Community

Building
 COMMUNITY
BUILDING
Values for a Sustainable Future

LEONARD A. JASON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jason, Leonard.
Community building : values for a sustainable future / Leonard A.
Jason.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0–275–95872–8 (alk. paper)
1. Community. 2. Interpersonal relations. 3. Interpersonal
communication. 4. Social interaction. 5. Community organization.
I. Title
HM131.J35 1997
307—dc21 96–53938

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 䉷 1997 by Leonard A. Jason

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96–53938
ISBN: 0–275–95872–8
First published in 1997
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
TM

The paper used in this book complies with the

Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 To those unheralded citizens and activists
who are building a sense of community in every village, town, and city.
 Contents

Foreword: Communication and Community Building ix

Mara B. Adelman and Lawrence R. Frey
Foreword: New Vistas for Community Psychology xiii
John Moritsugu
Preface xv

1. Society at the Crossroads 1

2. Four Vulnerabilities 7
3. A New Paradigm for Hope 25
4. Religion and Spirituality 53
5. A Sense of Community 71
6. Partnerships with Communities 89
7. Wisdom Traditions as Our Guide 101

Afterword: An Eco-Transformational Application: Bridging the

Macro to the Micro 111
Patricia A. Fennell
Notes 115
References 125
viii CONTENTS

Index 141
About the Author and Contributors 153
 Foreword: Communication and
Community Building

Communication and community grow in each other’s shadows; the possi-

bilities of one are structured by the possibilities of the other.
—E. W. Rothenbuhler
The Process of Community Involvement

What is it about the concept of ‘‘community’’ that compels the imagi-

nation of scholars, practitioners, and the public alike? The mourning for
the death of community, coupled with rhetorical appeals for community
from virtually all sectors of our society—from neighborhood watch
groups to presidents (‘‘It takes a village’’)—demonstrates the profound
yearning for connection in our culture. But what is it that we have lost
and are trying to reclaim?
Leonard Jason’s book goes a long way toward answering this question.
His tour of community—from philosophy to physics, from ecology to
mythology, and from religion and spirituality to psychoneuroimmunol-
ogy—reveals many of the values we appear to have lost along the way.
His text adds an important voice to the collective body of literature that
speaks to the longing for community in the postmodern era, when the
forces of urbanization, industrialization, and technology make it seem-
ingly impossible for people to connect meaningfully with others (see
Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985, 1991; Gergen, 1991;
Meyrowitz, 1985).
Longing for community has always been a central theme of our col-
x FOREWORD

lective psyche. In this culture there is a love-hate relationship with com-

munity; people wish to be both apart from and a part of others. Alexis
de Toqueville, an astute observer of the cultural landscape, noted how
‘‘strange’’ Americans were—rabid about their individualism, yet amaz-
ingly, a country of joiners where voluntary associations abounded even
as their members remained islands unto themselves. This tightrope be-
tween individualism and collective action cannot be negated in our vi-
sions of community. In part, the struggle for individualism is not merely
ideological but also a response to saturation by social obligations and
information overload. Sustaining meaningful ties thus also necessitates
periods of seclusion and reflection. How revealing that one of the most
eloquent spokespersons on the theme of community is the Trappist monk
Thomas Merton, who lived much of his life in solitude.
Given the perceived chaos of the contemporary world, it is easy to
romanticize the communities of yesteryear, seeking to build bridges to
the past in the hopes of directing our future. But let’s not forget how
insulated many of those communities were, their members accepted only
if they were of a certain race, religion, or ethnicity, and only if they
followed strict rules of conduct. As Shafer and Anundsen (1993) remind
us:

As tightly knit and stable as most old-style communities were, they were
also homogeneous, suspicious of outsiders, socially and economically strat-
ified, emotionally stifling, and limited in opportunities for personal and
professional development. So long as members belonged to the right eth-
nic, religious, or racial groups—or stayed in their place if they did not—
and behaved within a narrowly defined set of parameters, they could count
on strong communal support. But if they strayed too far outside the lines,
their fellow community members might well shun or harass them. (p. 6)

In our contemporary multicultural world, these are clearly not the

types of communities we wish to emulate. There simply is no single
vision of community to behold; today the test of social connection has
as much to do with creating a space for difference and dissent as it does
with sustaining collective visions and values.
What is it then that can bind us together into the type of collective
structure that Friedman (1986) calls ‘‘a community of otherness,’’ where
confirmation of others walks hand-in-hand with the struggle over ideas
and principles? Leonard Jason makes a valuable contribution in identi-
fying symbolic practices as the thread for weaving community. The psy-
chological sense of community, where people feel emotionally connected,
that Jason and others (for example, McMillan & Chavis, 1986) adopt is
created and sustained in communicative practices. As we have argued,
‘‘Ultimately, community is a social construction, grounded in the sym-
FOREWORD xi

bolic meanings and communicative practices of individuals, that fosters

meaningful human interdependence in social aggregates. . . . Communi-
cation is thus the essential, defining feature—the medium—of commu-
nity’’ (Adelman & Frey, 1997, p. 5).
Leonard Jason identifies some of the grand symbolic practices—the
myths, rituals, and customs—that can help develop a more robust sense
of community and energize community members. Our sense of social
connection is also woven just as tightly in the small, even mundane,
communicative practices of everyday life: the daily salutations to the
mail carrier, the monthly bingo game where the same stories are told
over and over, and the small talk at the local check-out counter. It is in
everyday talk, microlevel interactions, and even fleeting encounters that
we weave together the communal cloth and provide a foundation for
larger collective action. While concrete everyday communicative prac-
tices without grand rhetorical gestures are like threads without stitching,
grand rhetorical gestures without concrete everyday practices are loose
stitches that soon disintegrate.
Throughout this text, Jason provides us with many concrete examples
of highly textured communities that attempt to weave together the var-
ious levels of symbolic practices. He mentions the work we have been
doing for the past eight years on communication and community at Bon-
aventure House, a residential facility for people with AIDS (for a syn-
thesis of this research program, see Adelman & Frey, 1997). People often
assume that living together with a life-threatening illness would be a
great equalizer and a common bond for residents that makes community
easy to achieve. But facing mortality, coping with illness, and experienc-
ing the continual loss of others can be a frightening and self-absorbing
journey that makes connection extremely difficult. Amidst this fragile
and poignant drama, stability is created and sustained through com-
municative practices that grease the communal wheel and provide a
sense of meaning within chaos. Collective practices, such as the balloon
ceremony, a bereavement ritual where residents gather together and si-
multaneously release colored balloons, signify both the release of the
deceased from suffering and the letting go of someone unique and spe-
cial. These rituals are highly visible anchors for communal life. But sta-
bility is also found in the more personalized exchanges, from taking a
fellow resident to chemotherapy to sharing a pack of gum. It is embed-
ded in the visual artifacts found in scrapbooks created for the house and
personal possessions left to others after death—legacies for collective
memory. And it is found in the gossip, protests, and arguments that
bond residents in acts of solidarity as they ‘‘fight to keep warm’’ (Myer-
hoff, 1978).
The grand and ordinary practices at Bonaventure House also reveal
something very important about the symbolic construction of commu-
xii FOREWORD

nity—that the tensions of every day life are never resolved but instead
are massaged day by day. In that sense, community is never complete,
never finished. Part of the problem that we face is the paucity of our
symbol system for talking about community. We reference community
as a noun, like some construction project that is finished when particular
types of communication are practiced. But community is better refer-
enced as a verb, as processual and continually in flux. We must never
forget that it is community building, and this ‘‘ing’’ is often disorderly,
rebellious, and messy.
The process nature of community means that while we have some
traditional maps that provide well-worn paths for guiding this process,
we must also generate new trails and discover innovative modes for
connecting and affirming social ties. For example, the NAMES Quilt for
people who have died from AIDS unites people in both remembering
and re-membering. Quilting bees are resurrected from time-worn
traditions as both social activity and social activism, as action and sym-
bol. Even as the quilt is displayed on America’s front lawn of the Wash-
ington Mall, friends and family are busy stitching new panels in a tent
nearby.
In the course of everyday life, there are many opportunities for en-
hancing the psychological sense of community that seem to elude us.
Jason’s text helps us better understand some of the symbolic practices
and values that can help create and sustain what is clearly a day–to–day
communal journey.
—Mara B. Adelman, Ph.D.
Seattle University
—Lawrence R. Frey, Ph.D.
Loyola University Chicago
 Foreword: New Vistas for
Community Psychology

I am honored to provide a foreword to Community Building: Values for a

Sustainable Future. The book is both pragmatically and theoretically use-
ful to the field of community psychology. In the best traditions of the
discipline, Leonard Jason asks us to consider the concepts and values
that drive our interventions and then to act on the basis of these values.
The book answers the two most asked questions of any interventionist
in the community: What can you really do for the neighborhood?, and
Why are you interested in doing these things?
Jason addresses the process of acting in the real world. He uses a
multidisciplinary perspective to derive the values by which we should
act. He reminds us of the strengths of wisdom traditions that have given
us direction in the past and can provide us with a sense of direction for
the future. Especially in times of great and rapid change, the evolution
of cultures seems strained to keep up with the human needs for purpose
and meaning. The complexity of the post-modern world is daunting. In
facing these seemingly insolvable puzzles, Jason reminds us of the power
of two human resources: our communities and our spiritual traditions.
He explores the thesis that these two resources can reinforce each other
and in turn provide the answers for the crises of our times. The com-
munity psychologist comes down on the side of affiliation and meaning,
connection and purpose, rather than isolation and alienation.
The wisdom traditions of the world have contended with the impor-
tance of both community and perspective. Jason asks us to consider the
salutary effects of these basic human endeavors. He envisions commu-
xiv FOREWORD

nity psychology facilitating efforts to create social networks and coher-

ence. His observations come from one who has been active and
successful in community interventions. His programs are effective in
bringing about positive and sustainable change. He has let us in on his
secret ingredient: The interventions are driven by soul. Rather than fo-
cusing on the conflict between knowledge and wisdom, Jason challenges
us to look at the transactions between the two. He argues that the com-
bination of the two makes for transformational programming.
While the proposition seems at once controversial and obvious, the
contradictory reaction may reflect the inherent conflict within our dis-
cipline. We are historically a discipline that respects the objective and
the subjective, the norm and the variance, the philosophical and the psy-
chophysical. Jason’s programmatic results strongly support the advan-
tages of a dialectical and transformational model in the building of
communities.
Jason has given us what we have come to expect of him, a work that
demonstrates a wide-ranging and systemic view, that presents a chal-
lenging premise and the data to support his thesis. I am reminded of
Thomas Kuhn’s admonishment that our paradigms both help and hinder
our understanding of the world and that progress is measured by the
development of constructs that better fit the data at hand. Jason’s prop-
osition moves us to a better fit. It is in line with the recent works of
Robert Bellah (Habits of the Heart and The Good Society), Thomas Moore
(Care of the Soul and The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life) and Robert
Kegan (In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life). We are
in search of new ways to understand and honor our old yearnings in
present contexts. We are in search of a sustainable future. This work
advances our discussion of what that might be.
—John Moritsugu, Ph.D.
Pacific Lutheran University
 Preface

