surrender as a paradoxical means to control, forgiveness, and the design of spiritually-integrative interventions. She has developed and tested two scales to assess two distinct aspects of spirituality [with]in the process of coping with illness, and is developing a study on the effects of a spiritually-focused meditation program for people coping with metastatic melanoma. Cole received her Ph.D from Bowling Green State University.

Antecedents of Transformation: Spiritual Formation

Principal Investigator: Harold D. Delaney, University of New Mexico

Todd Hall, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate professor or Psychology and Director of the Institute for Research on Psychology and Spirituality (Biola University)
Peter Hill, Co-Principal Investigator, Professor of Psychology (Biola University)
William R. Miller, Co-Principal Investigator, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry (University of New Mexico) John Coe, Supervisor (Biola University)
Keith Edwards, Methodologist (Biola University)

William Miller, in his landmark study (Miller & C'de Baca, 2001), presented detailed retrospective reports of individuals who had experienced dramatic, lasting "quantum changes" in their lives. The proposed study will be the first prospective study of such quantum changes. In this effort, the state-of-the-art methodology of a randomized, controlled clinical trial will be combined with the venerable tradition of spiritual direction in an attempt to foster spiritual development and growth in a population of undergraduate students.

The proposed project will investigate both Type I (gradual spiritual change) and Type II (quantum change) spiritual transformations with a prospective longitudinal design. Antecedents of spiritual transformation will be investigated during the college years -- a critical formative period during which faith is often shaken or solidified, and lifetime patterns of character and spiritual disciplines set. We argue that spiritual transformation may be conceptualized as a maturing of spiritual character in terms of faith, hope and agape. Multiple markers of each of these latent constructs have been identified in our preliminary research. The proposed study will ascertain which religious and spiritual practices predict changes in spirituality and character, and will evaluate the extent to which systematic spiritual mentoring enhances or protects against the decline of spirituality and character.

In a large-scale quantitative study, spiritual development over four time points will be modeled with growth curve analyses using hierarchical linear modeling. The latent structure of the outcome variables of faith, hope and love and of the independent variable constructs of spiritual practices and spiritual community involvement will be investigated using structural equation modeling to validate findings from our pilot work. In a smaller clinical trial, a Formative Intervention for Spiritual Health (FISH) will combine Miller's widely validated motivational interviewing techniques with mentoring in the use of contemplative spiritual disciplines. In addition to qualitative interviews of participants in the intervention trial, those who report quantum change experiences will be assessed in depth, with interviews being transcribed for coding to compare with features of such experiences previously documented by Miller and C'de Baca (2001) and Hardy (1979).

Harold D. Delaney is Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico. He is an expert in research methodology and applied statistics and co-author of the graduate textbook Designing Experiments and Analyzing Data. He has collaborated on more than ten federally funded research projects, most having to do with the treatment of substance abuse. With William Miller, he is coordinating the national psychology panel for a multi-disciplinary project on the nature of the human person funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. He is also co-editing a book on Human nature, motivation and change: Judeo-Christian perspectives on psychology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina.

Spirituality, Language and Behavioral Transformation

Principal Investigator: Alvin C. Dueck, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Psychology

Richard Gorsuch, Co-Investigator (Travis Research Institute)
Kevin Reimer, Co-Investigator (Travis Research Institute)
Newton Maloney, Consultant (Fuller School of Psychology)
James Pennebaker, Consultant (University of Texas, Austin)
Randall Sorensen, Consultant (Rosemead School of Psychology)
David Wade-Stein, Consultant (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Western history is replete with examples of persons whose lives were profoundly changed by an overwhelming spiritual experience: the Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, St. Paul and many others. William James' empirical reflections on the varieties of religious experience reminded the scientific community that spiritual transformation involves behavior amenable to observation and analysis. Thus over the past 100 years we have described conversion experiences, the factors that led to change, health benefits of participating in religious denominations and spiritual coping strategies. What has been neglected is the very medium which makes possible communicating the experience in the first place, namely, language. In this study the working definition of spiritual transformation is that experience which (1) a person labels as transforming, (2) is framed linguistically as spiritual in nature and (3) has resulted in lasting behavioral change. This study proposes to examine the text of self-reports with state-of-the-art computational linguistics programs: Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, and Latent Semantic Analysis. These techniques and our ongoing research will enable us to ask new questions of narrative reports of transforming experiences. Current research supports the direction of our proposed study in that it is now possible to test whether linguistic style differs in religious versus non-religious discourse. We will examine the self-reports in terms of the linguistic styles. Specifically, we will take note of language pointing to positive emotion, insight, and change. Since our previous work suggests there are different constellations of cognitive representations (first described by William James) underlying self-other reports, we will test this across different populations. Semantic relationships in language are considered to reflect basic cognitive networks and the structure of these networks we theorize changes in a spiritual transformation. The 150 participants will constitute a matched comparison sample of three groups of persons (Islamic, Jewish, Christian) who report either a spiritually transformative experience or a non-spiritual but memorable experience. The linguistic dimensions we have isolated by the computational linguistic programs will then be tested against perceived behavioral change. An important outcome of this research is the potential of developing reliable ways of measuring spiritual experiences linguistically.

Alvin C. Dueck is Chair for Integrative Dialogue between Theology and Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA. He is also active in the Travis Research Institute at Fuller. Dueck received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He studied theology at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Cambridge University Divinity School.] His research interests include religious transformation in psychotherapy and computational analysis of meaning. He is the author of Between Jerusalem and Athens: Ethical Perspectives on Culture, Religion and Psychotherapy (1995), and a review editor for the Journal of Psychology and Theology and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity.

