A reunion of ideas: Complementary inquiry and collaborative interventions of spirituality, religion, and psychology

Abstract

Abstract The intent of this special issue is to extend community psychology's voice in the growing discourse about spirituality, religion, and psychology. While lively debate will continue about particular religious beliefs, the social significance of religious and spiritual experiences cannot be overlooked. These papers will not enter the debate over the existence of a higher power, but rather they will contribute to the development of knowledge and greater understanding of how these phenomena are interwoven into social life. Some authors focus on how religion and spirituality can serve as independent variables that have an impact on phenomena of interest, from the individual to the institution. In other papers, spirituality is treated more as a dependent variable, important as an outcome in its own right. In several of the papers, religion and spirituality are integral parts of an intervention. In sum, when religion and spirituality are viewed as legitimate variables of psychological study, they offer seemingly endless perspectives on human behavior. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.