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is
of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t.
One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with
it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the
other weakens you.
—Carlos Castaneda
The Teachings of Don Juan

American society has been in an accelerated state of transition for the

past few decades. In the 1950s, approximately 70 percent of American
households consisted of a husband working and a wife caring for the
children at home. Today, only 8 percent of households fit this model
(Yankelovich, 1993/94). In addition, 72 percent of Americans do not
know their neighbors well; 66 percent have never worked with others to
solve community problems; and when asked what traits contemporary
Americans are more likely to embody than Americans of the past, inter-
viewees select adjectives such as ‘‘materialistic,’’ ‘‘selfish,’’ ‘‘phony,’’ and
‘‘skeptical’’ (Patterson & Kim, 1993/94).
In this book I describe a series of vulnerabilities that help account for
many of the serious problems facing contemporary society in industri-
alized countries, including high crime rates; homelessness; alcohol, to-
bacco, and other drug addictions; and a pervasive sense of isolation and
alienation, even within communities that once nurtured and protected
xvi PREFACE

their members. Meaningful connections within historical, philosophical,

and epistemological issues are also explored as a foundation for under-
standing what appears to have gone wrong.
We are well aware of the need to effect change, build on communities’
strengths, and stem the waste created by our society’s problems (Caplan,
1964). While we have made strides in knowledge and understanding and
have attempted to translate our insights into better social conditions,
some believe that the fabric of our society is ripping. Bellah, Madsen,
Sullivan, Swidler and Tipton (1985) suggest that, for many individuals,
the meaning of life has been tied to increasing income and status, yet
few are satisfied with such utter self-absorption. The lack of more sat-
isfying symbols and goals may be weakening today’s society. Faced with
the enormity of our problems, we must not only look critically at current
approaches but also reevaluate the frameworks and values that drive
these approaches.
In this examination we find that something vital is lacking: a true sense
of belonging and connectedness within communities. Integral to under-
standing connectedness or community is the concept of ‘‘psychological
sense of community’’ (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Sarason (1974) origi-
nally defined this concept to mean a supportive network, a stable struc-
ture that one can depend on for psychological significance and
identification. Sarason further stated that developing this sense of com-
munity is one of life’s major tasks and should be the overarching goal
of all community interventions. If loss of community or connectedness
is indeed an underlying root of many modern problems, then appreci-
ating and understanding the development of community might well con-
tribute to the analysis of more specific problems and—better yet—their
resolution.
An historical perspective, described in chapter 2, takes into account
changes that have put society at risk for its current problems and pro-
vides a way to explore and eventually address these problems on a
deeper level. According to Morgan (1942), people have lived throughout
history in communal dwellings. It was within the village that people
helped one another not out of charity but because it was the natural way
of life. At times, village life was burdened with narrowness and provin-
cialism; however, the strong positive features of mutual respect, shared
goals, cooperation, and neighborliness provided nurturance and mean-
ing. Morgan suggests that these communities fostered natural, sponta-
neous interpersonal relations that grew from mutual affection, customs,
and traditions. In comparison, after the onset of the Industrial Revolu-
tion, modern societies began to feature formal organizations, contracts,
and legislatures. Modern societies have greater individual freedom, but
the cost has been a decline in human connectedness, community spirit,
and neighborliness (McLaughlin & Davidson, 1985).
PREFACE xvii

Over the past 150 years, sociologists and anthropologists have noticed
a change in values within our culture. Prior to the Industrial Revolution,
people had specific roles in crafts and farming, and these jobs provided
meaning to their lives. As more people moved from the villages to the
cities, severing long-term bonds with the land, family and community
traditions began to weaken. Stein (1960) traced the effects of urbaniza-
tion, industrialization, and bureaucratization on the transformation of
America. He concluded that industrialization replaced a sense of coher-
ence and satisfaction with one’s craft with a new emphasis on prospering
financially.
The Industrial Revolution marks a major shift in the experience of
community for many people, but other forces may also have contributed
to the reduction in sense of community. When societal and community
norms, such as culture, rituals, and customs, weaken, people tend to lose
their sense of coherence and their interest in community participation.
Changing values and beliefs and the general loss of connectedness have
corresponded with an increasing focus on the individual. In the 1940s
and 1950s, there was a new dedication to an ever-rising standard of
living, which justified the industrial work role. The local community
ceased to be a place that mattered, and life transitions were minimized
or performed perfunctorily by impersonal social agencies, schools, or
churches (Stein, 1960). High levels of alienation and isolation occurred.
Spretnak (1991) offers a provocative set of propositions concerning
vulnerabilities that occurred even before the Industrial Revolution. She
believes that many maladies of our modern world are consequences of
our tendency to try to dominate the forces of nature rather than to live
in respectful balance with them. For Spretnak, a breakdown in the sense
of community was inevitable once we started to consider the larger
forces of nature to be engulfing and devouring and the ideal became self
preservation and control. Finding a balance with nature by reducing pol-
lution, controlling overpopulation, and preserving the land might give
people the resources to nurture their communities. Through this rede-
velopment of a sense of community in balance with nature, we might
ensure the survival of our species.
The Scientific Revolution has provided a valuable way to understand
and improve the natural world, yet it may have shaken our sense of
community. Although we can appreciate the enormous improvements
in our world that science has made—for example, the sophisticated treat-
ment of diseases and more efficient agricultural methods—the passion
to understand and improve upon nature may have contributed to a crisis
in values and belief systems. As science prospered, some began to believe
that intellectual prowess and achievement were the only symbols of suc-
cess (Bartel & Guskin, 1971). Others, including many existentialists (Sar-
tre, 1956), proposed that religions and myths, which had once guided
xviii PREFACE

people through their lives, were antiquated and no longer relevant.

Campbell (1949) maintains that many of our modern-day problems result
from the decline of symbols, images, and myths as nurturing and vali-
dating rituals in our lives. This breakdown in a culturally transmitted
sense of coherence and meaning may also have contributed to a reduc-
tion in our sense of community.
This book neither denies nor devalues the many contributions made
by western civilization. Many people in urban settings have been able to
integrate old and new traditions and to develop a sense of community.
In addition, there are individuals in industrial societies who maintain
the traditions, values, and myths that effectively guided their ancestors.
However, many others in our mobile, industrial society lack a commu-
nity of reference; the rich ties to their past belief systems and customs
have been weakened. Thus we may need to take these factors into ac-
count in designing social and community interventions. Chapter 3 pro-
vides possible solutions to some of these problems, borrowing heavily
from new developments in a variety of fields, including education, phi-
losophy, and technology.
Smith (1994) has summarized some of the perils of post-modern self-
hood, including the fading of religion as a moral guide and the wish to
manipulate the external world for one’s own personal ends. For many,
the result has been a loss of hope, absence of community, and a loss of
tradition and shared meaning. In chapter 4, I review eastern and western
religions that hold traditions to which we may look for moral guidance
and inspiration. The energizing symbols and messages of these faiths
may be employed to restore a sense of shared meaning and to develop
a more robust sense of community.
Ruth Benedict, Paul Radin, Meyer Fortes, and E. R. Leach explored
cultures in which everyday life was imaginatively transformed and sat-
urated with meaning (Stein, 1960). In these cultures life transformations
were honored, and people lived their lives in balance with nature. Cer-
tainly, many people continue to guide their lives with the help of vital
and energizing symbols and images. Many achieve a balance between
modern civilized life and nature and maintain rituals and customs to
help make life more meaningful and comprehensible. It is to these people
that we should look for guidance on how to strengthen our connected-
ness to one another and to the world in a larger sense.
While it is essential to examine all of the elements necessary for the
formation of healthy and nurturing communities, no such examination
would be complete without concrete examples of how these elements are
being used today to promote human well-being and social improvement.
In chapters 5 and 6, I explore real-world models of community that ef-
fectively address some of today’s devastating problems. These commu-
nities may not have surmounted all the problems of modern society, but
PREFACE xix

they are working for their members in significant ways. The final chap-
ters provide many such examples, from communities of healing to suc-
cessful community-based interventions.
My hope is that present and future generations of helping profession-
als will look to the wisdom of the ancient past, the hard lessons of his-
tory, and the most innovative efforts of the present. It is in the synthesis
of these three worlds that our greatest hope for the future resides.
This book provides a distinct analysis of problems faced by contem-
porary Americans and offers potential sources of solutions. Other books
have presented more limited perspectives or analyses of these topics. For
example, feminist theorists such as Charlene Spretnak (1991) have tended
to focus on risk factors resulting from our attempts to dominate nature
rather than to live with nature in an interconnected way. However, rel-
evant psychological and sociological theories have been sometimes ne-
glected in the feminists’ work. Psychoanalysts have embraced the
vulnerability that springs from our genetic animal ancestry. Community
psychologists and sociologists have focused on the unintended conse-
quences of the Industrial Revolution, including our loss of connection
with the land and traditional crafts. The thesis of this book is that all of
these vulnerabilities need to be conceptualized together if we are to un-
dertake a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the factors predis-
posing our society to its significant social problems. This book is unique
in its proposals for ecological and community-building interventions and
for systemic solutions that extend beyond the focus on the individual
that has increasingly been recognized as limited and ineffective.
The audience for this book includes concerned and educated Ameri-
cans who are searching for a scholarly and cogent presentation of our
present social difficulties and their predisposing factors. Another group
of potentially interested readers are public policy officials and adminis-
trators who are seeking cost-effective and meaningful solutions to our
ubiquitous social problems. Finally, readers with interests in mythology,
religious experience, and philosophy will be particularly interested in
this book because these topics are reviewed from a fresh perspective, one
that shows how concepts from these domains can reenergize the search
for a deeper meaning in life and the quest for more effective ways of
honoring life transitions. Americans are increasingly interested in seek-
ing solutions to our social problems. This book provides a synthesis of
stimulating and thought-provoking ideas that could lead to these solu-
tions.
I wish to thank the many people who have contributed to the for-
mulation of many of the ideas expressed in this book. I am most appre-
ciative of the constructive and valuable feedback I received from
undergraduate and graduate students at DePaul University while writ-
ing this book. To my colleagues at DePaul University, including Sheldon
xx PREFACE