Spiritual Transformations and Desistance from Crime

Principal Investigator: Peggy C. Giordano, Bowling Green State University

Monica Longmore, Investigator (Bowling Green State University)
Josh Rossol, Investigator (Bowling Green State University)
Christopher G. Ellison, Consultant (University of Texas, Austin)
Wendy Manning, Consultant (Bowling Green State University)

This project examines the relationship between spiritual transformations and desistance from criminal activity. Researchers have repeatedly examined factors related to the movement into criminal activity, but the processes associated with movement away from an antisocial and criminal lifestyle have not as often been investigated. This project builds upon yet extends work in the sociology of religion and criminology. Traditionally, these fields have viewed religion as an external control on individuals; the individual is perceived as the "conduit" through which religion passes to produce various outcomes of interest. Such an approach not only omits all discussion of spiritual transformation, but also views the individual as a passive recipient of whatever effects religion might bring. In contrast, this project focuses directly on spiritual transformation as an active and dynamic process involving an agentic social actor working to improve his/her life.

The project builds on a long-term follow-up of 210 highly delinquent female and male individuals. These individuals were originally interviewed as adolescents in 1982, when they were all incarcerated in juvenile correctional facilities. Since this initial interview, the respondents have been re-interviewed as young adults in 1995, and as adults (some with children of their own) in 2002. The variety of life course trajectories among these individuals reveals some who are leading "productive" lives, some who are in prison, and some who are at various stages of desistance from criminal activity. This project uses its unique longitudinal design to explain such diversity of outcomes from a pool of initially similar subjects.

The project uses complementary quantitative and qualitative techniques of analysis. Existing waves of interview data are analyzed quantitatively to illuminate the relationships between spiritual transformations, other religious experiences, and factors pertaining to the Backgrounds and life experiences of respondents. A fourth wave of interviews will then focus on the subset of respondents (n=50) for whom religion has been an important part of life, with the goal of enumerating qualitatively the mechanisms through which spiritual transformations provide a new sense of direction and a plan to move away from a life of crime, as well as to examine the circumstances under which such plans are successful or when they become derailed.

Peggy C. Giordano is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at Bowling Green State University. Her research focuses on causal processes associated with delinquency involvement during the adolescent period. She has conducted a series of long-term follow-ups of normative and delinquent youth as they have matured. These focus on variations in adult criminal involvement and factors associated with more successful outcomes, including the role of religion in effective life changes. Her research has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Sociology, Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Journal of Health and Social Behavior. She received her Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Minnesota

Spiritual Transformation in the Face of Illness: AIDS

Principal Investigator: Gail Ironson, University of Miami

Heidemarie Kremer, Investigator (University of Miami)
George Gallup, Consultant (Gallup Poll)
Dale Ironson, Consultant
Jean Kristeller, Consultant (Indiana State University)

An examination of transformative experiences and a longitudinal examination of the relationship between Spirituality/Coping and Disease Progression, Distress, and Death Anxiety

Having HIV represents a time of crisis, which is ripe for re-examination of spiritual issues and one's connection to the sacred. Seven aims will be examined: (1) Description: Describe and characterize Spiritual experiences, and Spiritual Transformation (ST), and Spirituality/Religiousness (SR), in a diverse population with HIV. (2) Time Course/antecedents: How does spirituality change over time in dealing with HIV? (e.g. getting HIV diagnosis, symptoms, crisis/life events or being closer to death). (3) Coping: How do people use spirituality/religion to cope with HIV? (4) Usefulness/health outcomes: What is the relationship of Spirituality/Religiousness, ST to health outcomes over time? Do people who are more spiritual, use religion to cope, or have had a ST have slower disease progression? (5) Usefulness/distress and death anxiety outcomes: Do people who are more spiritual/religious, or use religion to cope (including Pargament's R-COPE), or have had a ST have less distress and lower death anxiety? (6) Scale Development: Further development of the Ironson-Woods SR Index to capture elements of spirituality and ST. (7) Universality: Comparisons of this HIV sample to a national sample (with George Gallup) and to cancer (with J. Kristeller) on aspects of SR and ST. A longitudinal sample of diverse people with HIV, maintained by the PI and followed now for an average of 4 years, will be used. Assessment will occur at two time points a year apart. We propose to use prospective and retrospective methodology, and both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) methodologies. The results of this study will reveal insights into the nature of ST, associations of SR and ST to health and well-being, and provide helpful insights for people dealing with catastrophic illnesses. It will also provide insights for further development of a tool in the measurement of spirituality.

Gail Ironson is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Miami. She specializes in behavioral medicine and has served as the president of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. She is a fellow in the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of behavioral medicine with HIV, cancer, and cardiac patients, and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She hold a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.D. from the University of Miami.

A Prospective Study of Awe and Spiritual Transformation

Principal Investigator: Dacher Keltner, University of California, Berkeley

Jonathan Haidt, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Professor of Psychology (University of Virginia)
Michelle Shiota, Co-Principal Investigator, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Institute for Personality and Social Research (University of California, Berkeley)

Awe is intimately involved in spiritual transformation. We recently have theorized that awe triggers changes in attachments to principles, concepts, and entities that transcend the self. However the role of awe in spiritual transformation has until now only been studied by retrospective self-report. In this proposal we outline our plan to conduct a two-year prospective study of spiritual transformation. We will follow a sample of 200 young adults through their first two years in college, a time when a large number of spiritual transformations occur. We will take a variety of measures at the start of the study (including proneness to awe), and then ask all participants to fill out monthly diaries on a web-based survey. Those participants who appear to have undergone a spiritual transformation will then be brought Back to the lab (along with comparison participants who did not experience a transformation) for a second round of measures. We will then follow the "transformers" for another year, to document the time course and durability of transformation.

Our design will allow us to examine spiritual transformations as they occur, and our expertise in the study of awe and other emotions will allow us to document theoretically relevant antecedents and consequences of spiritual transformation. The proposed study has three aims:

1) To identify the predictors of spiritual transformation. We expect the personality trait of awe-proneness to predict an increased likelihood of spiritual transformation, and to moderate the effects of emotional stress as a trigger of spiritual transformation.

2) To document the consequences of spiritual transformation. We expect spiritual transformations to lead to a variety of measurable effects, including making people: (a) more communal and other-focused in their values; (b) more agreeable in their personality; (c) more tolerant of ambiguity in novel or complex situations; (d) more confident that their lives are meaningful; (e) more likely to report prosocial, altruistic life goals and to behave in an altruistic manner; (f) more likely to define their identities in social and relational ways; (g) more emotionally and physiologically resilient in the face of stress; and (h) more prone to overall positive emotion.

