Religion in Marriage and Family (FINAL PP)

8/6/2019 Religion in Marriage and Family (FINAL PP)

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Religions Role: Marriage and

Parenting in Daily Life andduring Family Crises

Elizabeth Anderson

Laurie Barwick

Lianna Bennett


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Video Clip: How to end an

Argument/Conflict Resolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Ggdr-whl0


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Vignette

Mary and John, a Christian couple whohave been married for 15 years are seekingtherapy for marital conflict, particularlydisagreements over how to raise theirchildren (14 year old son, 10 year olddaughter). Mary believes that the childrenshould have strict rules and that Johnsparenting style is permissive. John believesthat Marys parenting style is too harsh and

that the children should be allowed to maketheir own decisions. Mary and John findthemselves arguing over topics such asdiscipline, church attendance, and values.


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Based on this vignette, what aresome things as a clinician you

would want to know or assess for?


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Assess individual religious affiliation(Fundamentalist, Liberal, etc )

Assess individual values Assess individual parenting style

Assess for mental illness and other

psychological factors (e.g.neuroticism)


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Why Religion?

Gallup poll in 1995 of US families: 65% of mothers & 57% of fathers stated

religion to be very or extremely

important in their lives (Mahoney et al.,1999)

About 90% of individuals in the US wantreligious training for their children

(Gallup & Castelli, 1989) Yet, there is little theory or research

on the role of religion in family


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Religion and Family Life Overview Marital Functioning

Transition to Parenthood

Parenting of Children Parenting of Adolescents

Parental Gender and Family Life


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Marital Functioning

Global Marital Satisfaction: Greater involvement in religion appears to be tied to

spouses being satisfied with marriage

Mahoney et al. (2001) found that church attendancemore frequently covaried with greater maritalsatisfaction (r= .07), and that religion beingpersonally relevant related to greater maritalsatisfaction (r= .15)

Two moderators for links between religion andmarital satisfaction: First, Sullivan (2001) found that if partners portray

healthy behavior (mental health), religion couldincrease marital satisfaction; however, couples with apartner in distress or neurotic might experience anincrease in marital difficulties

Second, Mahoney et al. (2001) found that religiousnesson a personal level is very predictive of marital

happiness for people attending church


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Marital Functioning contd Marital Commitment:

Mahoney et al. (2001) found that greaterindividual religiousness is consistently tied with

greater marital commitment; and couplessharing religious affiliation, church attendance,and/or beliefs have been repeatedly tied togreater marital commitment

Larson & Goltz (1989) and Wilson & Musick

(1996) found that greater church attendancerelates to marital commitment, after accountingfor demographic factors and marital/familysatisfaction


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Marital Functioning contd Marital Verbal Conflict/Conflict Resolution Strategies:

Oggins (2003) found that couples rarely directlyargue about religion

Mahoney et al. (2001) found that the frequency of

marital disputes is unrelated to personalreligiousness, thus not validating the notion thatmore religious people tolerate conflict to staytogether; also, couples look at religion for guidancein how to resolve conflict if it erupts

Brody et al. (1994) found that greater religiousness

was related to better marital communication skills In sum, research suggests that greater religiousness

can be linked to better communication patterns andless marital conflict


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Transition to Parenthood Krishnan (1993) found that greater church attendance is

tied to higher birth rates Becker and Hofmeister (2001) found that the birth of a child

may cause a transformation in the spirituality of parents;for example, mothers attending church more frequently

Palkovitz (2002) found that men were prompted forreligious introspection or religious involvement due to thebirth or presence of children

Also, some studies imply that religion may serve as asource of protection for marriages that are transitioning intoparenthood. Wilcox and Wolfinger (2003) found thatchurchgoing mothers received higher levels of support fromtheir husbands and were in less conflict with the father oftheir children, such as over sexual infidelity. The motherswere also more likely to be married at the time of the birthof the child and were highly committed to marriage.