Cotler, Sheila Ribordy, Karen Budd, Kathrine Grant, LaVome Robinson,

Rod Watts, Joseph Ferrari, Karen Jordan, Susan Dvorak McMahon, and
Gary Harper, my thanks for their friendship and their unstinting support
of my work. Other friends and colleagues, including Pat Fennell, Barbara
Pino, Thomas Wolff, Mara Adelman, Lawrence Frey, Stevan Hobfoll,
Laura Sklansky, Jennifer O’Hara, Susan Rosenthal, Lisa Belar, Julie Ro-
senberg, Sharon Cohen, Patricia Novak, Barbara Sommers, Jerry Wal-
anka, Fred Friedberg, David Glenwick, John Moritsugu, Cliff Brickman,
Arne Reichler, Jeffrey Messerer, Richard Katz, Jennifer O’Hara, Gretchen
Otten, Olga Reyes, Anne Bogat, Jean Rhodes, Jean Hill, Doreen Salina,
Roger Weissberg, Chris Keys, Dick Winett, Tom Gullotta, Joe Zins, Judith
Albino, Maureen Minogue, Fabricio Balcazar, Yolanda Suarez, Joseph
Durlak, Sonora Guldi, Marty Greenberg, Judy Richman, Andy and Sigita
Plioplys, Bill McCreadie, Fred Rademaker, Emory Cowen, Edwin Zolik,
Stephen Goldston, and Jim Kelly, were inspirational sources of support
and guidance. From Barbara Sylvestri, Buzz Talbot, Donna Stein, Jim
LeRoy, Dvorah Budnick, David Lipkin, Diane Allene, and Carole How-
ard, I learned the importance of creativity and collaboration when one
is working on community change. From Beth Ferris, Verna Kragnes, Rick
Hall, Darryl Eisenberg, and Steve Everett I experienced firsthand the
healing capacities of hope and community building. From my family,
including Jay and Lynn Jason; Diane, George, David, Johnathan, and Lisa
Allen; Calvin Peltz, Sid and Joy Roth; Shirley and Mark Circus; Berry
Levy; Sherry Kress; and Terri Foote; Edith and Allen Stern, Nancy and
Adi Shatz; and Alvin, Sonja, and Joanna Wicks, I learned the importance
of wisdom, humor, and patience.
I wish to thank the people at Praeger—particularly Marilyn Brown-
stein, Jean Lynch, Michelle Scott, and Nita Romer—for believing in this
project. Harriet Melrose, Dana Clealy, and Meg Davis-Curtin were most
helpful in editing several sections of this book. And finally, with elegance
and imagination, Pam Woll did an extraordinary job of editing the entire
book.
 1

Society at the Crossroads

Our eyes and ears are incessantly bombarded by a mythology which breeds
greed, envy, pride, lust and violence, the mythology of our mass media. . . .
An emotional deficiency disease, a paralysis of the creative imagination, an
addiction to superficialities—this is the physician’s diagnosis I would offer to
account for the greater part of the widespread desperation of our time.
—H. A. Murray (1959),
pp. 607–608

OUR PROBLEMS
American society is confronted with numerous, seemingly insurmount-
able problems, including homelessness, AIDS, gang activity, and do-
mestic violence. More and more people face battles with alcoholism and
other substance abuse, and physical and mental illness. Mental disorders
affect 22 percent of the population within a one-year period; 3 percent
have severe mental illness, but only 20 percent of all mental disorders
and 62 percent of severe mental disorders are treated within a given year
(Regier et al., 1984; NAMHC, 1993). Seemingly safe and healthy com-
munities are feeling the full force of these problems. Many people have
suffered invasions of property or person. In 1990, 34.8 million Americans
were victimized by crime (National Crime Survey, 1991). Individuals
may try to ignore such encroachments in their lives, but the disintegrat-
ing social structure entangles even sheltered or isolated citizens. Com-
munities try to mobilize against these problems, but individuals seem
less connected, lacking direction and certainty about how to proceed.
2 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Communities have high rates of divorce, alcohol and other drug abuse,
homelessness, domestic and gang violence, and suicide. Marriage has
become for many a disposable relationship, similar to entering into a
rental agreement (Etzioni, 1993). Each year, more than a million chil-
dren’s families come apart through divorce (Levine & Perkins, 1987),
often after years of conflict that have led to debilitating psychological
and physiological distress. Twenty percent of American children drop
out before they are eligible to graduate from high school (Parker &
Asher, 1987), and some inner-city schools have dropout rates higher than
50 percent. More than two million children each year are subjected to
abuse (American Association for Protecting Children, 1987), and three
fatalities occur daily (Wurtele, 1993). Two million American children be-
tween the ages of 7 and 13 return home after school to empty houses,
and 30 percent of children receive inadequate medical care (Zigler &
Finn, 1982). Increased sexual activity has resulted in high rates of ado-
lescent pregnancy, and teen parents face long-term economic and vo-
cational challenges (Robinson et al., 1993). In addition, our nation’s
children spend more time watching television than engaging in any other
activity except sleep, and the images they see are filled with high levels
of violence and sexuality (Jason & Hanaway, 1997).
The gap between the rich and the rest of us continues to grow: 1 per-
cent of Americans own 40 percent of the national wealth; and between
1977 and 1989, families with incomes higher than $350,000 received 72
percent of the country’s income gains (Dugger, 1995). Such disparities in
income are bound to lead to increasing social tensions. In addition, many
who have jobs fear being let go due to corporate downsizing.
Health care costs are increasing, and this places additional burdens on
communities. In 1992, 14 percent of our nation’s total economic output
($830 billion) was directed to the health care system, whereas in 1965
health care expenses accounted for only 6 percent of the total economic
output. If the health care system is not improved, by the year 2000 the
costs are expected to double, and an estimated 39 million people will be
uninsured.
Other assaults to health include the lack of clean water, fresh air, sun-
light, unprocessed food, and exercise. Contemporary diets, lifestyles, and
farming practices have predisposed us to heightened risk of disability
and premature death. Schmid (1987) reviewed the diets of traditional
people who grew vegetables without pesticides; raised beef, chicken, and
pigs without chemicals and hormones; and hunted wild game. These
people were largely free of hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, colitis,
obesity, diabetes, cancer, and stroke. These devastating illnesses are prev-
alent in industrial societies in part because of diets that include processed
foods dangerously high in fats, salt, and sugar. Historically, the cause of
the demise of many great civilizations has been topsoil depletion, and
SOCIETY AT THE CROSSROADS 3

75 percent of the original U.S. topsoil has already been lost. In addition,
the widespread use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides is the principal
reason for sterility and the reported sperm count reduction in U.S. males.
Changes in our ecosystem have been linked to rapidly expanding pop-
ulations of bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Robbins (1987) cites data in-
dicating that 55 percent of antibiotics used in the United States are added
to livestock feed and that this has led to the breeding of antibiotic-
resistant bacteria in factory farms. For over 50 years, we have increas-
ingly relied on antibiotics to treat a wide variety of health problems—
even conditions where antibiotics are not effective (for example, viral
infections such as the flu). Bacteria reproduce so quickly (every 20
minutes) that the 50-year time span during which antibiotics have been
used is equivalent to 18 million years of human evolution. During these
18 million evolutionary years, new strains of bacteria have adapted to
the changes that antibiotics produce in their host environments. Some
strains are now resistant to all antibiotics, but these bacteria are currently
of the non-deadly type. If deadly bacteria become resistant, our over-
reliance on the use of antibiotics will have contributed to a catastrophe
of unimaginable proportions.
Physical changes in ecosystem structure have also had negative health
consequences. For example, as forests are cleared and more individuals
move to formerly wooded areas, people are now coming into more fre-
quent contact with the ticks that carry Lyme disease. Tick populations
have increased dramatically because the deer that carry them have pro-
liferated due to the extermination of their natural predators.
Even more ominous is the greenhouse effect, caused by a build-up of
carbon dioxide from automobile emissions and the burning of oil and
coal. When the sun’s rays enter the earth’s atmosphere, greenhouse gases
prevent them from escaping back into space, thus increasing the tem-
perature of the earth’s atmosphere. Some have projected that by the year
2050, our planet will have increased in temperature by four to five de-
grees. The resulting expansion of the oceans and melting of the polar ice
caps would raise the sea level high enough to flood many currently in-
habited areas. Cape Cod, Florida, and Louisiana might become flooded.
Clearly, we have not been wise guardians of our precious resources.
The issues reviewed above include both contributors to and reflections
of the breakdown in community that we are witnessing. What is clear is
that many vulnerable groups within our country are daily exposed to
poverty, illness, exploitation, and prejudice (for example, millions of mi-
grant farm laborers, unemployed casualties of corporate downsizing,
poverty-stricken elders, and unemployed inner-city teenagers) (Albee,
1996). If we are to be successful at reducing physical illnesses and pre-
venting mental disorders, we will need to direct more of our efforts
toward building sturdier and more vibrant communities.
4 COMMUNITY BUILDING

ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS
We stand at a crossroads, and the dominant political factions seem
incapable of providing feasible solutions to ubiquitous societal, com-
munity, social, and personal problems. Liberals who espouse larger so-
cial and government programs to remediate these problems must
contend with a growing conservative backlash and federal deficits. A
majority of citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with underwriting gov-
ernment programs that both increase taxes and provide disincentives for
joining the workforce, and there is little support for large-scale redistri-
bution policies. Welfare programs are perceived as creating a culture of
dependency. Clearly there is a need for a new social agenda with sym-
bols and vitality that can transcend the polarities that threaten to disrupt
our nation. This agenda must reach back into the historical and cultural
influences that have shaped our society and forward into the vision of
a future that affords safety and dignity for all.
When psychologists mount efforts to improve people’s lives, their ef-
forts are usually directed toward reforming the status quo rather than
radically altering it (Fox, 1993). Even when liberals succeed in bending
the law in a more humane direction, people often begin to seek solutions
to community problems through the legal system, which reduces their
ability and motivation to work together and develop a sense of com-
munity. Fox (1993) suggests that we may need to refocus our attention
from the law as the reservoir that holds solutions to our human problems
and instead begin to identify our values through new sources, such as
psychological theory and personal ethics.
We are thoroughly immersed in the Information Age, in which new
inventions and devices are intended to make our lives better and more
satisfying. For many people, this revolution has instead made their lives
more complicated and less enjoyable. In spite of modern technology,
people have little time for relaxation, enjoyment, and contemplation.
In their well-received book Habits of the Heart, Bellah, Madsen, Sulli-
van, Swidler, and Tipton (1985) claim that, as social interactions have
become more intense, limited, and transient, the individual has become
the only firm reality. The meaning of life has become tied to the acqui-
sition of ever-increasing income and status. Rather than looking for ways
to make our lives more fulfilling and meaningful, we focus on con-
sumption and profits, and as a consequence we are surrounded by in-
formation and symbols that are either irrelevant or devoid of meaning
(Slama, 1993). These symbols and the goals of consumption and profits
are often explicitly adopted by the leaders of political parties and social
institutions. However, few people are genuinely satisfied living lives de-
voted to ambition and consumerism.
Futurists have identified six long-term worldwide trends in social
SOCIETY AT THE CROSSROADS 5

structures: proliferation of technology (for example, automation, roboti-

zation); increasing and shifting population (for example, rapid growth
in third-world countries and increases in minority and elderly groups);
changing economic growth and development (for example, widening
gaps between the rich and poor and exploitation of natural resources);
expanding communication and power dependent on the control of
knowledge; changing social expectations (for example, gender equaliza-
tion and new family patterns); and shifts in belief systems (for example,
declining traditions in some regions and a resurgence of fundamentalism
in others) (Sundberg, 1985). This book focuses on this last issue, the un-
certainty about norms and values.

A PSYCHOLOGICAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY

This book proposes that some of the solutions to society’s problems
may be gleaned from other cultures. For example, Arrien (1993) provides
evidence that in solving personal and community problems, indigenous
people have frequently used four archetypal paths: those of the warrior,
the teacher, the healer, and the visionary. The path of the warrior teaches
the use of right power in leadership, solving problems by being recon-
nected with the creative fire within ourselves. The path of the teacher
communicates meaning, gratitude, and acknowledgment; these teachings
from the heart help us reclaim our authentic selves and inhibit our ability
to feed our false-self systems. The path of the healer requires listening
to the guidance within. The healing of soul loss might best be viewed as
an attempt to understand why we have stopped singing and dancing
and why we have become uncomfortable with the sweet territory of
silence. Finally, the path of the true visionary depends on a regenerative
capacity to dream and see in other dimensions and to use imagination
unfettered by the constraints of old paradigms. These metaphors may be
abstract, but they point to truths that can be enormously helpful in heal-
ing the systemic wounds that confront twentieth-century civilizations.
In this book I explore anthropological, historical, philosophical, reli-
gious, and epistemological explanations for the decline in sense of com-
munity and the subsequent emphasis on individual goals as a source of
meaning. Implications for our society are highlighted, and possible al-
ternative models for healing our problems are reviewed. These models
are illustrated in the final chapters with examples of healing communities
and community-based interventions.
To begin this exploration, in the next chapter I examine four vulner-
abilities that predispose industrialized societies to unacceptable levels of
individualism and a breakdown in the psychological sense of commu-
nity.
 2

Four Vulnerabilities

One disease, long life, no disease, short life.

Those who take care of themselves accordingly will tend to live a lot longer
than those who consider themselves perfectly healthy and neglect their
weaknesses . . . a weakness of some sort can do you a big favor, if you
acknowledge that it’s there.
—Benjamin Hoff
The Tao of Pooh

SIGNS OF DECAY
Many will disagree with the analysis of our country presented in chap-
ter 1. Some economists point out that ecologists’ predictions about dwin-
dling natural resources have failed to take into account that new technol-
ogies allow us to identify more efficient ways of using our natural
resources. They also point out that we won the Cold War against the So-
viet Union, and that the United States has replaced Japan as the most com-
petitive country in the world market. The workplace is safer than it was 25
years ago, and crime and divorce rates are dropping. Women are making
impressive strides in the workplace, there are fewer high school dropouts,
and the majority of Americans pray regularly (Ladd, 1993/94). Diener and
Diener (1995) cite data demonstrating that most people report positive lev-
els of subjective well-being, indicating that they are not elated but are at
least mildly happy and satisfied in domains such as marriage, work,
8 COMMUNITY BUILDING

and leisure. How might these optimistic and promising developments be

reconciled with the more depressing issues reviewed earlier?
Perhaps both sets of facts have some grounding in reality. Our country
has much to be proud of, and it is the envy of nations throughout the
world. However, beneath this prosperous exterior there are troubling
signs of decay in the sense of community and family life. This chapter
explores four vulnerabilities that may help account for the problems that
confront our nation. They are aggressive tendencies within our genetic
makeup, separation from nature, loss of external symbols and guide-
posts, and separation from the land. To some these might seem like four
strengths, for they have been so regarded by many who have shaped
our culture’s evolution. These factors destroy more than they yield, how-
ever. They ultimately separate us from our true nature and our true sense
of community, in which our potential for personal, social, and cultural
healing resides.
This chapter is the story of our fall from grace, our entry into the
wilderness described in the previous chapter. The four vulnerabilities
establish a foundation for the model of community healing presented in
the remainder of the book.

AGGRESSIVE TENDENCIES IN OUR GENETIC MAKEUP

A function of our genetic animal ancestry, the first vulnerability—ag-
gression—has been with our species from our most primitive days on
this planet. The age of the hunter comprises from 95 to 99 percent of our
history (Lorenz, 1974). In Konrad Lorenz’s book On Aggression, violence
is depicted as a deeply rooted part of our behavior. The aggressive, com-
petitive libidinal animal tendencies within human beings have been stud-
ied by many prominent psychologists and psychoanalysts and made
most familiar in the writings of Freud.1 Some aggressive tendencies are
genetic but are normally controlled by culture to avert self-destructive
behaviors. If self-regulating mechanisms break down, then people be-
come more aggressive. On the other hand, there is equally persuasive
evidence that the will to form alliances for mutual well-being is also
written into our nature as human animals. The following pages explore
the delicate balance between these two natural tendencies, and what has
happened to that balance as our species has evolved and allowed our
competitive urges to overwhelm our cooperative instincts.
Human beings and chimpanzees, our closest animal relatives, have 98
percent of their DNA in common (Cavalieri & Singer, 1994). Jane Good-
all’s work with chimpanzees at Gambie has provided interesting clues
about the ancestors of our species. These bright animals can make and
use primitive tools. For example, Goodall observed chimpanzees poking
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 9

leaf stems into termite mounds, and when the termites clung to the leaf
stem, the chimps had a nutritious meal.
Chimpanzees live in communal groups for protection and support;
they are protective of their children, providing them with food and
safety. It is also part of human nature to establish enduring reciprocal
alliances of friendship and to direct altruism toward kin (DeKay & Buss,
1992). Dreher (1995) suggests that helping behaviors actually result in a
biochemical reward, via the release of endorphins, creating an incentive
to help again and again. Like dominance urges, helping tendencies may
be embedded in the brain structure. It is also likely that chimpanzees’
abundant energy, playfulness, and vitality are characteristics that reside
naturally within human beings, and that these vibrant inner resources
can supply the fuel for an animated and spirited life.
Like human beings, chimpanzees are burdened by aggression. Before
Goodall’s work, they were considered completely vegetarian and non-
aggressive toward other animals. However, Goodall observed tribes of
chimpanzees systematically killing members of other groups and ag-
gressively protecting their territory. Often a dominant chimpanzee
would act aggressively to show others that he was at the top of the social
hierarchy. Some of these aggressive animal tendencies reside within our
genetic makeup as well and can lead to vulnerabilities in our efforts to
live in a civilized world. From an evolutionary, psychological point of
view, possible reasons for these tendencies in human nature include
competition for limited resources, concepts of property, urges toward
retaliation and revenge, weapon making and using, and coalitions that
use weapons for war (DeKay & Buss, 1992). Continuous wars reflect
aggressive and territorial tendencies in our species. These instinctual ten-
dencies put people in conflict with their social and humanistic needs for
affiliation and community.
Thus, our most primitive vulnerability is the residue of our primordial
animal past: our need to climb to the top of the hierarchy, by whatever
means we have at our disposal, to reap the rewards of status, power,
and resources. While these aggressive tendencies are adaptive in the non-
human animal world, they have stimulated humans to expand their pop-
ulation and appropriate territory. As a result, the survival of all species
is now threatened. If not carefully regulated by culture, rituals, and cus-
toms, aggressive tendencies can seriously interfere with our efforts to
live together as families and communities. The high levels of unethical
aggression in business may be in part a reflection of these primitive
urges, no longer restrained by societal and community norms.
Our species is capable of horrendous behaviors, as evidenced by the
Roman gladiator games in which people were forced to fight to the death
for others’ amusement, and the genocide practiced by the Nazi regime
in Germany. In their social psychology experiments, American psychol-
10 COMMUNITY BUILDING

ogists Stanley Milgram (1963) and Phillip Zimbardo have shown that
‘‘normal’’ people will give severe electrical shocks to innocent subjects
when firmly instructed to do so, and that they will treat people inhu-
manely when instructed to take on the role of a prison guard (Heney,
Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973). Clearly our settings and the prevalent values
within them have strong shaping influences on our behavior. A key ques-
tion is whether there has been a breakdown in some of our protective
cultural guideposts and regulatory mechanisms, and it is to our primitive
past that we once again look for clues.

OUR SEPARATION FROM NATURE

Change in nature is natural and constant. Current scholarship suggests
that the evolution of hominids alone has taken at least three million years
(Johanson & Shreeve, 1989). Through that period, these species slowly
adapted, forming new relationships with their environments.2 Walking
erect, Australopithecus was able to spot both enemies and prey on the
grassy African plains. Homo habilis, now considered the first primitive
human being, developed the first rudimentary tools, marking the dawn
of human technology. Homo erectus had a tall, powerful body and was
able to travel quickly and easily, carrying meat from carcasses over long
distances. The discovery of fire allowed this species to stay warm and
frighten away predators. As these developments suggest, change is not
necessarily a negative thing; however, some types of changes can have
negative consequences. A feature of the western culture that has become
dominant in the world is a tendency to control nature rather than to live
in a respectful balance with her. A historical analysis documenting this
tendency will be explored in this section.

Homo Sapiens
Homo sapiens emerged by around 32,000 B.C. (some claim as early as
100,000 years ago) and spread throughout the world. Less massively
built than its predecessors, Homo sapiens was more efficient in planning
and finding food. Its physical features approximated those of modern
human beings. Their larger voice boxes allowed them to utter more dis-
tinct sounds than those of their ancestors. They developed complex lan-
guages that enabled them to pool their skills and efficiently pass them
on to their children. They made weapons from sharp stones, they created
sculptures, and their world was filled with sacred places. In Africa, Eu-
rope, Asia, and Australia, the emergence of Homo sapiens brought about
a cultural explosion, one that set humans apart from the ancestors who
had come and gone before (Wilber, 1995). The religious life of primal
Homo sapiens’ societies was polytheistic, and their deities were associ-
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 11

ated with the forces of nature (Livingston, 1989). Robert Ornstein, in his
book The Evolution of Consciousness, says that our biological evolution
ended with the appearance of language and speech; however, the world
to which our biology adapted has vanished.
When Homo sapiens entered new lands—for example, Australia, Ha-
waii, and the Americas—many animal species became extinct. This was
probably due both to climatic changes at the end of the last Ice Age and
to our increasing prowess in hunting animals. For example, after Homo
sapiens entered the Americas about 11,000 years ago, more than 70 per-
cent of all species of animals weighing more than one hundred pounds
became extinct (Wilber, 1995).
What role has our attitude toward nature played in our choice of be-
havior toward other species? Wilber (1995) asserts that some indigenous
cultures have treated other species and the land itself in ecologically
unsound ways; for example, using slash-and-burn agriculture. Wilber
holds that a belief in the sacredness of nature does not guarantee an
ecologically sound culture. Some early cultures showed disrespect to-
ward the land and nature and eventually collapsed. However, in many
early cultures, according to Campbell (1980), animals and Homo sapiens
lived in an interrelated and interdependent world, where balance and
respect for nature were essential parts of the way societies interacted
with their environments.3 In general terms, the thesis of this book departs
from Wilber’s analysis. I suggest that a more reverent attitude toward
nature and a perspective that includes her sacredness did and still does
help nurture a more ecologically sensitive way of being in the world.

