Abstract
Life-history data from two hundred crisis families and two hundred non-crisis families are examined to specify the influence of crisis conditions on spiritual growth. Members of crisis families making spiritual values their basis for life-orientation appear to live more productively and experience more life-satisfaction than members of crisis families or non-crisis families making no conscious effort to examine values or life-orientation.
These findings invite further substantiation of crisis as opportunity for spiritual growth. A clinical implication is that research on optimal functioning, recovery, and spiritual growth is perhaps more needed at present than continued research on pathology and dysfunction.
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Professional experience includes five years as clinical consultant in Community Mental Health Services, Frederick, Maryland, as well as continuous private practice.
Hall, C.M., “Psychotherapy as Secular Religion: A Middle-Class Urban Phenomenon in Post-World War II U.S.” Paper presented at annual meeting of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Washington, D.C., October 1974; Hall, C. M., “Aging and Family Processes,”J. Family Counseling, 1976,4, 28–42; and Hall, C. M. “Religion and Aging”,J. Religion and Health, 1985,24, 1, 70–78.
At the outset of clinical work and research with crisis and non-crisis families, no particular attention was paid to spiritual growth as a possible correlate of more adequate functioning. In fact, the reverse association was expected: a focus on spiritual dimensions of life would bring with it an unhealthy denial of reality, and a greater likelihood of dysfunction.
These themes are central in Toman, W.,Family Constellation. New York, Springer, 1976; and Bowen, M.,Family Therapy in Clinical Practice. New York, Aronson, 1978, for example.
A more conventional sociological or social psychological definition of decreased functioning can be thought of as alienation, including dimensions of isolation, meaninglessness, normlessness, powerlessness, and self-estrangement. See Seeman, M., “On the Meaning of Alienation”,Amer. Sociological Review, 1959,24, 783–791.
More detailed descriptions of spiritual values which are distinct from traditional religious values may be found in Luckmann, T.,The Invisible Religion. New York, Macmillan, 1967.
All values can be viewed as having symbolic significance for the individuals or groups who espouse them. A more global discussion of a variety of symbolic expressions of values is documented in Turner, V.,Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors—Symbolic Action in Human Society. New York, Cornell University Press, 1974.
All too often religious values may be adhered to for apparently superficial or secular reasons, such as social status. See Goode, E., “Class Styles of Religious Sociation”,Brit. J. Sociology, 1968,19, 1–16. Religious values may also essentially be a traditional or conservative application of social ideals. See Heeren, J.; Lindsey, D. B.; and Mason, M., “The Mormon Concept of Mother in Heaven: A Sociological Account of Its Origins and Development”,J. Scientific Study of Religion, 1984,23, 396–411.
Among references that document the development of family therapy modalities in this comparatively new field of applied theory and research are Ackerman, N. W., “The Growing Edge of Family Therapy”,Family Process, 1971,10, 143–156; Bry, A.,Inside Psychotherapy. New York, Basic Books, 1972; Framo, J.L., ed.Family Interaction. New York, Springer, 1972; Harper, R. A.,Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy—36 Systems. New York, Aronson, 1974; Hall, C. M.,The Bowen Family Theory and Its Uses. New York, Aronson, 1981.
Examples of assessments of family therapy are Wells, R.A.; Dilkes, T.C.; and Trivelli, N., “The Results of Family Therapy: A Critical Review of the Literature”,Family Process, 1972,11, 189–207; and Gurman, A.S., “The Effects and Effectiveness of Marital Therapy: A Review of Outcome Research”,Family Process, 1973,12, 145–170.
Pioneering work in this area is James, W.,The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, Collier, 1969. Also, Jung paid particular attention to the continued development of religious and spiritual beliefs in the later stages of the life cycle. See Jung, C. G.,Collected Works. New York, Pantheon, 1957–1963 (15 vols).
For example, Laing generally conceptualizes non-empirical aspects of human relationships in terms of politics or philosophy. For illustrations of his attention to values see Laing, R.D.,The Facts of Life. London, Allen Lane, 1976; and Boyers, R., and Orril, R., eds.,Laing and Anti-Psychiatry. Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1972.
Invisible loyalties influence the values and life-orientation of individuals. See Cole, F.C., “Relations Between the Living and the Dead”,Amer. J. Sociology, 1916,21, 611–622, and social honor is conferred beyond the grave. See Kephart, W. M., “Status After Death”,Amer. Sociological Review, 1950,15, 635–643.