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Parenting of Children Discipline Practices:

Most of the research on parenting and religion has focused on whetheror not Christian conservatism is tied to corporal punishment

Mahoney et al. (2001) found that adults affiliated with Christian groupsthat are conservative and hold literalistic beliefs about the Bible aremore likely to value children being obedient and also believe in corporal

punishment. However, most of the research about these attitudes hasnot focused on parents Mahoney et al. (2001) found that the actual use of corporal punishment

among Christian conservatives related to spanking of preadolescentsindicated a correlation ofr = .09, which was about half as strong asattitudinal links found in general samples of adults

Thus, it is important to realize that the degree to which parents hold tobiblical literalism (e.g. The Bible should be taken literally, word forword) or Christian fundamentalism (e.g. All the answers to

humanitys problems can be found in Gods Word), is more critical inpredicting parents adherence to corporal punishment than merelybeing a member of a Christian conservative group, as theaforementioned variables mediate the link between corporatepunishment and religious denomination

Research has also indicated that more liberal Christians are lessinclined to using corporal punishment


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Parenting of Children contd Warmth and Effective Parenting of Children:

Many studies indicate that religion may be tied to parentalwarmth, family cohesiveness and more effective parenting

Brody et al. (1994) stated that a mothers religiousness wasrelated to better skills in parenting, less coparenting conflict,

and better marital quality; also, fathers who were morereligious were also related to less coparenting conflict andbetter marital quality

Wilcox (1998) found that parents with theological conservativeviews of the Bible were more inclined to frequent hugging andpraising of their children. Wilcox (2002) also found that theseconservative parents were less likely to yell at their children

In sum, studies seem to indicate that more conservative

parents who are more inclined to spanking are also likely to bewarmer toward their children, especially when viewing theirparenting as a sacred calling


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Parenting of Adolescents Research:

Sherkat (2003) found that the adoption of religious beliefs andpractices by teenagers was influenced by greater parentalreligiousness

Personal religiousness of adolescents also appears to be

consistently tied with lower rates of premarital sexuality,delinquency and substance use (Donahue & Benson, 1995)

Discipline Practices: No empirical research that addresses the correlation between

religion and physical discipline of teenagers Links between corporal punishment and Christianity appear to

be present only in families of younger children

However, studies regarding religious parents trying to controltheir teens indicate that high levels of parental religiousnessmay not be effective for sons who resist their behavior beingcontrolled, while control might be more effective for daughters


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Parenting of Adolescents contd Warmth and Positivity:

Research indicates that religionfacilitates positive relationships between

parents and teenagers Pearce and Axinn (1998) found that

mothers level of religiousness whentheir teenagers were 18-years-old

predicted more positive relationshipswith their children when their childrenwere 23, as reported by both mothersand children


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Parental Gender and Family Life Fathers:

National surveys have indicated that fathers whoindicated high church attendance also reported ahigher involvement in youth activities (Wilcox, 2002)

King (2003) found that fathers who are morereligious indicated higher quality of relationships withtheir children, felt obligation, and positiveexpectations of future relationship

Mothers: Research has primarily been focused on African-

American and Mexican American women These studies suggest that religious faith can

facilitate the well-being of mothers struggling withchallenging circumstances (e.g. single parenting), aswell as facilitate adaptive parenting


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Religion and Family Crises

Overview

Divorce Domestic Violence

Marital Infidelity

Child Physical Abuse

Parenting a Child with Special

Needs

Child Psychopathology


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Divorce Religion as a protective factor

Religious affiliation vs. no affiliation

Frequent church attendance But what happens when divorce does

occur in religious families?

(Mahoney et al., 2001)


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DomesticViolence

Overall, religion appears to be protective factoragainst marital violence

3 large scale studies exist

Frequent churchgoers 50% less likely toexperience or use marital physical aggressionthan infrequent churchgoers

Degree of religiousness as a factor

What about toxic faith?

(Fergusson, et al., 1986; Ellison et al., 1999)


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Marital Infidelity Interesting fact!! Scarce research exists on

religion and sexual attitudes and behaviorswithin marriage

Most research deals with premarital sex Few studies on married couples found

sexual infidelity to be distressing for morereligious couples

Greater church attendance has been linkedwith greater disapproval of extramarital sexin the U.S., West Germany, and Poland

(Scott, 1998)


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Marital Infidelity contd Overall, research implies that more

religious people hold higherexpectations of sexual monogamy

and would feel guilt-ridden if engagedin sexual infidelity

Research implies this! Thesespeculations have yet to beempirically confirmed.


