Bielefeld, November 07, 2008.
New Book, scheduled to appear in January 2009:
Heinz Streib / Ralph W. Hood, Jr. / Barbara Keller / Rosina-Martha Csöff / Christopher F. Silver:
Deconversion. Qualitative and Quantitative Results from Cross-Cultural Research in Germany and the United States of America
with a Foreword by James T. Richardson
Research in Contemporary Religion, Vol. 5,
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2009,
264 Pages.
This book presents case studies and empirical data of a phenomenon which increasingly gains popularity in Western societies: deconversion. There is, the authors argue, no better word than deconversion to describe processes of disengagement from religious orientations, because these have much in common with conversion; Termination of membership may eventually be the final step of deconversion, but it involves biographical and psychological dynamics which can and need to be reconstructed by qualitative approaches and analyzed by quantitative instruments.
This book presents the results of the Bielefeld-based Cross-Cultural Study on Deconversion. In this research project, disengagement processes from a variety of religious orientations in the U.S.A. and in Germany were examined, ranging from well-established religious organizations to new religious and fundamentalist groups. Nearly 1,200 persons participated in the study and were interviewed from 2002 to 2005. The main focus of the study is on 100 deconverts from the U.S.A. and from Germany who were examined with narrative interviews, faith development interviews and a questionnaire. For case study elaboration, the study followed a research design with an innovative triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data. Four chapters, corresponding to four types of deconversion, present 21 case studies.
The highlights of the research project are new data on spirituality – the deconverts in particular appear to prefer a “more spiritual than religious” self-identification – and in-depth analyses of a variety of deconversion narratives with special focus on personality factors, motivation, attitudes, religious development, psychological well-being and growth, religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism. The results of this project which was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft are of special relevance for counseling and pastoral care, for religious education and for people concerned with administration and management of religious groups and churches, but also for a wider audience interested in contemporary changes in the religious fields in the U.S.A. and Germany.
H. Streib has participated in the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion which was held in Chicogo November 1 - 3, 2008. In a Wild Card Session, H. Streib has presented a paper which he had prepared and authors together with Ralph Hood (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) with the Title "Research on “Spirituality”: New Perspectives from Reconsidering the Classics on Religion".
This paper is available here as pdf.
Streib, Heinz, Dinter, Astrid, & Söderblom, Kerstin (Eds.)
Lived Religion - Conceptual, Empirical and Practical-Theological Approaches. Essays in Honor of Hans-Günter Heimbrock
Leiden: Brill 2008.
'Lived religion' signifies a shift of focus in order to attend to the religiosity of individuals and groups as embedded in the contexts of life-worlds. It suggests fresh attention to the body, to perception, to experience, to everyday life, and to biography. The essays in this collection gravitate around the concept of ‘lived religion’, honoring the contributions of Hans-Günter Heimbrock, in which he suggests this conceptual framework for understanding practical theology and religious education and for designing empirical research in theology. The contributions embrace a broad spectrum and include empirical studies, exegetical and historical investigations, contributions on practical theology as well as on the theory and practice of religious education, inviting further reflection and discussion about ‘lived religion.’