Agriculture and the Goddess

From 9500 B.C. on, a great transformation took place as humans began
to manipulate nature through agriculture and animal husbandry (Camp-
bell, 1980). Our impulse to control nature led to the agricultural revo-
lution (Upshur, Terry, Holoka, Goff, & Lowry, 1991). Horticultural
agriculture was based on the use of a hoe or a simple digging stick.
About 80 percent of foodstuffs were produced by women, who could
safely use a hoe or digging stick even during pregnancy. The men con-
tinued to hunt animals. However, these new methods of farming some-
times exhausted resources in the forests and fields; some early villages
failed when the land became barren and no longer provided enough food
for their people.
In this planting world women gained importance, because they could
plant, harvest, and rear the children. About one-third of these societies
had only female deities, and about one-third had both male and female
deities (Wilber, 1995). The farmers were polytheistic; they worshiped the
forces of nature, including the earth, the sun, and the sky. According to
12 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Campbell (1990), the mythologies of agriculture-based societies tended

to suppress individualism; instead, people were persuaded to identify
with norms and behaviors developed in the public domain. Rigid rules
were necessary for the establishment of orderly settlements, and they
were imposed on people who had previously been used to the freedom
and independence of living in hunting and gathering societies.
Stone (1976) proposes that, during this time, goddess-oriented societies
perceived the earth as sacred and that in these societies women and
nature were respected. The people who worshiped the goddess lived in
Old Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Some ar-
chaeologists place the beginning of goddess-oriented societies in the Ne-
olithic communities of 7000 B.C.; others place it in the Upper Paleolithic
cultures of 25,000 B.C. Some archeological findings from these commu-
nities indicate that the sexes were treated equally. According to Spretnak
(1991), matrifocal societies had greater senses of honor, both for the
earth-body and for the personal body. The divine was laced throughout
one’s existence; rather than focusing only on cultural achievement, peo-
ple expended more effort to embrace life as a dynamic and creative pro-
cess. Stone (1976) states that during this period women were viewed as
givers of life. They were revered and deified and occupied a prominent
role in society. Sex was sacred, a symbolic magic to invoke fertility in
vegetation, livestock, and humans.
The female deities of this period do not simply represent fertility and
the nurturing powers of mother earth, according to Livingston (1989).
The mother goddess was pregnant with life and virginal, she was chaste
and promiscuous, she created and destroyed, she unified life and fiercely
divided it by conflict. She symbolized the duality inherent in life.

Paradise: Balance and Oneness with Nature

About 3000 B.C., horticultural farming was transformed into agrarian
farming, which was based on animal-drawn plows that could not be
handled by pregnant women due to the risk of miscarriage. Wilber (1995)
believes that the agrarian revolution led to a massive shift in culture,
with virtually all foodstuffs being produced by men. It is perhaps not
coincidental that during this period the deity figures became almost ex-
clusively male.
Agrarian farming was more economical than hunting and gathering,
and soon more food was available for the expanding population. The
food surpluses allowed a greater number of people to begin pursuing
new cultural endeavors (Wilber, 1995). Attempts to understand the order
of the natural universe led to the development of religion and philoso-
phy.
A fundamental balance with the land was a key feature of many of
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 13

the civilizations that began appearing throughout the world from 4000
to 2000 B.C. (Wood, 1992). These ancient civilizations attempted to un-
derstand and control the workings of their world (Upshur, Terry,
Holoka, Goff, & Lowry, 1991). One example is Old Mesopotamia, a civ-
ilization that emerged upon the fertile banks in the confluence of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers about 3500 B.C. As cities rose from the land,
increasing specialization led to the development of writing, mathematics,
and astronomy. These ideas reached the Nile (and inspired the First Dy-
nasty of Egypt) around 2800 B.C., the Indus Valley around 2600 B.C.,
China around 1500 B.C., and Peru (by way of the Pacific) perhaps as early
as 1000 B.C. (Campbell, 1990). As early peoples observed the planets
moving at a constant rate, they hypothesized that order and balance were
essential properties of the universe. Their myths stressed that when peo-
ple lived in accord with nature, nature would give its bounty to them
(Campbell, 1980). These traditions depict a relationship of unity with the
forces of nature, an integration of the different aspects of the self, and a
reverence for all components of nature—both its light and dark aspects.4

From Duality to Dualism: The Fall from Grace

Our species had originally been firmly rooted in the animal kingdom,
an integral part of nature. As if emerging from a massive mountain of
rocks, we slowly became aware of our world in a way quite different
from that of other animals. It is not that other animals do not have feel-
ings or cannot solve problems; what differentiated us was the use of our
brains to achieve mastery over the natural environment and to reflect
upon our unique condition. As we evolved and began to exert more
influence over our environment, our increasing consciousness of the nat-
ural world inevitably led to two opposite ways of being in the world.
Many ancient cultures used this awareness to sanctify and appreciate
their interconnectedness with the land and other animals.5 Others grad-
ually repudiated their link with the animal world, a world seen as wild,
dangerous, and in need of being controlled. Our species had a critical
choice: to remain aligned with, or to separate from, the natural world.
Those cultures that defined themselves as apart from nature have be-
come the dominant powers in the past four hundred years. The ascen-
dancy of these cultures has led to spectacular scientific discoveries, which
further consolidated the second vulnerability: separation from nature. A
historical analysis follows that attempts to depict more closely this sep-
aration that we have identified as our second vulnerability.
According to Spretnak (1991), in East Central Europe, Indo-European
and Semitic invasions destroyed the goddess-oriented civilizations, as
three waves of horse-riding nomads migrated from the Eurasian steppes
between 4400 and 4300 B.C., between 3400 and 3200 B.C. and again be-
14 COMMUNITY BUILDING

tween 3000 and 2900 B.C.6 Many of the Aryans did not negate the god-
dess; they merely placed her below their male gods. However, the goal
of many of the new male-dominated religions was to transcend nature
and the flesh (Graves, 1966). Spretnak (1991) believes that this shift from
a religion centered on the goddess to an Indo-European-Greek religion—
whose gods were remote, up in the sky, and warlike—is well established.
Because, in this religion, the larger forces of nature were believed to
engulf and devour humankind, the sense of connection between human
nature and the rest of the natural world was broken, and human beings
had to focus on self-preservation and control. For if everything is un-
connected in a competitive world, then the logical response is to protect
oneself by controlling as many other people and species as possible. This
warrior society was dominated by men, and women were considered the
property of men. The warriors brought with them the concept that light
was good and dark was evil. The female deity became associated with
darkness and evil; the male deity became the champion of light. The
duality of all things embraced by earlier cultures had been replaced by
an overarching sense of dualism that sought to divide all things.
In the sixth or seventh century B.C., Zoroaster founded a Persian reli-
gion that featured two gods, one of light and good (Ormazd), and one
of dark and evil (Ahriman). The task for Zoroastrians was to fix nature,
rather than to live in harmony with it. The followers of this religion
believed that a savior would eventually help eliminate all evil, so that
there would be nothing but good and light. Rather than learning to live
with both the bright and dark aspects of nature, these ancestors of west-
ern civilization began to lose their integration and relationship to earth.
Subtly, the vital symbols and myths of these people changed, and they
began to focus on the eradication of evil. These new beliefs left people
irrevocably estranged from nature, and that separation from nature rep-
resented a significant vulnerability.7

Hopes and Fears

Injustices were common in these male-dominated cultures. According
to Stone (1976), women were considered the property of either their hus-
bands or their fathers. The prophets and priests systematically killed
people who still believed in the religion of the goddess-oriented cultures.
Stone believes these cultures had to be destroyed so that women could
be persuaded to accept their position as their husbands’ property. Stone
notes that women were regarded as mindless and carnal creatures, and
these types of attitudes were supposedly proven by the Paradise myth.
The creation myth of Adam and Eve symbolically blamed women for
sexual consciousness. Stone (1976) believes that, from that time on,
women were viewed as sexual temptresses. When the serpent gave the
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 15

fruit to Eve and she urged Adam to eat it, the resulting catastrophe was
blamed on Eve and the serpent. Therefore sex was considered immoral,
sinful, and shameful. In the goddess-oriented myths that predated the
Paradise myth, the serpent had been revered as a female symbol—the
symbol of life—and it had been associated with prophecy and divine
revelation. To eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was to eat the flesh
of the Goddess—to embrace life. Sexuality was part of a spiritual exis-
tence whereby one could practice love, compassion, and forgiveness in
relationships and be reminded of one’s interdependence and oneness
with all. Regrettably, western culture is still heavily influenced by the
myths that perceive sexuality in negative terms and emphasize male su-
premacy. For example, there are still double standards regarding pre-
marital virginity; there are also high levels of rape and other violence
toward women.8
Even deeper than the sexual fears reflected in the creation myth is the
fear of the duality of all things. A dualistic approach seeks to resolve
this fear by dividing the divine and the natural selves, pronouncing one
good and the other evil. The Tree of Knowledge was also known as the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—a symbol of passage from unity
into the field of opposites. Once Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, they
saw distinctions where before they had seen only likenesses. They sud-
denly knew they were naked and different from one another and felt
ashamed of their nakedness. Ironically, the gender that through the god-
dess myths had symbolized the unity inherent in duality was, in the
creation myth, blamed for the dualism that brought about the fall from
grace. One might see this also as a fall from our recognition of our one-
ness with the divine.

The Separation
Western philosophies and religions gradually became dominant. Many
of their basic concepts are rooted in Greek philosophy. Prior to the Indo-
European invasion, cultural traditions in Greece spoke of a primal state
of unity—the womb of the great mother, from which all diversity
emerged (Spretnak, 1991). However, this changed, as illustrated by the
writings of Greek philosophers who posited a dualism of mind and
body, of spirit and matter. With a patriarchal social structure in place,
and nature increasingly displaced from its sacred status, human beings
were considered separate from nature. The Greeks believed that the free-
dom of the soul could be gained only through rational thought. Although
their contributions in terms of rational thought were enormous, their
separation from nature prevented our ancestors from accepting both the
horrors and the beauties of the world. Rather than being a part of nature,
16 COMMUNITY BUILDING

we declared ourselves fundamentally different from nature and took on

the task of improving the world.
When we began to see ourselves as separate from nature, we began
losing our sense of interconnection with the earth. In metaphorical terms,
we were expelled from the Garden. As we increasingly attempt to dom-
inate and control the forces of nature—rather than live in harmony with
them—we alter the evolutionary balancing processes that constantly take
place among the various life forms and fail to recognize the forces of
nature acting within our own bodies. Overpopulation, the despoiling of
the environment, and other environmental catastrophes are all conse-
quences of this tendency to control rather than live with nature.
Although the belief in our dominion created a vulnerability, the effects
of that vulnerability were for a time mitigated by other conditions in
early societies. Most people still lived in small communities and were
dependent upon nature and the land for their survival. Many incorpo-
rated parts of the goddess-oriented cultures into their new western re-
ligions. For example, in Christianity, the goddess figure came back in
the form of the Virgin Mary (Campbell, 1980). The idea that we are
essentially different from nature and can control it had no serious eco-
logical consequences when resources were abundant and the world was
sparsely populated.9

