‘Minimal Religion’ and Mikhail Epstein’s Interpretation of Religion in Late-Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia

This is an examination of two essays on minimal religion by Mikhail Epstein (1982 and 1999), assessing the usefulness of the term ‘minimal religion’ for the analysis of religion in contemporary Russia. An adapted version of a paper delivered at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University of London, on 8 December, 2003. Note regarding Mikhail Epstein’s use of the words ‘religion’, ‘religiosity’ and ‘spirituality’: Epstein uses the word ‘religion’ to signify ‘mainstream’, church-based manifestations of religion and also the institutional, hierarchical structures related to those. Although in English usage the word ‘religiosity’ has negative connotations – signifying either a superficially felt religious sentiment or a somehow false and insincere expression of religious feeling, intended for outward show – Epstein appears to use the term entirely neutrally. For him it simply serves as a synonym for the word ‘spirituality’. In the two essays examined in the present article the word ‘spirituality’ signifies the whole inner spiritual life and aspirations of the individual and her/his reflection on an ethical way of living, whether the person concerned is a committed, church-going believer, or someone engaged in a personal spiritual or philosophical quest for meaning, or else someone who has experienced what Epstein refers to as ‘the wilderness’ of the Soviet years and has learnt of a spiritual dimension to life through that formative experience.     

The relationship between perceived religious discrimination and self‐esteem for Muslim Australians

Muslim Australians represent one of the fastest growing migrant groups in Australia. They are also the group who, after Indigenous Australians, experience the most discrimination. Previous research on the minority stress model confirms a link between such discrimination and mental health. However, in relation to self‐esteem and discrimination, the results are mixed, potentially reflecting whether people reject or identify with prejudiced views of them and also the type of discrimination being measured. To explore this issue further in an Australian context, we asked 49 Australian Muslims to complete Rosenberg's Self‐esteem Scale and the Perceived Religious Discrimination Scale. In support of both the minority stress model and the rejection‐identification model, we found that perceived interpersonal and systemic discrimination accounts for a small but significant variation in self‐esteem. Interpersonal discrimination was negatively related to self‐esteem, and systemic discrimination positively related. The effects of interpersonal discrimination on self‐esteem can guide therapists to interventions that help clients resist internalising discrimination experiences. The effects of institutional discrimination support therapists becoming part of the resistance to and challenging of discrimination and inequality.     

An in-Vivo Daily Self-Report Approach to the Assessment of Outcomes of Two Psychotherapies for Women With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Emotion regulation and interpersonal psychotherapies that do not require trauma memory processing have been shown to be effective in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study used a novel method to assess in vivo outcomes in a randomized clinical trial with women (N = 147; ages 18–54; 61% of color; 94% low income) with full (79%) or partial (21%) PTSD. Participants were assigned to affect regulation or interpersonal therapy, or wait-list, and completed daily self-reports for 2 to 4 weeks at baseline and up to 30 days at posttest. Mixed model regression analyses tested pre-post change on five factor analytically derived aggregated daily self-report scores. Emotion regulation-focused therapy was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, dysregulation, and negative affect, and improvement in adaptive self-regulation and positive affect. Interpersonal-focused therapy was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms and dysregulation. Although both therapies were associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, whether this was due to nonspecific factors rather than the treatments per se could not be determined. Daily self-report data warrant further investigation in psychotherapy research with disorders such as PTSD, in order to assess affective and interpersonal dysregulation and adaptive regulation as they occur in daily life.     

Parent’s Social Support for Children’s Outdoor Physical Activity: Do Weekdays and Weekends Matter?

In this study we examined the relationships among parental social supportive behaviors for children’s weekday and weekend outdoor physical activity (OPA). Thirty-nine girls and 29 boys 8 to 11 years wore pedometers for 7 days. Sixty-five mothers and 50 fathers responded to a social support questionnaire about OPA that was comprised of four dimensions: encouragement, playing with, use of activity as family recreation, and watch. After controlling for age and sport participation, regression analyses indicated that mothers’ use of activity as recreation was positively associated with girls’ weekday OPA. On the weekend, fathers’ play with son was positively related to OPA. The effectiveness of family-based activity interventions depends on when parents have opportunities to be present for their child’s activity and gender differences in the support provided.     

RELIGIOUS NATURALISM—WHERE DOES IT LEAD?

I respond to the four symposiasts who commented on my recent book Religion Is Not About God (2005)—religious studies scholars Donald Braxton and David Klemm, philosopher William Rottschaefer, and cognitive scientist Leslie Marsh. Various general and specific points relative to the nature of religion and the future of religion are either clarified or defended. Among the issues that receive attention are (1) the status and adequacy of my proposals for religious naturalism: Can it motivate wholeness, and is it finally a form of pantheism? (2) ritual practices, particularly those of Christianity, reinterpreted within the framework of religious naturalism; and (3) the adequacy of any naturalistic position to account for subjective properties of consciousness.     