3) To document the determinants of lasting spiritual transformation.

Dacher Keltner received his PhD from Stanford University, and for three years was a post-doctoral fellow at UC San Francisco. He is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Berkeley Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being. His research focuses on three broad questions: the determinants and consequences of power and status; how individual differences in emotion shape the individual's relationships life course; and the forms and functions of the different positive emotions, including awe, love, gratitude, compassion. He has published more than 60 papers on these subjects.

Spiritual Transformations Across the Life Span

Principal Investigator: Michael E. McCullough, University of Miami

Steven Boker, Consultant (University of Notre Dame)
Jean-Philippe-Laurenceau, Consultant (University of Miami)
Maria Llabre, Statistician (University of Miami)

This project will shed light on spiritual transformation across the adult life span using data from the Terman Longitudinal Study. We will use cutting-edge methods for the analysis of change to shed light on a series of interrelated questions that address various aspects of spiritual transformation over the life span.

In Study 1, we will use General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM; Muthen, 2001) to develop a taxonomy of the forms of spiritual change that occur during adulthood. In the GGMM statistical framework, we will also examine the influence of early childhood religious socialization, emotional quality of respondents‚ relationships with their parents, personality traits, and the interaction of these factors, on people‚s likelihood of following particular trajectories of spiritual transformation over the lifespan.

In Study 2 we will use longitudinal growth modeling (Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992; Nezlek, 2001) and General Growth Mixture Modeling to evaluate whether combat experience during World War II affected the religious trajectories of the 328 World War II veterans in the Terman sample. In addition, we will examine whether the effects of combat experience on religious development differ as a function of Neuroticism or other Big Five personality dimensions, as well as religiousness prior to the war. In Study 3 we will attempt identify self-regulatory dynamics that might govern intraindividual change in religiousness during adulthood. To achieve this goal, we will use differential structural equation modeling to examine how people use information about their religious lives to adjust their levels of religiousness into the future. We will also examine whether personality traits are predictive of the rates at which people‚s religiousness stabilizes over time.

By using modern methods for the analysis of change, the findings that result will contribute toward a much enriched scientific understanding of spiritual transformations across the adult life span, and their links to other important psychological domains including family environment, personality, serious life events, and health and well-being.

Michael E. McCullough is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University. His work focuses on religion, spirituality, and virtues, how these unfold in people’s lives, and how they are linked to health and well-being. He has written over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He has also authored or edited four books, including Forgiveness: Theory Research and Practice (2000), Handbook of Religion and Health (2001) and an upcoming volume on the psychology of gratitude.

The Context and Consequences of Spiritual Transformation

Principal Investigator : Mark D. Regnerus, University of Texas at Austin

Christopher G. Ellison, Co-Investigator (University of Texas, Austin)
Daniel A. Powers, Research Associate (University of Texas, Austin)

Social scientists know more about which American teenagers are religiously and spiritually active than how they got there. Religion is an inherently social phenomenon and is typically experienced in the company of others. Yet we know little about the social environment in which spiritual and religious transformations occur, and what - if any - behavioral consequences such transformations are likely to bring about. Our research study proposes a comprehensive analysis of (1) the social, ecological, and genetic contexts that may shape spiritual/religious transformations in youth and young adults; and (2) how such transformations in turn influence behavior. In other words, we plan to focus not only on spiritual and religious transformations as an outcome of interest, but also as a primary stimulus to observable behavioral change. To accomplish this, we intend to analyze data from two recent nationally representative datasets on adolescents and young adults - the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Study of Youth and Religion. Together, they comprise the best available large-scale data to study religious and spiritual transformations and their consequences among American adolescents and young adults. In sum, our project will produce and disseminate conclusive findings about such transformations, their contexts, and their consequences.

Mark D. Regnerus is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas, where he is also a faculty research associate with the Population Research Center. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. His research interest concerns the influence of religion on adolescent behavior. His work has been published in Social Forces, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Social Psychology Quarterly, and Social Science Research, and reported in USA Today, Washington Post, and Time Magazine. He is a collaborator on a Lilly Endowment-funded study of religious practices of American adolescents.

Baalei Teshuvah Spiritual Transformational Soul Work

Principle Investigator: Roberta G. Sands, University of Pennsylvania

Rivka Danzig, Co-Principal Investigator, School of Social Work, (University of
Pennsylvania and Chai Consulting)
Samuel Klausner, Consultant (University of Pennsylvania, Emeritus)

The proposed study aims to build a dynamic model of the stages of spiritual transformation ("soul work") of Jewish adults who have become Orthodox, the baalei teshuvah (BTs). A full model of this process has not been addressed in previous research. Its primarily qualitative component addresses these research questions: (1) What are the stages of spiritual transformation of baalei teshuvah? (2) How are identity transformations, changes in life domains, changes in webs of relationships, and changes in social integration integrated within and across stages over time? (3) In what ways do stages of spiritual development intersect with stages of psychosocial development? (4) What kind of work does soul work entail? How is it expressed? An additional quantitative component aims to identify and assess other modes of religious intensification within Judaism (e.g., changing from a secular Jew to joining the Conservative movement) so that the study of those who become Orthodox can be seen within a larger national context.

The first component will use three qualitative data collection methods: in-depth interviews with BTs, interviews with key informants, and a focus group. The in-depth interviews will be with a sample of 48 BTs, half men and half women, half Orthodox 3-12 years and half 13+ years and will center on developing a spiritual timeline and describing experiences within each self-defined period. Ten key informants (rabbis, therapists, outreach workers, etc.) will discuss their observations of BTs in the early stages and BTs' integration into the Orthodox community. The focus group meeting will be with 10 mental health workers who have been baalei teshuvah 13+ years. They will reflect especially on their later stages of development. Following a preliminary analysis of data, two group meetings will be used to "member check" findings with participants. The second component will consist of a quantitative analysis of responses of 4500 Jewish individuals who participated in the National Jewish Population Survey of 2000-2001. This analysis will focus on patterns of changes in Jewish activity over a five-year period and level of religiosity and observance of Orthodox and sectors of non-Orthodox Jews.

