Abstract
This review essay of Williamson and Hood’s (2016) Psychology and Spiritual Transformation in a Substance Abuse Program: The Lazarus Project examines spiritual transformation in the context of substance abuse and homelessness. The essay first tackles the question of whether change results mostly from individual spiritual transformation experiences or from the social surroundings the converts are part of, based on the author’s research on spiritual transformation and homelessness as well as Williamson and Hood’s work, and then it examines the debate surrounding the application of Foucault’s “technologies of the self” to programs that are similar to the Lazarus Project. The last part of the essay offers a few methodological suggestions for studies of similar projects.
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Notes
T2 indicates 6 months after participants had entered the program, T3 at graduation, and T4 one year after graduation (p. 74).
The authors, following Sorokin (1954/2002), speak similarly of “monastic techniques” employed by the Lazarus Project.
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Jindra, I.W. The Lazarus Project and Grace Ministries: The Role of Religious Nonprofits in Addressing Personal and Social Problems. Pastoral Psychol 67, 443–452 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-017-0758-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-017-0758-0