Strengths in Diverse Families of Faith : Exploring Religious Differences

This book explores how religious families draw on their spiritual beliefs, religious practices, and faith communities to help them strengthen their marital relationships and their parenting.

Using in-depth interviews from eight religious groups – Asian American Christian; Black Christian; Catholic and Orthodox Christian; Evangelical Christian; Jewish; Latter-day Saint; Mainline Protestant; and Muslim – the book uses the interviewees’ own words to show how their religion impacts their lives and influences their relationships. The book also includes an introductory chapter which describes the study and the sample; a conceptual chapter which places the empirical chapters in theoretical context in sociological study of religious families; and a concluding chapter which describes how the editors and authors developed respect and admiration for religious cultures other than their own.

Drawing on such a diverse group of religions in America, this book will be of interest to those studying individual religious groups, as well as wider ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Marriage and Family Review.

David C. Dollahite is Camilla E. Kimball Professor of Family Life at Brigham Young University, USA. His scholarship focuses on the nexus of religion and family relationships.

Loren D. Marks is Professor of family life at Brigham Young University, USA, where he is Director of the Marriage, Family, and Human Development graduate program. He is author of Religion and Families: An Introduction.