
Religion and Family in a Changing Society
Penny Edgell(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 2. October 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
232 pages
978-0-691-08675-0 (ISBN)
Description
The 1950s religious boom was organized around the male-breadwinner lifestyle in the burgeoning postwar suburbs. But since the 1950s, family life has been fundamentally reconfigured in the United States. How do religion and family fit together today? This book examines how religious congregations in America have responded to changes in family structure, and how families participate in local religious life. Based on a study of congregations and community residents in upstate New York, sociologist Penny Edgell argues that while some religious groups may be nostalgic for the Ozzie and Harriet days, others are changing, knowing that fewer and fewer families fit this traditional pattern. In order to keep members with nontraditional family arrangements within the congregation, these innovators have sought to emphasize individual freedom and personal spirituality and actively to welcome single adults and those from nontraditional families. Edgell shows that mothers and fathers seek involvement in congregations for different reasons. Men tend to think of congregations as social support structures, and to get involved as a means of participating in the lives of their children.
Women, by contrast, are more often motivated by the quest for religious experience, and can adapt more readily to pluralist ideas about family structure. This, Edgell concludes, may explain the attraction of men to more conservative congregations, and women to nontraditional religious groups.
Women, by contrast, are more often motivated by the quest for religious experience, and can adapt more readily to pluralist ideas about family structure. This, Edgell concludes, may explain the attraction of men to more conservative congregations, and women to nontraditional religious groups.
Reviews / Votes
Winner of the 2006 Distinguished Book Award, Section on Sociology of Religion, American Sociological Association "Penny Edgell's new monograph provides a much-needed analysis of the intersections of religion and family life... Edgell's work reaches beyond sociology of religion and sociology of family in an effort to speak to broader questions about culture, meaning, social engagement, and social change."--Sally K. Gallagher, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion "Religion and Family in a Changing Society should be the starting point for anyone interested in understanding contemporary family-religion dynamics."--Scott M. Myers, American Journal of SociologyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
30 tables.
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
426 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-08675-0 (9780691086750)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Penny Edgell
Religion and Family in a Changing Society
E-Book
12/2013
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€44.49
Available for download
Person
Penny Edgell is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of "Congregations in Conflict: Cultural Models of Local Religioius Life", which won the 1999 best book award from the American Sociological Association's religion section.
Content
List of Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter One: Contested Changes "Family Values" in Local Religious Life 1 Chapter Two: Religious Involvement and Religious Institutional Change 27 Chapter Three: Religion, Family, and Work 45 Chapter Four: Styles of Religious Involvement 67 Chapter Five: "The Problem with Families Today ..." 94 Chapter Six: The Practice of Family Ministry 125 Chapter Seven: Religious Familism and Social Change 146 Appendix: Choices 167 Notes 175 References 195 Index 207