Children and Religion

Children and the Church in Calvin's Geneva

by Barbara Pitkin

in Calvin and the Church, Papers presented at the 13th Colloquium of the Calvin Studies Society, May 24-26, 2001, ed. David L. Foxgrover (Grand Rapids: CDC Product Services for the Calvin Studies Society, 2002), 144-64.

Between Vulnerability and Agency: An Interdisciplinary Look at the Status and Value of Children

by M. Christian Green

Journal of Religion 86 (2006): 658-68.

The United Nations declared 1979 to be the International Year of the Child. Over twenty-five years later the field of... more The United Nations declared 1979 to be the International Year of the Child. Over twenty-five years later the field of childhood studies are just coming into its own in scholarship and research in a number of disciplines. Religion is one discipline that has come recently to consideration of childhood, as manifest in a newly-formed Childhood Studies and Religion interest group at the American Academy of Religion and a bumper crop of recent books on childhood reflecting the textual, historical, and normative dimensions that combine to make up the interdisciplinary field of religious studies. The interdisciplinary interest in childhood is increasingly found not only within religious studies, but beyond it—including the disciplines of literature, history, psychology, and the social sciences, as well as the professions of law, medicine, and business. The new scholarly attention to children comes at a time of considerable flux in our understanding of childhood.

The Right to Religious Freedom In International Law: Between Group Rights and Individual Rights (Coll Routledge Research In Human Rights Law)

by Anat Scolnicov

Apostolic faith church organization contexts for health and wellbeing in women and children

by Tinashe Dune

Objective. The study explored contexts for health and wellbeing for women and children influenced by the structural... more Objective. The study explored contexts for health and wellbeing for women and children influenced by the structural behavior of an Apostolic faith church organization in Zimbabwe.

Methods. Twenty-three purposively selected members of an African indigenous Apostolic church (males =12; females=11; age range 22-95 years) were informants to a focus group discussion session. They provided data on the institutional behaviors that were culturally-historically embedded in the organization’s activities. Data were analyzed thematically and using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) to foreground essential themes.

Results. The church organization provided social capital to support health and wellbeing in members. However, the culturally embedded practices to minimize decision making by women and child members potentially compromised their
health and wellbeing.

Conclusion. The findings suggest that the structural activities of the church for health and wellbeing could also have the paradoxical effect of exposing women and children to health risks from obligatory roles.

Keywords: Apostolic faith; structural behavior; health and wellbeing; women and children