Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society
Buch, Englisch, 376 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 609 g
ISBN: 978-0-691-12628-9
Verlag: Princeton University Press
On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. This action marked a key step toward institutionalizing an idea that emerged in the mid-1990s under the Clinton administration--the transfer of some social programs from government control to religious organizations. However, despite an increasingly vocal, ideologically charged national debate--a debate centered on such questions as: What are these organizations doing? How well are they doing it? Should they be supported with tax dollars?--solid answers have been few. In Saving America? Robert Wuthnow provides a wealth of up-to-date information whose absence, until now, has hindered the pursuit of answers. Assembling and analyzing new evidence from research he and others have conducted, he reveals what social support faith-based agencies are capable of providing. Among the many questions he addresses: Are congregations effective vehicles for providing broad-based social programs, or are they best at supporting their own members? How many local congregations have formal programs to assist needy families? How much money do such programs represent? How many specialized faith-based service agencies are there, and which are most effective? Are religious organizations promoting trust, love, and compassion?The answers that emerge demonstrate that American religion is helping needy families and that it is, more broadly, fostering civil society. Yet religion alone cannot save America from the broad problems it faces in providing social services to those who need them most.Elegantly written, Saving America? represents an authoritative and evenhanded benchmark of information for the current--and the coming--debate.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Religiöse Institutionen & Gemeinschaften, Klerus, Mönchstum
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik Soziale Dienste, Soziale Organisationen
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie
Weitere Infos & Material
List of Tables ix
Preface xiii
1. Why "Faith-Based"? Why Now? 1
Bringing Evidence to Bear 5
Beyond the Modernization Story 9
The Faith-Based Services Debate 12
Religion as an Embedded Practice 17
A Civil Society? 22
2. Congregation-Based Social Services 25
Formal Sponsorship of Service Programs 28
Members' Awareness of Service Programs 42
Congregations' Financial Contribution 46
Which Congregations Do More? 52
How Service Programs Are Organized 57
Conclusions and Unanswered Questions 61
3. Congregations as Caring Communities 64
Emphasizing the Value of Caring 66
Congregations as Civic Space 70
Caring in Small Groups 74
Congregations as Sources of Social Capital 79
Gregariousness 84
Congregations as Sources of Influential Friends 89
Overcoming Status Distinctions 92
Summing Up 94
4. Religion and Volunteering 99
What Surveys Show 102
Who Volunteers More? 106
Is Faith-Based Volunteering Different? 115
Volunteering and Connectedness 119
Motivations for Volunteering 121
Barriers to Volunteering 132
Some Unresolved Questions 135
5. Faith-Based Service Organizations 138
How Many Faith-Based Organizations Are There? 140
How is Faith Involved? 142
How Faith-Based Organizations Function 150
Arguments about Effectiveness 158
The Role of Faith in Nonsectarian Organizations 161
Challenges and Strategies 165
Conclusions 171
6. The Recipients of Social Services 176
Census Bureau Information 177
Evidence from Other Sources 181
Religious Characteristics of the Lower-Income Population 185
Needs and Services in a Small City 191
Conclusions 213
7. Promoting Social Trust 217
Trust among Lower-Income People 219
Desirable Traits of Caregivers 222
Tr ustworthiness of Service Providers 228
A Closer Look at Trust 232
Trust within Families and among Friends 240
Trust in Congregations 243
Trust in Service Agencies 247
When Trust Is Broken 250
The Social Contribution of Trust 254
8. Experiencing Unlimited Love? 256
How Caregivers Talk about Love 261
Do Recipients Experience Love? 269
The Role of Faith 275
Consequences of Receiving Care 279
Limited Love and the Realities of Social Life 284
9. Public Policy and Civil Society 286
Support for Government-Religion Partnerships 288
The Christian Conservative Movement 297
Is Civil Society One-Dimensional? 305
Methodological Note 311
Notes 315
Select Bibliography 333
Index 349