The Rise of Science

During the tenth, eleventh, and thirteenth centuries, in other parts of
the world, civilizations flourished that were clearly more advanced than
the warring feudal states of Europe. In 1295 Marco Polo returned from
Kublai Kahn’s China, bearing silk, porcelain, and tales of a spectacular
civilization that held riches beyond anyone’s imagination. In the next
three hundred years, one of the most remarkable transformations in hu-
man history occurred, as Europe became the most important center of
power in the world.10 The period now called the Renaissance was a time
of monumental change in Europe.11
New technologies emerged largely because of a new openness to ideas
and scientific inquiry that flourished during that period. Through the
new technologies and through systems of managing large states that
emerged and were refined during the Renaissance, European leaders
gained the tools and resources needed to conquer and dominate other
continents. Thus a number of other cultures that had more reverent at-
titudes toward nature were colonized by the West.
In this new science, reason was valued and held sacred. Sir Francis
Bacon became a propagandist for science, appealing for the use of ex-
perimentation to understand nature. Descartes believed that the world
was ruled by mechanical forces, and that scientists’ new instruments
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 17

could be used to find the truth. Scientific societies began forming all over
Europe, and science became the model for all intellectual activities. Sci-
ence was evolving into the new orthodoxy, though critics like Pascal
feared this worship of science, believing that the truth could be appre-
hended only by faith and the heart.
The process of turning away from nature continued. The universe was
now believed to be filled with dead matter, and the goal of the sciences
was to find methods to control nature. The technology that quickly de-
veloped served the new demands of commerce and industry. The west-
ern separation of mind and body was now complete.12 The second
vulnerability, our need to increasingly control and dominate the forces
of nature rather than to live in respectful balance with them, was now
established.

LOSS OF EXTERNAL SYMBOLS AND GUIDEPOSTS

Vital religious symbologies had provided a sense of meaning for cen-
turies. The third vulnerability, the elimination of external moral and re-
ligious guideposts, has cast many people into a sea of doubt. They can
no longer rely on the nurturing and validating rituals and images that
once gave human lives a foundation of meaning.
Science has saved lives and vastly improved the quality of life for
many. On the other hand, some scientific discoveries have eroded our
sense of certainty and place within the universe.
In the sixteenth century, Copernicus made a discovery that was aston-
ishing at the time: the universe does not revolve around the earth (Co-
pernicus, 1543/1995). If that knowledge shook our moorings in the
cosmos, subsequent discoveries have disturbed our equilibrium even fur-
ther. We now know that there are billions of stars in the galaxy and
billions of galaxies. The earth is about four billion years old; one day our
star will burn out. And before the big bang took place, all matter in the
universe occupied less than one-tenth of a millimeter.
Darwin’s theory of evolution, published in 1859, was a critical scientific
breakthrough. Other discoveries followed, and soon science was inves-
tigating the stories in the Old and New Testaments. Romer’s (1988) re-
search has suggested that the stories of Genesis were taken from more
ancient Mesopotamian myths. Others have suggested that the stories of
the Garden of Eden, and Noah’s ark and the flood, were taken from
earlier Sumerian myths, which predated the Bible by two thousand
years. While many of these claims have been disputed, it is significant
that over the past few hundred years many respected scholars have be-
gun questioning western religious beliefs (see, for example, Romer, 1988).
These modern ideas—that we have evolved from chimpanzees, rather
than from the inhabitants of the Garden of Eden; and that the Earth is
18 COMMUNITY BUILDING

not the center of the universe, but only one insignificant planet in an
endless universe of billions of galaxies—were not widely known or ac-
cepted by the average person before the late 1800s. For most people the
Bible was the primary text; they were not aware of the controversies
concerning the content of the religious texts raised by scientific findings.
Their families, crafts, religions, and communities were still vital and
nourishing to their lives and sense of well-being.
With more widespread education, more people began questioning
their religious beliefs. By the early 1900s, some of the best-educated elite
were pronouncing that God was dead. The symbols and images that had
once guided people through their lives began to be seen by some as
antiquated and erroneous. The existentialists, among others, now saw a
world in which religious metaphors had been stripped of their meaning:
Only internally created values were considered authentic. Classical
Greek myths were reinterpreted to suggest new attitudes about how peo-
ple perceived their world. In the original myth of Sisyphus, according to
Hazel Barnes (1985), Sisyphus betrayed the secret love of Zeus in return
for a better water system for Cornith. His punishment was to repeatedly
push a rock up a hill, only to see it fall. This was the justice meted out
to mortals who had the audacity to betray the gods. Camus (1982) re-
translated this myth for the twentieth century. In his new version, Sis-
yphus was viewed as making a personal revolt, an assertion of human
meaning against the indifference of the universe. Sisyphus was a hero
because he created his own values where none had been offered to him.
In another Greek myth, Orestes killed his mother and her lover because
he was ordered to do so by Apollo. Orestes was acquitted of murder
because his action was in accordance with the will of Zeus: Human jus-
tice was superseded by eternal divine justice. However, in Sartre’s (1947)
play The Flies, after the murders Orestes defies Zeus and by doing so
affirms the freedom of man. In the twentieth century, justice is consid-
ered primarily the concern of human beings in their relations with one
another rather than the result of divine decree. Our need, according to
Sartre (1947), is to preserve self-dignity.
Our disillusionment with religion has led to years of wandering in the
wilderness.13 Believers, agnostics, and atheists were all soon confronted
with the fourth vulnerability: the loss of connection with the land, crafts,
and communities.

SEPARATION FROM THE LAND

Edmond Wilson (Kellert & Wilson, 1993) has coined the term ‘‘bio-
philia’’ to indicate our biological need for and love of nature. The need
to be in the presence of nature is a genetic and fundamental part of our
being. Research has found, for example, that hospital patients who have
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 19

windows facing natural settings heal more rapidly than those whose
windows do not. Unfortunately, millions of people now spend their lives
separate from the land, in stressful urban environments. Separation from
the world of nature makes people feel less safe and less lovable; it con-
tributes to feelings of detachment and to a society that feels less care and
concern.
The importance of the connection with family, community, and the
land has been demonstrated repeatedly. For example, in studies of life
satisfaction, the four variables that people most often identify as impor-
tant are family, home, community, and neighborhood (Lyon, 1989).
These studies show a deep inner need for human connectedness, com-
munity spirit, and neighborliness; and that these qualities are increas-
ingly found lacking in our society (McLaughlin & Davidson, 1985). A
historical analysis illuminates the reasons for these drastic changes in
human relationships.
Throughout history people have lived in communal dwellings. Within
villages people helped one another out—not as charity, but because it
was part of the natural course of human life. At times village life was
circumscribed by narrowness and provincialism; however, positive feel-
ings of mutual respect, working together for common ends, and neigh-
borliness provided nurturance and meaning. These communities had
Gemeinschaft qualities: The natural spontaneous, organic relations of the
people grew out of mutual affection, customs, and traditions. In contrast,
our modern societies are dominated by Gesellschaft qualities: They fea-
ture formal organizations, contracts, and legislation. Morgan (1942) be-
lieved that organized society could survive only as long as it was
invigorated by the spirit of the Gemeinschaft community. In recent times,
we have gained greater individual freedom, but the cost of that freedom
has been social isolation. We need to ask why these powerful changes
have occurred during the past two hundred years.

Industrialization and Urbanization

Scientific advances paved the way for the Industrial Revolution, which
contributed to the breakdown in the fabric of community living. In the
1800s many people moved to the cities, thus eroding their connection to
the land. The crowded industrial cities of the nineteenth century were
very unsanitary. Initially there were no sewage systems, so the water
was often unsafe. In 1840 the average age of death in Manchester, En-
gland was 17.
The Industrial Revolution occurred in eighteenth-century Europe be-
cause a variety of necessary conditions existed (Upshur, Terry, Holoka,
Goff, & Lowry, 1991). For example, England had easy access to raw ma-
terials, an adequate labor supply, markets for large quantities of manu-
20 COMMUNITY BUILDING

factured goods, and a surplus of capital. In addition, the Age of Reason

had encouraged scientific inquiry and experimentation, and there were
legal, political, and social policies that protected entrepreneurs.
Stein (1960) has traced the roles of urbanization, industrialization, and
bureaucratization in the movement of American society toward the Ge-
sellschaft end of the continuum. Industrialization has replaced a sense
of coherence and satisfaction with one’s craft with a new emphasis on
getting ahead. In the 1940s and 1950s, society became dedicated to an
ever-rising standard of living. This justified the industrial work role but
slowly replaced the traditional sense of community. Career-driven men
led barren lives. Children were loved for what they did, rather than who
they were. There was little time for intimate moments with family and
friends. In this new society, high levels of alienation and isolation were
common, and the local community ceased to be a place that mattered.
Life transitions began to be minimized, and their rituals were com-
mercialized or performed perfunctorily by impersonal social agencies,
schools, or religious officiaries.
In contrast, primitive community life protected the integrity of the in-
dividual’s life cycle. Ruth Benedict, Paul Radin, Meyer Fortes, and E. R.
Leach explored cultures in which everyday life was imaginatively trans-
formed and saturated with meaning (Stein, 1960). In these cultures, life
transitions were honored. The people celebrated birth and death and
performed a progression of rituals to mark all stages in the life cycle,
from infancy to old age. People’s lives were built upon spiritual foun-
dations and maintained in balance with nature. Their lives were a natural
and interrelated aspect of the community.

The Evolution of Values

During the past 150 years, sociologists and anthropologists have no-
ticed a change in values within our culture. Prior to the Industrial Rev-
olution, people’s roles in crafts and farming were well defined, and these
jobs gave meaning to their lives. Since the Industrial Revolution, there
has been a greater emphasis on the individual, and the prevalent values
have become more materialistic and self-oriented. As more people have
moved from the village to the city, long-term bonds with the land have
been severed, and community traditions have weakened.
Even with all of these problems, the family could have provided a
foundation upon which individuals could build a sense of balance and
coherence. Unfortunately, urbanization, the loss of meaningful work, and
detachment from nature and religion have weakened family norms and
values. As the values that glorify competition and individual achieve-
ment have gained ascendancy, they have also become the values that
many families teach their children—by word or example. As people’s
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 21

senses of meaning and spiritual connectedness have dwindled, the con-

sequent rise in substance abuse has robbed many families of their ability
to effectively impart consistently nurturing values to their children. In
addition, many children are raised in poverty. These children are con-
fused and frustrated by televised scenes of opulence, which makes it
difficult for parents to teach them appropriate values.