Roberta G. Sands is professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work, where she teaches courses in advanced social work, mental health, human behavior, and qualitative research. Her research focuses on interprofessional communication, mental health, and intergenerational family relations. She is the author of Clinical Social Work Practice in Community Mental Health (1991) and Clinical Social Work Practice in Behavioral Mental Health: A Postmodern Approach to Practice (2001) and co-author of Interprofessional and Family Discourses: Voices, Knowledge, and Practice (2002). She has written over 50 articles and book reviews for social science journals as well as several book chapters. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville.

National Spiritual Transformation Study (NSST)

Principal Investigator: Thomas W. Smith, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago

Andrew M. Greeley, Advisor (NORC)
Kenneth A. Rasinski, Advisor (NORC)

The National Study of Spiritual Transformations (NSST) will be conducted as a module of the 2004 General Social Survey and will be a full-probability, in-person interview with a target of 1500 respondents. The NSST will bridge the gulf between the studies of spiritual transformation using representative and generalizable, national samples but only having limited and closed-ended measures and those with small, unrepresentative samples and case studies (often based on self-selection), but collecting rich, insightful, open-ended narratives of religious experiences. It will use the highest quality, national sample to collect data that generalizes to all adult Americans, utilize carefully developed and pretested items to measure people's religious experiences, produce reliable measures of the incidence and distribution of religious experiences, ascertain key facts about the occurrence of spiritual transformation including age of occurrence, whether sudden or gradual, individualistic or organized, radical or moderate, intellectual or emotional, ascertain the frequency of the events, and finally capture in-depth reports of the causes, nature, and consequences of the spiritual transformations.

Thomas W. Smith is an internationally recognized expert in survey research specializing in the study of social change and survey methodology. Since 1980 he has been co-principal investigator of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences and director of its General Social Survey (GSS). This is the largest and longest-term project supported by the sociology program of the National Science Foundation. Smith is also co-founder and secretary general (1997-2003) of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), the largest cross-national collaboration in the social sciences. Smith has authored over 400 scholarly papers. He hold a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Chicago.

Cancer and Spiritual Transformation: A Practical Theology

Principal Investigator: Leonard M. Hummel, Vanderbilt University

Jean L. Kristeller, Co-Principal Investigator and Collaborator (Indiana State University)
Beth A. Conklin, Consultant (Vanderbilt University)
Edward A. Farley, Consultant (Vanderbilt University)
Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Consultant (Vanderbilt University)

Cases of spiritual transformation that have been preceded or accompanied by illness are legion. However, few scientific studies outside the field of anthropology have focused on spiritual transformation among those who are ill. In order to better understand the nature and process of spiritual transformation associated with illness, this project will investigate that phenomenon among persons with cancer---those who have experienced a threat to "the very fiber of [their] being." Accordingly, the primary aim of this project will be to analyze the spiritual experiences, shifts and transformations of persons with cancer from the perspective of "practical theology" - the critical comparison of the contextual meaning of these spiritual processes for those involved with relevant proposals of these processes in religious and theological literature.

The practical theological aim of this study will be represented both in the content of data collection and a mode of analysis of data derived from the concurrent study, "Living with Cancer" (P.I.: Jean Kristeller, Ph.D). This analysis will involve three phases: (Phase I) Descriptive Theological Analysis of the Data Set: an analysis of religious and theological significance of the quantitative and qualitative data set from "Living with Cancer"; (Phase II) Spiritual Transformation and Illness in Religious and Theological Research: An analysis of religious and theological literature relevant to relationship between illnesses such as cancer and spiritual transformation; (Phase III) Critical Analysis: A comparison of the findings about spiritual processes among persons with cancer from the analysis of the data-set in Phase I with the understandings expressed in relevant historical/constructive theologies and philosophies of religion from the analysis in Phase II.

This study will be significant for the scientific study of spiritual transformation by laying a foundation for further theoretical and empirical religious studies of that process among the ill, in general, and among persons with cancer, in particular. By involving a team of researchers from religious studies and anthropology, and by linking its research with that being conducting concurrently by a team of psychologists and health researchers, this study will offer a model for inter-disciplinary and collaborative research of spiritual transformation

Leonard M. Hummel is Assistant Professor in Religion at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in Vanderbilt’s Community Research and Action Program and is the Director of Research for Religion and Spirituality in the Pain and Symptom Management Program at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. He has published on European Pietism, religious coping, community and cultural psychology, and pastoral care and is the author of Clothed in Nothingness: Consolation for Suffering in Lutheran Tradition and Lived Religion (2003). He is currently working on two book projects: A Thing That Cannot and Can Be Changed: A Practical Theology of Cancer, and Pragmatics of Religious Coping.

Spiritual Rebirth and Maturation Among College Students

Principal Investigator: Sung Joon Jang, Louisiana State University

Keith A. Davy, Co-Investigator (Campus Crusade for Christ)
Alan J. Lizotte, Consultant (SUNY, Albany)
Paul R. Payne, Technical Support (Campus Crusade for Christ)

The purpose of the proposed research is to examine causal relationships between spiritual transformation and its antecedents as well as outcomes including mental health in developmental and community contexts. This research will focus on two distinct forms of spiritual transformation observed among college students: one is the discrete event of being "born again" or spiritual rebirth, and the other is the subsequent, gradual process of spiritual development. Three objectives are identified. The first objective is to develop a conceptualization and measurement of spiritual transformation. Specifically, this research will conceptualize the spiritual transformation of spiritual rebirth as relational transformation of changing from self-to God-or Christ-centered life. On the other hand, the spiritual transformation of spiritual maturation is conceptualized as a process of spiritual growth and maturity.

A second objective is to explore the antecedents and outcomes of spiritual transformation of both types and to examine their relationships. Specifically, this research will examine not only how different factors and contexts are related to spiritual rebirth but also the extent and rate of subsequent changes and growth in a person's life in beliefs, attitudes, mental health, behaviors, and lifestyles.