Among theological works that include practical aspects are Williams, D. D.,The Spirit and the Forms of Love New York, Harper and Row, 1968; Boros, L.,Living in Hope—Future Perspectives in Christian Hope. New York, Herder and Herder, 1970; and Ellul, J.,Hope in Time of Abandonment. New York, Seabury, 1972.
An important study that links religious or spiritual belief and the enhancement of personal and social experience is Tillich, P.,The Courage To Be. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1952.
Traditional religious beliefs can alleviate experienced stress. For example, Jewish values can give hope to individuals, supporting them through crises. See Breznitz, S., “The Effects of Hope on Coping with Stress”. Paper presented to mental health professionals at Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington September 1984.
Journal of Religion and Health is a source of research studies in this area.See inter alia, Buxbaum, R. E., “The Use of Religious Resources in the Care of the Aged”,J. Religion and Health, 1969,8, 143–162.
Details of this mode of family therapy are found in Bowen,—op. cit..
Jung,op. cit..
One of the most succinct descriptions of Teilhard de Chardin's theory of evolution appears in Teilhard de Chardin, P.,The Phenomenon of Man New York, Harper and Row, 1965.
A commentary on Teilhard de Chardin's contributions in this area is Raven, C. E.,Teilhard De Chardin: Scientist and Seer New York, Harper and Row, 1962. Others who have emphasized the spontaneity of spiritual growth in evolution include Butterworth, E.,Unity of All Life. New York, Harper and Row, 1969; and Haught, J.F.,The Cosmic Adventure—Science, Religion and the Quest for Purpose. New York, Paulist Press, 1984.
The usefulness of biographical approaches to the study of human behavior is frequently underestimated. Among proponents of this methodological tool are Mills, C. W.,The Sociological Imagination. London, Oxford University Press, 1967; and Berger, P.L., and Berger, B.,Sociology: A Biographical Approach. New York, Basic Books, 1972.
See Bowen,op. cit.. Bowen also states that family therapists who have researched their own families will be more effective as clinicians than family therapists who have not researched their own families. Commentary on this and related issues can be found in Hall,op. cit. Hall, C. M.,The Bowen Family Theory and Its Uses New York, Aronson, 1981.
For descriptions and applications of criteria used to define and refine research on lifesatisfaction and quality of life, see Andrews, F. M., and Withey, S. F.,Social Indicators of Well-Being New York, Plenum Press, 1976; Campbell, A.; Converse, P. E.; and Rodgers, W. L.,The Quality of American Life. New York, Russell Sage, 1976; Campbell, A.,The Sense of Well-Being in America. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1981; and St. George, A., and McNamra, P. H., “Religion, Race and Psychological Well-Being”,J. Scientific Study of Religion, 1984,23, 351–363.
In Turner, F. H.,Family Interaction. New York, Wiley, 1970, the suggestion is made to conceptualize the family as a small group. Turner believes that this emphasis will define patterns in family functioning more clearly than current interests in problems and dysfunction.
Research methodology and theory need to be sufficiently flexible to incorporate the context of meaning in social interaction. Identification of existing patterns of values and behavior must be considered in any conceptualization and interpretation of data. See Mehan, H., “Le Constructivisme Social en Psychologie et en Sociologie”,Sociologie et Sociétés, 1983,14, 77–95.
These topics are generally addressed in terms of personal beliefs rather than as empirically verifiable research projects. An example of descriptions of beliefs is Parker, W. R., and Aldwell, E.,Man: Animal and Divine. Los Angeles, Scrivener, 1964.
Some attempts to systematize studies along these lines are: Rhine, J. B.,New World of the Mind. New York, William Sloane Associates, 1953; Butterworth, E.,Discover the Power Within You. New York, Harper and Row, 1968; Butterworth E.,How To Break the Ten Commandments. New York, Harper and Row, 1977; Holt, J.,Free to Be Good or Bad. New York, Harper and Row, 1976; and Simonton, O.C.; Matthews-Simonton, S.; and Creighton, J.,Getting Well Again. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1978.
Learned perceptions and attitudes, social products, can be changed in this regard. See Bach, M.,The Power of Perception. New York, Hawthorn, 1965.
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Hall, C.M. Crisis as opportunity for spiritual growth. J Relig Health 25, 8–17 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01533049
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01533049