The Values of Men and Women

Our society’s emphasis on aggressive masculine values has had dele-
terious effects on gender perception and child development. Gilligan
(1982) claims that the leading psychological theorists of this century have
interpreted the values of men and women with an unfortunate bias. In
general, male behavior has been accepted as the norm, and female be-
havior has been considered a deviation from the norm. For example,
because Freud believed that the superego was determined by castration
anxiety, he concluded that women could not have a clear-cut Oedipal
resolution, leaving them with a compromised superego and a diminished
sense of justice. In addition, in his stages of moral development, Kohl-
berg (1981) assigns more women than men to a low developmental level
(stage 3) because women see morality in interpersonal terms, centered
on obligations to the self, the family, and other people. When women
engage in ‘‘male’’ activities, Kohlberg places them in higher levels where
relationships are subordinated to rules or to universal principles of jus-
tice. Of course, it is difficult to imagine a rule or a principle of justice
governing a situation in which no relationship is being affected, either
directly or indirectly.
Concern for relationships, or for being a caregiver or a helpmate, has
been interpreted as a weakness. In contrast, the masculine focus on
achievement and great ideas has defined most men’s standards of suc-
cess and has helped them achieve desired identities at work. However,
most men lack both intimate male friendships and nonsexual friendships
with women (Levinson, 1978). Their emotionally constricted relation-
ships have been subordinated to the pursuit of achievement. Because
masculine values prevail in our society, those whose values are different
may begin to question the normality of their feelings.
Gilligan (1982) traces some of the differences in male and female val-
ues to early childhood. Women are largely responsible for early child-
hood care, be they mothers, other female relatives, or paid caregivers.
Girls are naturally taught to identify themselves as female; during their
first three years, most girls are freely allowed to experience attachment
to and identification with their female caregivers. According to Chodo-
row (1974), boys are taught to define themselves as opposites of their
female caregivers. For boys, separation from the mother figure tends to
22 COMMUNITY BUILDING

begin earlier and to take on greater existential significance, because it is

considered essential to their assumption of the male role. Depending on
the boy’s circumstances, the separation process can be fraught with fear
and rage; it can prompt him to curtail or distort his love for his mother
and to deny his empathic tie with other human beings in general. Girls
often emerge from the separation process with a basis of empathy that
boys have not been allowed to develop (Rubin, 1976). Male gender iden-
tity is more easily threatened by intimacy, whereas female gender iden-
tity is more easily threatened by separation.
These early differences are manifested when children play. Boys usu-
ally enjoy quarreling as much as the games themselves, whereas disputes
among girls tend to end their games (Lever, 1976). Boys are learning
organizational skills and independence to prepare them for the modern
corporate world through such activities as the coordination of diverse
groups of enemies and friends. Caring for feelings has little value in the
marketplace and can even lead to professional problems at work. Two
distinct moral ideologies are evident: one focusing on separation, iden-
tification, and achievement; and the other on attachment, relationship,
and caring. Rather than seeing both ideologies as important and neces-
sary to a whole and balanced system, our society has clearly elevated
one at the expense of the other. Society has an abundance of frustrated
power seekers. Individuals who continually strive for more personal au-
thority at the expense of human connections tend to suffer more bouts
of illness than do their less driven counterparts (McClelland, 1979). A
historical perspective helps explicate the process by which the focus on
achievement and individuation has become salient.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

History helps us understand our present problems and their relation-
ship to four complex, overlapping vulnerabilities. New myths have sep-
arated us from our mother earth, as society increasingly tries to control
and dominate the forces of nature rather than to live in respectful balance
with them. In the process, some valuable biological animal instincts have
been rejected. Religious belief systems have increasingly been questioned
and rejected. Rather than accepting the mysteries of life, many religions
have concretized their mythology, as if its importance lay in specific
historical events, rather than in metaphorical images and the timeless
truths they represent. Once the mystery and vitality of these symbols
were taken away, the inevitable consequence was an emotional waste-
land (Campbell, 1969). Finally, our last refuge—our connection with
crafts, the land, and the community—has slowly eroded, as people have
moved away from small communities in search of employment in de-
personalized cities. During the past few hundred years we have lost our
FOUR VULNERABILITIES 23

special place in the universe, we have been displaced from the land, and
we have been divorced from our small communities and families. Greed
and desire have desecrated our mother earth and seriously wounded our
psyches. Power struggles and a need for control have tipped the gentle
balance within us. Acting as a conquering people, we have defeated our-
selves.
Clearly, this bleak picture does not characterize all contemporary cit-
izens of industrialized countries. Some individuals have accepted their
genetic underpinnings and found a healthy balance with the forces of
nature. They have incorporated into their lives religious or spiritual im-
ages that remain vital and nourishing and have found supportive and
healing families and communities, even within urban areas. Western
civilization has made many valuable contributions (Schlesinger, 1992).
Western writers have proposed ideas that have had revolutionary posi-
tive impacts on the advancement of personal liberties and human rights
and on freedom of inquiry and expression. Western advocates have abol-
ished slavery and torture in their societies, improved the status of
women, and combated racism. We can be proud of these legacies and
many others like them. There are vital traditions within western civili-
zation that can be used as antidotes to the four vulnerabilities described
in this chapter.
Furthermore, many ancient cultures committed gross violations of ba-
sic human rights. They practiced slavery and discriminated against low-
caste groups. They accepted the abuse of women and children and re-
served education for the elite. Some people may argue that our current
society is no worse than those of the past. However, in spite of their
many unacceptable practices, ancient cultures were more often connected
to the land, had stronger sustaining beliefs and values, and grew
stronger and more enduring family and community roots. Although
many of the past abuses, such as slavery, have been eliminated in the
United States, the four vulnerabilities help explain some of the break-
downs in community that we are witnessing.

Problems and Solutions

Clearly, in our country as well as in many other western-oriented cul-
tures, problems of urban decay, crime, homelessness, drug abuse, and
environmental degradation run rampant. This book posits that these
symptoms of the breakdown in our sense of community are connected
to the vulnerabilities presented in this chapter. An analysis of these vul-
nerabilities will help us identify remedies for strengthening our culture
and our society.
From a western perspective, a healthy individual should have sturdy
foundations in four areas: the body, which should have strength and
24 COMMUNITY BUILDING

endurance; the mind, which should be adept at creativity, problem solv-

ing, and accruing knowledge; the spiritual domain, which should have
goals and visions that help direct and focus life; and the social arena,
which should have strong connection with family and friends. In this
book I suggest that these four domains can be richly expanded upon by
borrowing from other wisdom traditions. Using this broadened perspec-
tive, one might strive to inculcate the following features: a balanced and
flexible energy field within the body, long posited by Eastern yogis as a
source of health and well-being; a peaceful and quiet mind, advocated
by meditators from a variety of religious traditions; a spiritual sense of
interconnectedness and oneness, supported by those who live within a
variety of mystical traditions; and a reverence for nature and others, a
social domain advocated by a number of cultures, including that of Na-
tive Americans. It is to these broadened attributes of a well-balanced and
healthy life that we turn in the following chapters.
 3

A New Paradigm for Hope

Practice loving kindness to overcome anger. Loving kindness has the ca-
pacity to bring happiness to others without demanding anything in return.
Practice compassion to overcome cruelty. Compassion has the capacity to
remove the suffering of others without expecting anything in return. Prac-
tice sympathetic joy to overcome hatred. Sympathetic joy arises when one
rejoices over the happiness of others and wishes others well-being and
success. Practice non-attachment to overcome prejudice. Non-attachment
is the way of looking at all things openly and equally. . . . Myself and other
are not separate.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Old Path White Clouds

FROM SHADOW TO VISION

More than 2,500 years ago, Plato wrote a story of mystery and discov-
ery. In this metaphorical tale, people were living in a cave, and all they
could see were shadows. The cave dwellers believed that this darkened
version of reality was all that existed. One man left the cave, saw the
world of colors and light, and came back to tell his people. Unfortu-
nately, they didn’t believe that what he had seen was possible, so they
remained in the cave, with their safe but constricted experience of the
world (Cornford, 1966). The story of Plato’s cave is as meaningful today
as it was in ancient Greece. We all wear lenses that prevent us from see-
ing new dimensions of the world. The fish swimming in a pond have
26 COMMUNITY BUILDING

little concept of the creatures viewing them from above. We also need to
stretch our visions and our willingness to see new domains, if we are to
rise above the vulnerabilities discussed in the previous chapter.
Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, and Tipton (1985) have observed
our increasing emphasis on the individual and our tendency to look for
fulfillment in the accumulation of income and status. They believe that
social interventions are needed to help people recover the narrative unity
of their lives. Families could be nurtured by drawing on the larger com-
munity. Our lives could become enriched by helping and supporting
others and celebrating this life-sustaining and vitalizing process.
Bellah and his colleagues state that existing traditions can create a
morally and intellectually intelligible world, and that these culturally
rich traditions can be conveyed through our families, churches, and cul-
tural associations. In religious texts such as the Old and New Testaments,
societies sharply divided between rich and poor were seen as going
against the wishes of God. Bellah and his colleagues ask whether we can
find ways to share our material wealth with others and learn to make
work intrinsically interesting and valuable. The enormous challenge be-
fore us is to find practices that are inherently fulfilling, such as worship
in which we express our gratitude and wonder for the mystery of life
and show love and friendship for our fellow citizens. In the sections that
follow, I examine several disciplines to identify energizing ideas that
might help in the creation of an alternative model of community, social,
and psychological healing. The next section begins with an analysis of
our educational system, a setting that has the potential to inculcate fresh
ideas that are invigorating and nourishing.

EDUCATION: FROM CRISIS TO HOPE

Our educational systems are still guided by ideas from the Industrial
Age, in which 85 percent of all workers were engaged in repetitive tasks
and 15 percent were managers. In the new Information Age, all workers
will need to be familiar with technology and problem solving. The mi-
crochip is in the process of amplifying human intelligence, just as the
Industrial Revolution amplified the human muscle (Dobyne and Craw-
ford-Mason, 1991). However, 10 to 30 percent of our population is illit-
erate. The crisis in our schools is selective, with many schools in affluent
areas giving children excellent preparation for the Information Age that
is to be their home, while schools in inner cities are close to collapse,
with neither children nor teachers wanting to be there. By the year 2000,
42 percent of children attending public schools will be living in poverty
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1986). The unequal distribution of resources,
along with top-down bureaucratic systems that encourage obedience
rather than creativity, create serious impediments to resolution of this
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 27

crisis. Sarason (1972) maintains that the diversity and number of chil-
dren, plus the perceived responsibility to cover a specified amount of
material, make the task of real teaching impossible. Furthermore, when
the experience of teaching is no longer exciting for teachers, the experi-
ence of learning cannot be interesting for children. Sarason and Klaber
(1985) suggest that encapsulated schools are not the best settings for
effective education.
Kohlberg, Ricks, and Snarey (1984) maintain that underachievement
predicts all major forms of adult maladjustment, and that factors other
than intelligence, such as learning, attention, and a sense of competence,
that contribute to school achievement are established in the first three
grades. Many of our educational interventions have focused on increas-
ing a fixed level of school achievement; however, it may be more im-
portant to cultivate positive skills and attitudes about learning, coping,
and ego development. Emotional intelligence, which includes awareness
of emotions, emotional self-regulation, optimism, and empathy, may be
a relevant, appropriate, and even essential goal of our educational insti-
tutions (Goldman, 1995).
The progressive education movement, inspired by John Dewey, fo-
cused on these types of innovative goals, with methods that include
experiential learning, democratic classroom practices, and community-
based learning. Schools such as the one developed by Dewey in 1896 at
the University of Chicago were places of action, thought, and ideas, and
teachers had the freedom to invent their own curricula (Sarason, 1972).
Rather than a preparation for life, schools need to be an integral part of
life.

