Abstract
This essay is a response to Jindra’s review (2017) of Psychology and Spiritual Transformation in a Substance Abuse Program: The Lazarus Project (Williamson and Hood 2016). The book itself is based on the 5-year longitudinal investigation of a Pentecostal-based substance abuse program called the Lazarus Project. After a brief description of the study, the authors of this response address three issues raised by Jindra: (1) the study’s relation to the debate concerning the personal versus social dimensions of spiritual transformation/conversion; (2) the use and purpose of social control in faith-based programs such as the Lazarus Project; and (3) useful methodologies in conversion research. The authors conclude with remarks on the appropriateness of faith-based programs for those seeking help with substance addiction and on the importance of Spirit baptism as a Pentecostal experience that contributes to addiction recovery at the Lazarus Project.
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Notes
The psychological instruments assessed depression, self-esteem, Big Five personality markers, ego loss, and psychopathology, and the spirituality instruments measured fundamentalism, religious orientation, well-being, and God-mysticism.
Abraham Maslow (1964/1994) speaks of these cultural/religious interpretations of cross-cultural peak experiences as “localisms.”
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Paul Williamson, W., Hood, R.W. The Lazarus Project: A Response to Jindra. Pastoral Psychol 67, 453–460 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0827-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-018-0827-z