The Adjustment Process of Ex-Buddhist Monks to Life After the Monastery

This study explores the adjustment process of five Western ex-Buddhist monks to life after the monastery, using an in depth case study approach and thematic analysis. Participants discussed their initial experience of leaving, the process of creating a new life and their relationship with the past. The findings indicated that while each case was unique, significant common themes emerged as features of the adjustment process. The adjustment had been multi-dimensional, challenging, difficult, confusing, complex and profound for the participants. They had to contend with issues of grief, delayed development, missing out on life experiences, difficulties with intimacy, money, identity, depression, anxiety and confusion. This was combined with the hope and promise of many newly found freedoms involved in establishing a new life and identity. Parallels are drawn to the experience of Catholic priests and nuns who have departed their Orders, Vietnam veterans, ex-cult members and individuals who have left total institutions where their identity and daily lives were highly prescribed. The adjustment experience of ex-Buddhist monks extends the literature on Buddhist monks and provides an example of a life transition of interest to the helping professions because of its potential relevance to a range of major transitions for which clients may seek assistance. Tim Mapel is a lecturer in the Bachelor of Applied Social Sciences degree at the Eastern Institute of Technology in New Zealand. He has a Master’s degree in counseling and works with individuals, couples and groups. He has a passion for the practice of mindfulness and for facilitating a sense of aliveness in people’s lives. He is an advanced Psychodrama trainee and spent 12 years living as an ordained Buddhist monk. Originally from Boston, USA he has lived in the UK, Switzerland, and now considers New Zealand home.     

Measuring organisational climate and employee engagement: Evidence for a 7 Ps model of work practices and outcomes

This study presents evidence supporting the psychometric properties of the Voice Climate Survey: an employee opinion survey that measures work practices and outcomes. The tool is tested across 13,729 employees from 1,279 business units representing approximately 1,000 organisations. Exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses and internal reliability analyses support 31 lower‐order work practices and outcomes that aggregate into seven higher‐order work systems broadly covering practices and outcomes such as organisational direction, ethics, resources, involvement, recognition, development, teamwork, wellness, work/life balance, change management, customer satisfaction, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and employees' intention to stay. External validation of the tool is demonstrated by linking scores from the employee survey with independent manager reports of turnover, absenteeism, productivity, health and safety, goal attainment, financial performance, change management, innovation and customer satisfaction.     

The Moral Philosophy of Raimond Gaitaand Some Questions of Methodin the Philosophy of Religion

Raimond Gaita's moral philosophy is distinguished by, among other things, its attention to the role of embodied, enacted witness in disclosing certain moral values, and its understanding of the emotions as forms of thought. In this paper, I consider how Gaita's insights on these matters may be applied to certain questions in the philosophy of religion, paying particular attention to the nature of religious experience and 'the problem of evil'. I suggest that Gaita's discussion of how we come to recognise moral values or 'meanings' can be extended to the question of how we might recognise religious meanings. On this view, religious experience may take the form of an appreciation of the meaning borne by a material context (rather than, for example, some supra-sensory encounter with a supernatural agent), and our sense of the goodness or otherwise of the world may be answerable to the authoritative example of particular lives.     

Examining Subtypes of Behavior Problems Among 3-Year-Old Children,Part III: Investigating Differences in Parenting Practices and Parenting Stress

This study examined parenting of mothers and fathers of 3-year-old children who were classified as hyperactive (HYP), hyperactive and oppositional defiant (HYP/OD), and non-problem based on mothers' reports of behavior. Parents of children with HYP/OD were less warm, showed more negative affect, and more laxness than parents of non-problem children; however, contrary to prediction, they did not differ significantly from parents of children in the HYP group. Compared to mothers of non-problem children, mothers of children in the HYP/OD group reported significantly more parenting stress across all domains, whereas mothers of children in the HYP group only reported elevated levels of stress associated with having a difficult child. Theoretical and treatment implications are discussed.     

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire: Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Within contemporary psychology there is increasing interest in the role of religion on behaviour and psychological functioning. Such interest can be attested to by the growth in the number of pertinent books and articles that have been published and also the development of new self-report measures of religiosity. The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire is one such recently developed measure. It is a brief self-report measure comprising 10 items that were designed to measure strength of religious faith regardless of religious denomination or affiliation. Although Plante and Boccaccini (1997a, 1997b) have provided some preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale, the factor structure of the scale has not yet been examined. The aim of the present paper was to confirm the factor structure of the scale. The hypothesised one-factor model was tested using confirmatory factor analytic methods. Data from a sample of 106 Northern Irish undergraduate university students were examined using confirmatory factor analytic methods. A one-factor model was tested and accepted on the basis of fit statistics, therefore supporting the hypothesised unidimensional structure of the scale. The present results provide further evidence that the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire is psychometrically sound and therefore it can be recommended for further use by researchers interested in the construct of strength of religious faith.