SOC 543 Religion and Mental Health in Global Perspective
This course examines the intersection between religion and mental health in global perspective. Drawing on perspectives from multiple disciplines (sociology, psychology, social work, theology, and religious studies), we will explore how religious traditions in diverse socio-historical contexts understand and respond to mental illness.
What role does religion play in shaping mental health? Some have excoriated religion as an illusion and religiosity an indicator of psychological immaturity, while others insist it is a universal human need. In this course, we are concerned primarily with religion as a social structure with causal powers that can shape our well-being in different ways. We will examine religious teachings from a number of faith traditions, as well as empirical research from religious communities in different countries, and the ways in which they address mental health issues. In doing so, we will see how religious communities around the world cultivate beliefs and practices that shape the mental health of individual members, collective responses to the mentally ill, and beliefs about what constitutes wellbeing in the first place.
Understanding the relationship between religion and mental health around the world is especially crucial in our times. The United Nations has warned of an impending global mental health crisis in the wake of COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, the United States was on the brink of a mental health crisis, with one in five Americans experiencing mental illness every year. Here, and likely elsewhere in the world, religious leaders and communities are the first recourse for many struggling with mental health challenges. We thus have a pressing need to better understand existing research on the relationship between religion and mental health.
Cross Listed Courses
SOC 343, SOC 343H, SOC 543