A third objective is to examine spiritual transformation in a developmental and community framework. Specifically, this research will examine how spiritual rebirth and other related factors affect the longitudinal patterns of spirituality. It will also examine how school- and/or county-level "community" contexts affect, either help or hinder, an individual's spiritual transformation of rebirth and maturation.

This project will draw nationally representative samples of Christian, whether Protestant or Catholic, and non-Christian college students through a two-stage sampling procedure and conduct a web-based survey, especially panel survey to collect prospective, longitudinal data. This study will employ two major modeling techniques, latent-variable structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling to test hypotheses.

Sung Joon Jang is Associate Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University. His research focuses on the effects of family, school, peers, religion, and community on deviance and crime, especially juvenile delinquency. He has published articles in such journals as American Sociological Review, Criminology, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Sociological Forum, Sociological Perspective, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and Social Work Research. Jang received his Ph.D. in sociology from State University of New York at Albany.

Contribution of Temperament to a Spiritual Outlook

Principle Investigator: Jerome Kagan, Harvard University

Nancy Snidman, Project Director (Harvard University)

A group of 48 middle class adolescents, 15 years old, classified at 4 months as high reactive (N=25) or low reactive (N=23) were interviewed at home for their spiritual values. One third was classified as having a strong religious-spiritual outlook. However twice as many high as low reactive were spiritual (11 vs. 5). Fourteen of the 16 spiritual youth came from religious homes; hence family values are important. Second, the youth who on a Q sort procedure described self as ' happy most of the time" were more likely to be spiritual and less likely to report that they " worried about being alone". Third, among the high reactives, those who showed biological evidence of lower amygdalar arousal were more spiritual than those high reactives who were less spiritual. These spiritual high reactives were more inner-directed for they reported being more concerned with their school performance and more thoughtful and less concerned with their attractiveness to peers than the less spiritual high reactives. Finally three high reactive girls were diagnosed with depression and were being treated by a physician. All three were non-spiritual, suggesting that a spiritual outlook may be protective against apathy in modern society among those at risk for depression (i.e., the high reactives are more vulnerable than low reactives). These data support the view that a child's temperament makes a small contribution to a spiritual commitment and that commitment seems to be a therapeutic resource for modern middle class youth in our society.

Jerome Kagan is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Mind, Brain, Behavior Interfaculty Initiative at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University. During the last 38 years he has studied cognitive and emotional development in children, the development of morality, the effect of surrogate care on infants and the role of temperament on social and personality development. Kagan is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author of many books and chapters and has served with both government and private advisory and philanthropic groups.

Spirituality in an Alaska Native Alcohol Treatment Program

Principal Investigator: Robert F. Kraus, Juneau Recovery Hospital (Alaska)/University of Kentucky

Theodore Godlaski, Co-Investigator (University of Kentucky)
Robert Morgan, Co-Investigator (Southcentral Foundation Dinlishla)
Verner Stillner, Co-Investigator (Juneau Recovery Hospital)
Tom Farquhar, Consultant (Southcentral Foundation Dinlishla)
Edith Lund, Consultant (Southeast Alaska Regional Health Corporation)

Alcoholism is a major public health problem among Alaska Natives and is a cause for great concern among native leaders and scholars. On review of the literature certain themes emerge. First, current non-native western treatment approaches tend to be more affective for non-natives than for natives. Secondly, the incorporation of culturally and spiritually appropriate healing approaches seems to result in a better outcome for natives. Third, for these reasons native leaders recommend that treatment programs for natives should not be instituted without significant native input, participation and control. This proposal will implement and conduct such a program at the Juneau Recovery Hospital in Juneau, Alaska which offers treatment programs for both natives and non natives. Approximately 300 Tlingit/Haida Indians are admitted each year about 1/3 of whom are women. The procedure will involve the introduction of a traditional, culturally and spiritually appropriate intervention which will operate side by side with the existing Western oriented program. Components will include Healing circles, Diagnostic circles, individual and family counseling and community involvement with the participation and oversight of native elders and healers. Two native community groups will provide oversight, supervision and consultation. The experimental design will involve a quantitative component consisting of statistical analysis of a pre and post treatment battery of psychological tests. Qualitative data will be developed via analysis of audio recording of circles and interviews with elders with the development of inductive categories. The analysis of these data will result in the development of a modern conceptual model for Tlingit/Haida spirituality as it relates to process and outcome in the treatment of substance misuse.

Robert F. Kraus is Professor of Psychiatry and Anthropology at the University of Kentucky. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Wisconsin and received psychiatric training at Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. His graduate training in anthropology was at the University of Pennsylvania. Kraus is Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky. His research has focused on the relationship between culture and psychiatry with reference to the Arctic and Sub Arctic peoples. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in the circumpolar countries, resulting in numerous publications, presentations, and research grants.

Living with Cancer: Spiritual Shifts and Transformation

Principal Investigator: Jean L. Kristeller, Indiana State University

Leonard M. Hummel, Co- Principal Investigator and Collaborator (Vanderbilt University)
Larry Cripe, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Clinical Affairs for the Indiana University Cancer Center.(Indiana University School of Medicine)
Betsy Frank, Co-Investigator (Indiana State University)
Richard Frankel, Co-Investigator (Indiana University School of Medicine)
Thomas Johnson, Co-Investigator (Indiana State University)
Virgil Sheets, Co-Investigator/Statistician (Indiana State University)
Gail Ironson, Consultant (University of Miami)

Dr. Kristeller's study will use qualitative techniques to identify meaningful typologies (and their prevalence) of spiritual engagement with cancer as they occur over time. A related goal is to examine the extent to which quantitative measures of spiritual experience usefully capture these differences or identify predictors or sequelae of change. "A serious illness, such as cancer, brings with it a feeling of vulnerability and often raises issues of existential identity and mortality even if the prognosis is good." This project will extend the current literature to investigate the range and quality of engagement with spiritual growth and transformation as it occurs in response to a diagnosis of cancer.

