Whither the Psychology of Religion: A Spirituality-Focused Discussion of Paloutzian and Park’s (2005)

Abstract

Presuming Rayburn's (2006: Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 28, 86-92) review of (Paloutzian and Park's, (2005, New York: The Guilford Press) [corrected] Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality [corrected] and sketching an alternative paradigm, this review focuses on the Handbook's virtual conflation of religion and spirituality; relates this conflation to the hegemony of Protestant theology in North American psychology of religion; highlights the Handbook's lack of attention to [corrected] spirituality per se, which--if [corrected] not inseparably linked with theism, but, rather, [corrected] related to the self-transcending, meaning-making dimension of the human mind--could [corrected] provide an explanatory breakthrough in the field of the psychology of religion and of the social sciences overall; and sees Handbook's advocacy for a "multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm" as a regrettable acceptance of the failed, long-term strategy of the field of psychology in general.