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Child Physical Abuse In contrast to findings on corporal punishment,

current research does not support the idea ofgreater religiousness encouraging childphysical abuse

Longitudinal study- 1975

Overall, it is unclear what specific religiousbeliefs buffer or exacerbate parents use ofexcessive physical force with child

(Brown, Cohen, Johnson, & Salzinger, 1998)


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Needs Primarily descriptive and qualitative studies

Focuses on how families rely on religion tocope with children with a developmental

disability or serious illness Positive forms of religious coping-

Benevolent reappraisals (study found that 71%of Latino mothers viewed their disabled child asa gift from God)

Religious rituals & practices (prayer, attendingchurch, pilgrimages to holy places)

(Skinner et al., 1999; Bailey et al., 1999)


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Needs contd Research largely involves only

mothers

Dollahite et al. (1998, 2002, 2004)found that fathers religious beliefs,religious practices, and religiouscommunities facilitated meaningful

father-child relationships amongLatter-Day Saint families with specialneeds children


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Child Psychopathology Research indicates that global markers of

greater parental and familial religiousnessare linked to better child psychological

adjustment What occurs when religious families do

have a child with a psychopathology?

Certain religious beliefs and practices couldexacerbate as well as buffer maladjustmentof clinically distressed youth

(Mahoney et al., 2001; Strawbridge et al., 1998)


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Emerging Constructs to Advance

Research There is a need to facilitate family

adjustment during normal family lifechanges

Sanctification= perceiving an aspectof life as having divine significanceand character Theistic Sanctification

Nontheistic Sanctification

(Pargament & Mahoney, 2005;

Mahoney et al., 2003)


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Sanctification contd Research on sanctification suggest that viewing

an aspect of life in a sacred lens has 4important implications Major investments

Spiritual resources Spiritual emotions Spiritual benefits

(Pargament & Mahoney, 2005;Mahoney et al., 2003)


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Counterproductive Constructs and

Divorce Sacred Loss and Desecration

Spiritual Guilt

Demonization

Theistic Triangulation

(Mahoney, 1999; Pargament et al., 2005;

Mahoney et al., 2003; Butler & Harper, 1994)


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Religious Resources to Recover

From Family Crises Family-Based Religious Practices and Rituals:

Butler, Stout, and Garner (2002) found that religiouscouples who have been married for a long time saythey engage in religious practices together (such aspraying) to resolve marital conflict

Theistic Mediation: For instance, God (or other supernatural forces) are

included in a dyadic relationship to help mediateconflict as a third party to the relationship

Butler and Harper (1994) have found this process tobe effective in case examples of marriage

Yanni (2003) also found that parents and theirchildren who included God as a mediator experiencedfewer conflicts, better communication and higherrelationship satisfaction


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Assessment ARE WE WALKING WITHTHE

SAME MORAL COMPASS?


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How to Address

DisagreementsRelationship Enhancement Therapy

Skill based therapy with goal of emotionalengagement

Focus is on recognizing and taking ownership of

feelings. Learn to avoid making judgments oraccusations, and avoid asking questions whilelistening. Instead, acknowledge underlying feelingsthat motivate your spouses expressions and actions.

Goal is to become less judgmental and to focus on

softening, which refers to a change in the hardnessof the quality of confrontation. (Ginsberg, 2000)


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PAUSEA biblical approach to negotiation

Prepare (pray, get the facts, seek godly counsel,develop options)

Affirm relationships (show genuine concern andrespect for others)

Understand interests (identify others' concerns,desires, needs, limitations, or fears)

Search for creative solutions (prayerful brainstorming)

Evaluate options objectively and reasonably(evaluate, don't argue) (Sande, 2006)


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References Brown, J., Cohen, P., Johnson, J., & Salzinger, S. (1998). A

longitudinal analysis of risk factors for child maltreatment:findings of a 17-year prospective study of officially recordedand self-reported child abuse and neglect. ChildAbuse andNeglect, 22, 1065-1078.

Butler, M. H. & Harper, J.M. (1994). The divine triangle: God inthe marital system of religious couples. FamilyProcess, 33,277-286.

Ginsberg, B. G. (2000). Relationship enhancement couplestherapy.In F. M. Dattilio & L. Bevilacqua (Eds.), Comparativetreatments ofrelationship dysfunction. New York: Springer.

Mahoney, A., Tarakeshwar, N. (2005). Religions role inmarriage and parenting in daily life and during family crises. InPaloutzian, R., & Park, C. (Ed.), Handbookofthe psychologyofreligionandspirituality(pp.177-195). New York: Guilford.

Sande, K. (2006). The peacemaker: A biblicalguide toresolving personalconflict. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.

Religion in Marriage and Family (FINAL PP)

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