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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Meaning Of Religious Belief, Practice, And Community For Latter-Day Saint Fathers Of Children With Special Needs, Loren Dean Marks
The Meaning Of Religious Belief, Practice, And Community For Latter-Day Saint Fathers Of Children With Special Needs, Loren Dean Marks
Theses and Dissertations
While the tragedy of American fatherlessness has evoked a growing body of research, religious beliefs, practices, and communities have not been a significant part of the scholarly discussion. This article discusses possible reasons for this and reviews the religion and family literature with a focus on fathers. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 Latter-day Saint (LDS) fathers of children with special needs and analyzed to examine the meaning of religious experience for these fathers and their families. Analysis indicated three dimensions of religious experience: spiritual belief, religious practice, and faith community. The spiritual belief in an eternal perspective, including the …