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THE CONSTRUCTION OF POLITICO‐RELIGIOUS NARRATIVES: STEPS TOWARD INTERVENTION PROMOTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY
Author(s) -
Swift Dylan,
Dokecki Paul R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21549
Subject(s) - ideology , narrative , politics , sociology , morality , social psychology , meaning (existential) , construct (python library) , gender studies , intervention (counseling) , psychology , political science , law , psychotherapist , philosophy , linguistics , psychiatry , computer science , programming language
“Without an understanding of religion in American life, an understanding of community in American life remains incomplete” (Pargament & Maton, 2000, p. 515). In America, however, religion intertwines with politics, often creating ideological controversy and political deadlock. We investigated one of the underlying contributors to America's current ideological controversy, namely, values as manifest in the politico‐religious narratives people construct to help give meaning to their lives. The first author spent several months as a participant‐observer in a rural southeastern community, intensely experiencing community life, and keeping extensive field notes. Semistructured in‐depth and group interviews, analyzed using grounded theory and supplemented by theoretical accounts of morality/religion and politics, provided data for developing a theoretical model of narrative construction. We found (a) beliefs, (b) moral and religious values, and (c) emotional sentiments to be the major politico‐religious narrative elements and discussed implications for community psychology intervention in pursuit of human development and community.