Approximately 150 patients at various stages of cancer who are receiving active care will be assessed at baseline and at regular intervals using two types of assessment: 1) brief semi-structured interviews of all patients, and 2) quantitative measures of spiritual and religious domains, quality of life, and medical and demographic status. While the primary focus is on establishing a typology of spiritual change as a function of coping with cancer, the repeated collection of data will contribute to development of a model of spiritual transformation across time, and identification of possible predictors and objective markers of such change.

In addition, 30 cancer patients will be randomly selected to receive a standardized brief spiritual inquiry from their oncologist. Their perception of the effect of this exploration on their engagement with their own spirituality will be qualitatively evaluated. Data will also be examined from the perspective of practical theology by a collaborator, Dr. Leonard Hummel*. To the degree feasible, the investigators will use parallel measures to those being proposed by Dr. Gail lronson in her study of spiritual transformation in AIDS patients to assess the possible universality of such shifts in dealing with life-threatening illness.

Jean L. Kristeller is Professor of Psychology at Indiana State University and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research includes evaluating physicians' attitudes toward addressing spiritual issues, assessing the viability and effectiveness of a brief physician-delivered spirituality intervention, improving quality of life in cancer patients, and using meditation as a therapeutic modality. She is currently funded through the NIH Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine for a study of the use of mindfulness meditation in treating binge eating disorder. She received her doctorate in clinical and health psychology from Yale University.

Childbirth as a Pathway to Spiritual Transformation

Principal Investigator: Sandra D. Lane, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Robert Rubinstein, Co-Principal Investigator, Professor of Anthropology and of International Relations, and Director of Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Gail Dolbear, Co-Investigator (SUNY Upstate Medical University)
Robert Keefe, Co-Investigator (Syracuse University)
Ambika Krishnakumar, Co-Investigator (Syracuse University)

Objective: This study investigates the phenomenon of spiritual transformation during childbirth for a cohort of 176 mothers, and their baby's fathers, age 18 and older. The study enrolls participants in the third trimester of pregnancy, and follows them until the baby's first year of life.

Research design: The research involves an observational cohort design, with qualitative and quantitative variables. The primary outcome variable is experience of elements of a spiritual transformation. The secondary outcome variables are measures of parental competence and infant development.

Primary hypothesis: The primary hypothesis is that during childbirth both mothers and fathers may experience a range of potentially positive changes in consciousness that fit within the evolving definition of spiritual transformation.

Secondary hypothesis: Women and men who experience elements of spiritual transformation during their infant's birth will have enhanced parenting ability, as measured by parental sensitivity, infant attachment and infant development at the baby's first year of life.

Significance: This is a systematic study of a group rather than a case series. As such it will allow us to assess the range of experiences of a continuum of spiritual transformations, rather than only reported peak experiences. This study will involve a diverse group of people. Earlier studies were with more homogenous groups. The experience of childbirth is so common, that the spiritual transformation experienced in this process falls into the realm of an "ordinary miracle." The capacity for spiritual transformation appears to have an evolved, neuropsychological basis. We will closely examine the social, symbolic and clinical structuring of the antecedent conditions that allow childbirth to serve as a pathway to spiritual transformation. From this we hope to gain an understanding of the necessary conditions under which childbirth can tune neuropsychological structures to support spiritual transformation. The enduring effects of childbirth-induced spiritual transformation may enhance the quality of parenting, which will also have implications for beginning to figure out how to promote childbirth as a pathway for spiritual transformation to enhance parenting.

Sandra D. Lane is Research Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical School. She holds a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley, and a MPH in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on gender and ethnic disparities in health. It includes work on rural Egyptian women’s access to health care, traditional female genital surgeries, and disproportionate mortality rates. She has written more than 25 articles and book chapters, served as the Ford Foundation Reproductive Program Officer for the Middle East, and worked with the World Health Organization, UNFPA, and the Onondaga County Child Death Review Committee.

Varieties of Spiritual and Social Transformation

Principal Investigator: Donald E. Miller, University of Southern California

Grace R. Dyrness, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Director, Center for Religion and
Civic Culture, USC
Gregory C. Stanczak, Co-Principal Investigator, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Center for
Religion and Civic Culture, USC

Faith-based Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) have proliferated throughout the developing world over the past two decades. While many NGOs use religion and spirituality as rhetorical devices in generating charitable donations to fund their work, little research has been done on the actual role of religion or personal spirituality among workers. This research focuses explicitly upon the perceived connections, if any, between individual spiritual transformation and social transformation by NGO employees and volunteers. This research will be conducted within one NGO, World Vision International, across two regional field offices, the Philippines and Tanzania. The working hypothesis of this project is that individual spiritual transformation is a qualitatively unique motivation and sustaining force for imagining and participating in social transformation. 50 interviews and 6 focus groups will be conducted at each location over two, two- week site visits. Field observations will be conducted throughout the two-week site visits by each member of the research team. On site analysis will facilitate team evaluations and interpretations of interviews, focus groups, and events. All elements of the research will be videotaped with participant consent. This provides the research team with rich data to code and analyze away from the site. Video cameras will be used beyond documentation as an integral element of the research design. Participants will be asked to review their videotapes immediately following interviews in order to clarify or comment on their statements. The research team will offer interpretations and ask follow up questions during the review of the videotape that the participant can agree with or challenge. As such, the subjective and often abstract variable of spirituality will be brought into clearer focus. Videotape footage will also be used to spark interpretation of local events in focus groups and interviews. This project will produce a research model that may be extended comparatively to other Christian NGOs, to NGOs of various faith traditions, and to NGOs in various global regions. The research fills a significant void in the social science literature and NGO literature. As such, the findings will generate conceptual frameworks for understanding individual spirituality within the context of social transformation.

