Towards Cultural Psychology of Religion : Principles, Approaches, Applications

This book takes a bold stand: all psychology should be culturally sensitive psychology, especially when studying religious phenomena. It explains that culture is not simply to be conceived of as a variable that possibly influences behavior. Rather, it stresses that cultural patterns of acting, thinking and experiencing are created, adopted and promulgated by a number of individuals jointly. As human subjectivity is different in different cultures, cultural psychology is not interested in comparatively investigating how experiences and behavior, attitudes and social relationships present themselves within different cultural conditions. By consequence, cultural psychology does not start from Western psychological constructs, testing for their presence in other cultures, but from human acts and activities in specific cultures, analyzing them in a hermeneutical way. Like cultural psychology, psychology of religion currently enjoys more and more interest and rapid growth. But the two fields have remained rather unconnected in the recent past. Psychological research on religion has been pursued from a number of perspectives, among which a cultural psychological one has not yet become prominent. As religions, however conceptualized, are cultural entities of major importance, cultural psychology seems a natural ally to research on religion. Containing a number of studies, both theoretical and empirical, this volume takes a step towards a rapprochement of cultural psychology and psychology of religion. Having received several international awards and distinctions, Jacob A. Belzen is one of Europe’s best-known psychologists of religion. As he has obtained doctorates in social science, history, philosophy and sciences of religion, his numerous publications are characterized by a strong interdisciplinary approach. He is a full professor at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). He worked on this book while he was a visiting Fellow at Cambridge University (UK). This book takes a bold stand: all psychology should be culturally sensitive psychology, especially when studying religious phenomena. It explains that culture is not simply to be conceived of as a variable that possibly influences behavior. Rather, it stresses that cultural patterns of acting, thinking and experiencing are created, adopted and promulgated by a number of individuals jointly. As human subjectivity is different in different cultures, cultural psychology is not interested in comparatively investigating how experiences and behavior, attitudes and social relationships present themselves within different cultural conditions. By consequence, cultural psychology does not start from Western psychological constructs, testing for their presence in other cultures, but from human acts and activities in specific cultures, analyzing them in a hermeneutical way. Like cultural psychology, psychology of religion currently enjoys more and more interest and rapid growth. But the two fields have remained rather unconnected in the recent past. Psychological research on religion has been pursued from a number of perspectives, among which a cultural psychological one has not yet become prominent. As religions, however conceptualized, are cultural entities of major importance, cultural psychology seems a natural ally to research on religion. Containing a number of studies, both theoretical and empirical, this volume takes a step towards a rapprochement of cultural psychology and psychology of religion. TOC:Introduction. 1. Introducing cultural psychology of religion.- Part I: Principles of cultural psychology of religion. 2.The need for a hermeneutical approach to the study of `religion`. 3. Cultural psychology of religion: perspectives, challenges, and possibilities. 4. The way out of contemporary debates on the object of the discipline.- Part II: Approaches to cultural psychology of religion. 5. Methodological issues: towards a new paradigm in psychology of religion. 6. When psychology turns to spirituality: recommendations for research. 7. The question of the specificity of religion: the contribution of psychology. 8. On the `Dialogical Self` as a cultural psychological promise to the study of religiosity.- Part III: Applications of cultural psychology to religion. 9. Religion as embodiment: cultural-psychological concepts and methods in the study of conversion among `bevindelijke` mystics. 10. Religion, culture and psychopathology: cultural-psychological reflections on a classic case of religious `murder`. 11. Psychopathology and religion: a psychobiographical analysis. 12. Religion and the social order: psychological factors in pillarization of society. Bibliography. Index The aims pursued in this book are quite modest. The text is not an introduction in the traditional sense to any psychological subdiscipline or field of application, nor does it present anything essentially new. Rather, it shows ‘work in progress’, as it attempts to contribute to an integration of two differently structured, but already existing fields within psychology. In order to explain this, it is probably best to say a few words about how the book came into being and about what it hopes to achieve. As a project, the volume owes very much to others. While lecturing in places ranging from South Africa to Canada and from California through European co- tries to Korea, colleagues have often urged me to come up with a volume on ‘c- tural psychology of religion’. For reasons that should become clear in the text, I feel uncomfortable with such a demand. To my understanding, there exists no single cultural psychology of religion. Rather, there are ever expanding numbers of div- gent types of psychologies, some of which are applied to understanding religious aspects of human lives or to researching specific religious phenomena, while others are not. Within this heterogeneous field that is, correctly or not, still designated as ‘psychology’, there are also many approaches that are sometimes referred to as ‘cultural psychology’ or as ‘culturally sensitive psychologies’. It would be wor- while applying many of these to research on religious phenomena, but at present not too many are in fact so applied. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Front Matter....Pages 21-21 Building Bridges....Pages 3-19 A Hermeneutical, Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Religion....Pages 23-35 Cultural Psychology of Religion....Pages 37-52 The Way Out of Contemporary Debates on the Object of the Discipline....Pages 53-66 Front Matter....Pages 67-67 Methodological Issues....Pages 69-81 When Psychology Turns to Spirituality....Pages 83-100 The Question of the Specificity of Religion....Pages 101-128 A Cultural Psychological Promise to the Study of Religiosity: Background and Context of the “Dialogical Self”....Pages 129-143 Front Matter....Pages 145-145 Religion as Embodiment....Pages 147-163 Religion, Culture and Psychopathology....Pages 165-179 Psychopathology and Religion....Pages 181-214 Religion and the Social Order....Pages 215-237 Back Matter....Pages 239-282 Building Bridges -- A Hermeneutical, Interdisciplinary Approach To The Study Of Religion -- Cultural Psychology Of Religion -- The Way Out Of Contemporary Debates On The Object Of The Discipline -- Methodological Issues -- When Psychology Turns To Spirituality -- The Question Of The Specificity Of Religion -- A Cultural Psychological Promise To The Study Of Religiosity : Background And Context Of The Dialogical Self -- Religion As Embodiment -- Religion, Culture And Psychopathology -- Psychopathology And Religion -- Religion And The Social Order. Jacob A. Belzen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 239-273) And Index.