Racial/Ethnic Differences in Religious Congregation-based Social Service Delivery Efforts

The current study utilizes Swidler\u27s (1986) cultural toolkit theory to explain racial/ethnic differences in American religious congregations\u27 provision of social service programs. This study suggests that black Americans\u27 reliance upon structural tools to assess poverty contributes to their congregations being more heavily involved than majority white congregations in the provision of social services that attempt to make a longer-term impact on community life (i.e. academic tutoring and job training). In contrast, white Americans\u27 greater reliance upon individualistic tools to understand poverty arguably contributes to their congregations being more heavily involved in the provision of programs that have a shorter- term impact on community life (i.e. food, thrift, and shelter). While majority Latino congregations are less likely than are black congregations to provide longer-term impacting programs only, majority Asian congregations tend to be less heavily involved in the provision of both longer and shorter term impacting programs

Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Provision of Health-related Programs among American Religious Congregations

Using national data from the Faith Communities Today 2000 survey, the current study builds upon Lincoln and Mamiya\u27s (1990) argument of the civically active Black Church. Originally used to assess the relative activism of Black and White congregations, the current study suggests that Black congregations are more likely to provide health programs than are predominantly White, Hispanic and Asian congregations. The greater involvement of Black congregations in the provision of health programs likely has much to do with the historical and continued cultural, spiritual, and political role that churches play in Black communities

Social justice themed sermons from civic-minded clergy can push churchgoers towards greater activism to improve racial equality

Religion plays an important role in the lives of many Americans. But what role does religion and religious institutions play in motivating Americans to participate in politics? In their new book, R. Khari Brown, Ronald E. Brown, and James S. Jackson look at the role the spiritual and political efforts made by churches to improve human rights. They find that Black Americans are more likely than White and Hispanic Americans to believe that religious institutions have a moral obligation towards human rights activism, but that all groups are more likely to engage in acts like protests if they attend worship settings where they hear sermons about social justice issues and the importance of political activism

America is not losing its religion – population trends mean thatit is simply becoming more religiously diverse.

A recent Pew study found that there has been an increase in the number of Americans who claim to have ‘no-religion’. Does this mean that religion in the U.S. is on the way out? In new research which examines data from three national surveys, R. Khari Brown, Robert Joseph Taylor, and Linda M. Chatters find that African Americans and African Caribbean Americans are less likely than Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans to identify as non-religious, with the latter group the most likely to identify as non-religious. They write that the recent shifts in religious affiliation may have less to do with Americans abandoning religion to America shifting towards increasing religious diversity

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

The role race plays: Racial differences in social service provision and political activism among black and white religious congregations.

Using the 1998 National Congregational Study, this dissertation sought to investigate racial differences in the propensity of American religious congregations to engage in social service delivery and political activism. This study suggests with a comparable level of resources, black congregations are as likely as white congregations to provide as many social service programs overall and housing assistance programs. Black congregations are actually more likely than white congregations, on average, to provide mentoring/tutoring programs when the resource capacity of congregations is taken into account. The resources that congregations possess failed to explain racial differences in congregational-based political activism. Black congregations tend to be more involved in voter registration efforts, and when connected to politically active denominations, black congregations are more likely than white congregations to engage in lobbying activities. The implications these findings have for faith-based social welfare policies are also discussed.Ph.D.Black studiesEthnic studiesPhilosophy, Religion and TheologyPolitical scienceReligionSocial SciencesSocial workUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124025/2/3121898.pd

Race, Religion, and Anti‐Poverty Policy Attitudes

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134142/1/jssr12258.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134142/2/jssr12258_am.pd