Donald E. Miller is Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture and Firestone Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California, where he received his Ph.D. He is the author or editor of several books, including Portraits of Survival and Hope (2003), GenX Religion (2000), Reinventing American Protestantism (1997), Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide (1993), Homeless Families: The Struggle for Dignity (1993), Writing and Research in Religious Studies (1992), and The Case for Liberal Christianity (1981). Miller has had major grants from the Lilly Endowment, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Haynes Foundation, California Council for the Humanities, and Fieldstead Company. He is currently writing a book on global Pentecostalism, based on interviews and observations in twenty developing countries.

Psychological Maturity and Religious Conversion

Principal Investigator: Carol Jill Nemeroff, Arizona State University

Mariam Cohen, Co-Principal Investigator, Psychiatrist and founding member of the
Southwest Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, and Adjunct Faculty at Arizona State University

We are proposing a longitudinal prospective study, looking at converts to Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam, combining qualitative and quantitative research designs that we hope will uncover aspects of the conversion experience that have been not been delineated in previous studies. The premise is that persons who are in a process of formal religious conversion may also be in a process of changing their personal relationship to God and that this process is reflected in maturational changes in their intrapsychic god image. We hypothesize that formal religious conversion involves not only a change in religious identity but also a maturational change in the convert's relationship to God occurring concomitantly with religious and spiritual education leading to conversion; that those potential converts who at the start of the religious education show a more mature level of object relations development and general psychological health will be more likely to experience further maturation in their relationship to God; and that those potential converts who show a more primitive level of object relations development are more likely to experience regression and psychological distress related to their relationship to God. Up to 120 participants will receive a battery of quantitative measures at the beginning, middle, and end of their formal conversion process. These will include measures of general psychological symptoms, level of object relations, and god image. In addition 20 to 30 participants will be interviewed in depth at the same points in time, allowing assessment of their relationship to God and their narrative accounts of the conversion experience; they will also complete the questionnaire battery. Data analysis will include both repeated-measures ANOVAs on changes in god image, and hierarchical multiple regressions prospectively predicting god image based on initial psychological health Qualitative analysis will follow a grounded theory approach based in psychodynamic object relations theory. We hope to supplement previous classifications of the factors involved in religious conversion by including an intrapsychic dimension; to identify other aspects of how people change psychologically during the process of conversion; to provide information that will be helpful to religious leaders who work with converts; and to examine and possibly validate (or not) some of the test instruments that have been used in assessing the object relations maturity of subjects' god image

Carol Jill Nemeroff is Associate Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, where her work focuses on both deleterious and enriching aspects of magico-moral thinking. Her publications range from Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review, and Ethos, Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, to Health Psychology, and The Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. She serves as chair of ASU’s Institutional Review Board. Nemeroff completed her Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied magical thinking about contagion, comparing lay models of contagion with biomedical germ theory.

Learning by Spiritual Examples: Measures & Intervention

Principal Investigator: Douglas W. Oman, Public Health Institute/University of California, Berkeley

Albert Bandura Consultant (Stanford University)
Joseph Driskill, Consultant (Graduate Theological Union)
Carl E. Thoreson, Consultant (Stanford University)

PURPOSE: A recent paper by Oman and Thoresen (in press) argues that a major function of religious traditions throughout history has been to facilitate the observational learning of spiritually-relevant skills and behaviors from persons who function as spiritual exemplars. Applying Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory in a manner strongly supported by Bandura (in press), Oman and Thoresen suggest that four major processes underlie how people learn from spiritual models (attention, retention, reproduction and motivation). The purpose of the proposed work is to pursue crucial empirical work for further developing spiritual modeling perspectives on spiritual growth and transformation. The long-term goal is to better understand how spiritual modeling works, how it contributes to overall spiritual transformation, and how spiritual modeling perspectives can be applied to facilitate spiritual growth.

METHODS: The present proposal contains two major empirical components, the first observational (Part A), and the second experimental (Part B). In Part A, a successfully piloted measure of spiritual modeling constructs will be refined to include additional constructs. This measure, termed the Spiritual Modeling Inventory of Life Environments (SMILE), will then be administered to samples of college undergraduates (if 1000), middle-aged churchgoers (aged 35- 54, if 200), and older churchgoers (aged 55+, if 200). Patterns of correlations with a wide range of other demographic and psychosocial measures will be assessed and tested (Aim 1 of proposed work), with spiritual modeling measures hypothesized to correlate positively with psychological virtues(e.g., forgiveness and hope), health status and health behaviors, and well-being.

Part B examines effects from a small-scale ("small-n") randomized study of an intervention developed to facilitate spiritual modeling processes, in part by adapting a previously-researched nonsectarian spiritual intervention (Oman Hedberg, et al, in press). Aim 2 of the proposed work is to (a) gain experience in the design and logistical management of such an intervention, as well as to (b) document patterns of change and generate hypotheses and insights about the effects and mechanisms of spiritual modeling.

SIGNIFICANCE: Given the long track record of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) in simultaneously promoting both theoretical understanding and effective application across many subfields within psychology, we believe these goals are highly attainable and hold considerable practical promise.

Douglas W. Oman is Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley, Division of Maternal and Child Health. His research and professional publications involve theoretical, observational and experimental studies of spirituality, religion and health, including epidemiologic studies of religious involvement and mortality, the application of social cognitive theory to religion and spirituality, and studies of effects on health professionals from receiving training in a comprehensive nonsectarian spiritual toolkit. Oman obtained his doctorate in biostatistics from U.C. Berkeley. He was principal investigator on a grant from the National Institute of Aging and from the Fetzer Institute. He has advised faith-based healthcare organizations regarding how to integrate spirituality into health promotion and healthcare.

Spiritual Transformation in Recovery from Alcoholism

Principal Investigator: Elizabeth A.R. Robinson, University of Michigan

Kirk J. Brower, Co-Investigator (University of Michigan)
Brenda Gillespie, Consultant (University of Michigan)
Ernest Kurtz, Consultant (University of Michigan)
Jon Webb, Research Fellow (University of Michigan)

Many who have recovered from alcoholism or who treat alcoholics believe that spiritual transformations play a role in recovery. However, little is known about how common such transformations are, the nature of those transformations, how they affect recovery, what types of spiritual transformations trigger sobriety decisions, or what might initiate a spiritual transformation. Most importantly, are there benevolent consequences for the individual as a result of these experiences, that is, are there changes in hopefulness, gratitude, humility, forgiveness, love of God, acceptance of self and others, and other aspects of their character or quality of life, especially their alcohol use? To begin to answer these questions, this study will carry out a mixed-method longitudinal survey of 90 individuals who are entering treatment for alcohol dependence, interviewing them at treatment entry and 6 months later. All respondents will be asked if they have had life-changing spiritual or religious experiences at some point in their lives. The study will obtain respondents' narratives about this experience and its impact on their lives, as well as their alcohol use and recovery stories. In addition, quantitative measures of religious and spiritual coping, mystical experience, forgiveness, hope, gratitude, love of God, surrender, AA involvement, treatment experiences, and alcohol consumption will assess these constructs. Analyses will focus on changes over time in these variables and their relationship to having had life-changing spiritual/religious experiences. Qualitative data analysis will include narrative and content analysis to identify common and idiosyncratic themes and patterns, aided by a qualitative software package. Analyses will focus particularly on describing the characteristics of spiritual transformations and of individuals which are associated with greater sobriety, 6 months after initiating treatment.

Elizabeth A. R. Robinson is Assistant Research Scientist at the Addiction Research Center in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. She is currently investigating spiritual and religious changes in early recovery from alcohol problems, through funding from the Fetzer Institute and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). She has published numerous papers on gender differences and sleep problems among substance abuse treatment seekers, family stress and coping with severe mental illness, particularly the impact of causal attributions and gendered family roles on family functioning, and the effect of supportive health education. Robinson received her Ph.D. in psychology and social work from the University of Michigan.

Children in Robes: Aesthetics, Ritual, and Language

Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Samuels, Western Kentucky University

"Children in Robes" explores the factors that contribute toward the spiritual transformation of young boys and monks in contemporary Sri Lanka who have decided, themselves, to enter the monastic order. The aim of this study is to arrive at a greater understanding of the causes that lead to and processes surrounding spiritual transformation among children. Specifically, "Children in Robes" examines the roles that aesthetics, ritual performance, and language play in boys' initial decisions to become monks (objective conversion) as well as in the processes by which young boys and monks become deeply committed to and oriented toward the sacred (subjective conversion). The aim of this study will be reached through an examination of the range of factors that precipitate objective conversion experiences among children, the circumstances that contribute to the subjective transformation of children monks, and the relationships that may exist between the causes that engender a decision to adopt a religious lifestyle (objective transformation) and one's commitment to the sacred (subjective transformation).

The research methods employed in this project will be a person-centered ethnography combined with closely observed accounts of monastic life. The majority of the data for this project will be collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with young boys and children monks, the head monks of three temples in the Kandy district of Sri Lanka, and the parents of a select group of monks. Using multiple qualitative methods grounded in a "person-centered" approach, this project will examine the monks' experiences and preconceptions of Buddhism prior to an objective transformative experience (e.g., leaving lay life and becoming monks) as well as the factors that have contributed to a radical change in the goals, perspectives on life, and commitment to the sacred of young monks who have undergone a spiritual transformation. This project will also explore the degree to which a person's subjective transformation is determined by initial motivating forces leading one to adopt a religious lifestyle.

Jeffrey Samuels is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Western Kentucky University where he teaches courses on Asian religions, cultures, and languages. His primary area of research is the Theravada Buddhist traditions of Sri Lanka and Thailand, with specialization in Buddhist education, the formation of monastic identity, and the concept of social service in contemporary Sri Lanka. He has published peer-reviewed articles on the topics of Buddhist monasticism, portrayals of lay Buddhist practitioners, conceptions of social service in contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhism, and the Bodhisattva ideal in the Theravada Buddhism. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in history of religions.

Spiritual Transformation and Marriage in Urban America

Principal Investigator: W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia

The ties that bind religion and marriage to one another run deep in American life: marriage is associated with higher rates of religious participation and, in turn, religious participation is associated with higher levels of marital quality and stability. This reciprocal relationship suggests that the recent retreat from marriage, which has been concentrated among lower-class and minority groups in our nation's cities, may have important consequences for the vitality of religion in urban America. Specifically, this retreat from marriage may be accompanied by a parallel retreat from the spiritual transformations that typically occur among adults after they marry and start having children. On the other hand, urban religious institutions have given spiritual, moral, and social support to the institution of marriage and to attendant norms of mutual service and sexual fidelity for the married. Thus, the spiritual transformations associated with urban congregations may help disadvantaged urban adults form strong marriages, thereby slowing the retreat from marriage and aiding adults and children who typically benefit psychologically and socially from marriage.

Using data from the ongoing Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which focuses on new urban parents in 20 cities around the nation, this research project aims to answer two central questions: (1) Is the retreat from marriage influencing the likelihood that urban parents will experience a spiritual transformation marked by an intensification of religious practice, a change from one faith tradition to another, or a transformative religious experience?; and, (2) Are spiritual transformations among unmarried urban parents associated with improvements in the quality of their romantic relationships and with transitions to marriage? This project also aims to answer two subsidiary questions: (A) Does the relationship between spiritual transformation and marriage in urban America vary by race, ethnicity, and gender?; and, (B) Are the effects of spiritual transformation on family-related behavior generic or do they vary by religious tradition? This project will rely on a range of statistical techniques-from fixed effects models for event history analysis to pooled cross-section time series models for analyses of continuous outcomes-to answer these questions.

W. Bradford Wilcox is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the influence of religious belief and practice on marriage and parenting. He has published articles in The American Sociological Review, Social Forces and the Journal of Marriage and Family. His first book, Soft Patriarchs and New Men: Religion, Ideology, and Male Familial Involvement, is under contract. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently issued his report entitled Sacred Vows, Public Purposes: Religion, the Marriage Movement, and Public Policy. His research has also been featured in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, CBS News, and numerous NPR stations. He earned his Ph.D. at Princeton University and prior to coming to the University of Virginia, he held research fellowships at Princeton University and Yale University.