Values in Education
Several contemporary authors have examined educational systems
within our country, and they have concluded that new sets of values and
actions are needed. One of the most important theorists in the educa-
tional arena is Paulo Freire. Freire believes that education is not neutral:
It can be used either to domesticate or to liberate. For Freire, education
must begin by first helping people identify the issues they have strong
feelings about and then helping them search for solutions to their prob-
lems actively rather than passively. Everyone in the community needs
to be involved in the transformation of a new society, and all can serve
as both teachers and pupils (Hope & Timmel, 1985).
Borrowing from the work of Freire, Purpel (1989) concluded that
schools represent powerful social, intellectual, and personal forces, which
reflect the culture’s consciousness. For many children and adolescents,
the principal lessons learned are how to be obedient and passive, how
to work on meaningless tasks without complaining, how to value
28 COMMUNITY BUILDING

achievement and competition, and how to please and respect authority

figures. These lessons are inappropriate preparation for an increasingly
interdependent world in which justice, compassion, and community
should be the overriding considerations.
Purpel believes that a religious and moral framework would energize
our schools and our culture by providing images that have force and
meaning. A gift from our intellectual heritage, the Greek passion for
freedom of inquiry and tolerance for different points of view, could rep-
resent the foundational element of an emerging myth. Socrates believed
that education could be used to teach virtue and a critical examination
of conventional thinking. The first step in a spiritual or educational jour-
ney involves an admission that one doesn’t know and that one is open
and flexible to many possibilities. A life worth living, as described in The
Republic of Plato (Cornford, 1966), would be devoted to justice. In the
early utopia Plato described, neither riches nor power could make an
individual or a society happy. For Plato, knowledge could be attained
only after a long and rigorous search, and this journey was made more
complex by the limitation that the senses provide only an imperfect copy
of reality. The highest reality was the good, and this concept was for-
mally identified with God (Kitto, 1967). Knowledge of God was richer
and wider than anything else, and this knowledge culminated the search
for inner reality.
The modes of inquiry developed by Socrates and Plato can be used to
judge the moral adequacy of a culture (Purpel, 1989). In addition, our
moral heritage could borrow from the prophetic traditions, which pro-
tested oppression, poverty, and inequality. Different religious traditions
were used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., in their
struggles for justice and equality. Gandhi used nonviolent resistance to
liberate India. He found the core theme of nonviolence in the Bhagavad-
Gita, which clearly advocates war. Gandhi believed that the stories of
war in the Bhagavad-Gita were allegories and that the people of each
age must retranslate them in light of their times and their spiritual
knowledge (McCann, 1991). King also developed non-violent strategies
to defeat segregation laws that were widespread in the United States.
Two of the prominent attitudes of this nonviolence tradition are grati-
tude and contrition. Finally, we can borrow from our own political her-
itage, which features democratic principles. Government that requires
the consent of the governed can affirm the dignity and autonomy of the
individual.
Students and non-students alike can draw from these traditional ori-
entations to enhance justice and cultivate a sense of joy and appreciation
for the awe and mystery of the world. Purpel suggests that education
should begin with the concerns that stir us to seek answers. Important
questions might include What do we hold to be sacred? What are we
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 29

willing to commit ourselves to? Who are we? How do we acquire knowl-
edge and find meaning? The key issue is our quest to create a culture of
abundance, joy, freedom, and justice.
Watts and Abdul-Adil (1994) outlined five stages of sociopolitical de-
velopment, stages that could be employed in helping people become
more actively involved in social change. In the acritical stage, people feel
powerless and inferior and believe that those with low status deserve it.
In the adaptive, pre-critical, and critical stages, people gradually learn
more about the social and historical roots of injustice and oppression.
Finally, in the liberation stage, people become involved in social action
and community development.
These stages of change could be introduced into the curricula of many
schools, and students could actually participate in bringing about
changes in their schools and their communities. As an example of how
these ideas can be translated into action, I myself developed an under-
graduate course in which each student developed and launched a com-
munity-based intervention. Examples of projects the students worked on
included setting up no-smoking sections in the cafeteria, developing
procedures to ensure that only drivers with disabilities used the handi-
capped parking facilities, decreasing litter at community settings, ensur-
ing that lights were not left on in unoccupied rooms, helping get a stop
sign erected at a dangerous school intersection, and increasing the num-
ber of sidewalks shoveled after snowstorms (Jason, 1984).
Some schools have competent leadership, and teachers are given the
authority to be creative and independent. When the right combination
occurs, its chemistry produces a respect for differences, a regard for
achievement, and a nurturing of the process of becoming an explorer of
learning. When teachers take joy in their work, when schools take pride
in their mission, the chances of producing important, sustainable changes
are enhanced.

Values in Action: An Inner–City Success Story

Many teachers and parents are concerned about the increasing number
of children who transfer from school to school each year (Jason et al.,
1992). Some school transferees were doing poorly in their prior schools;
transfers represent the parents’ hope that new settings will be better for
their vulnerable children. Other transferees were coping well in their
prior schools, but experienced problems following their transfers. A
transfer is a marker event, and some children experience symptoms or
exacerbated problems as a result of the transition.
What can be done for such children from a social competence-oriented
approach? Children with academic and social deficits will need remedial
interventions, and if these interventions are implemented soon enough,
30 COMMUNITY BUILDING

the potential for prevention of further problems is great. An ecologically

sensitive approach may be more promising, however. Let me be more
specific. I recently had an inspiring conversation with the principal of an
inner-city school and found that her school successfully uses the stu-
dents’ own cultural values to retain and sustain students. Although
wages are low, the vast majority of teachers return year after year. In
the student population, the transfer rate out of the school is exceedingly
low. On Fridays all children who have not been in trouble during the
week are given a special assembly or event. The school policy is to avoid
expelling children. The principal plays the role of cheerleader, wandering
through the halls and providing support and encouragement to teachers
and children alike. If a teacher or child is experiencing problems, extra
help is provided.
I was impressed with the results of this ecologically sensitive approach
to education. Would these types of organizational values affect a school’s
individual-centered social competence interventions? Of course! If a
school views its mission as that of giving vulnerable children the infor-
mation, experiences, and support they need to be successful, then it will
undoubtedly achieve higher academic ratings.
The principal said that her own values were consistent with those of
the cultures represented by the school’s children, increasing her ability
to support their traditions, mores, and customs. She identified one of the
primary reasons schools fail—leadership roles are occupied by individ-
uals who neither understand nor appreciate the skills, interests, and spe-
cial needs of inner-city children of color. Can we really be expected to
succeed when we are devaluing, and thus eroding, the very strengths of
those we are mandated to repair?

Myths and Rituals Restored

What myths and expectations are being conveyed to us and our chil-
dren, powerfully influencing our work as professionals and our chil-
dren’s reactions to that work? In more primitive times, rituals, customs,
and rites helped ease the transition from the dependent status of youth
to the independence of adulthood. Some of the problems within our
youth probably represent misguided attempts to deal with the loss of
myths and rituals that gave precious generations more tangible senses
of meaning in society. Social problem-solving strategies could be used
to explore the remnants of myths and rituals that still reside within our
youth and to actively help them recreate a mythology that is meaningful
to their families and communities.
An innovative educational program called ROPE (Rite of Passage Ex-
perience) provides rituals of initiation for adolescents (Blumenkrantz &
Gavazze, 1993). Over a six-year period, children undergo symbolic ex-
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 31

periences that help them learn to navigate their life experiences. In ad-
dition to exploring different cultures’ rites of passage, children are
provided group team-building experiences, such as rope courses, rock
climbing, and community service, in which having fun is validated as
an important part of growing up. Children who participate in this pro-
gram have significantly fewer delinquent activities and lower drug and
alcohol consumption than children who do not participate.
Another innovative program is The Mysteries, developed by Shelley
Kessler at a private school for seventh- to twelfth-grade students in Santa
Monica, California. The goal of The Mysteries is to give teenagers a larger
social and spiritual framework and a sense of meaning as they make the
transition to adulthood. At an initial orientation session, students are
seated in a circle and an Indian ‘‘talking stick’’ is passed from child to
child. Only the person holding the stick can talk. Other activities include
meditation, guided imagery, a wide variety of games, and a five-day
wilderness retreat during the senior year. Children have opportunities
to clarify their values and goals, learn to listen and respond sincerely
rather than to judge, develop their intuition and imagination, acquire an
understanding and tolerance of human diversity, and develop a sense of
responsibility for the environment.
The Mysteries teaches ideals from the world’s great spiritual traditions.
Unfortunately, many academics reject metaphysical themes because of
the negative images associated with them. However, it would be a mis-
take to ignore the great insights and wisdom traditions that have been
handed down from all cultures and all ages. Our children are very much
in need of serenity in thought and cessation of the anguish of the mind
(Buddhism), appreciation of the earth body and the human body (the
goddess religions), reverence for nature (Native Americans), love for oth-
ers (Gnosticism), a sturdy social ethic (the three great western religions),
and joy and play as they participate in the mystery of life (Hinduism).
Reclaiming these meaningful traditions would help us return to a bal-
ance with nature that would restore the sense of connectedness with life
that people once had with their communities and their land.
The real task is to help each person find his or her personal mythology.
People will have to search their own experiences and cultures and other
traditions for the symbols and rituals that energize and vitalize them.
Simply imitating picturesque rituals that seem to have deep meaning for
others will not be enough, however. Individuals will have to blend the
old and the new, the foreign and the familiar; they will have to focus on
the meaning beneath the stories and symbols. If we use care and intel-
ligence in encouraging and facilitating this exploration, the process will
be lifted above the empty ritual practiced in some traditional celebrations
and the blind faddishness associated with some contemporary New-Age
practices.
32 COMMUNITY BUILDING

PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS OF FOUNDATIONAL VALUES

Philosophical systems, or world views, often have pervasive shaping
influences on the subjects scientists choose to study. These models help
focus scientists’ attention on certain problems and ideas but always at
the exclusion of other problems and ideas. During the past four hundred
years, the sciences have been wedded to the paradigm of logical positiv-
ism. This paradigm emphasizes control and determinism; it has allowed
scientists to study natural phenomena in simple and controlled settings.
The logical positivism paradigm assumes the possibility of certain
knowledge; its proponents often search for foundational information.
Practitioners of this approach deride metaphysics and subjectivity. Log-
ical positivism has been used profitably by most professionals in the hard
sciences, such as physics; but its vision of a mechanical universe has been
viewed suspiciously by many in the social sciences.
Community psychologists and others involved in analyzing social and
community change posit a different epistemological paradigm. Contex-
tualism, a primary feature of this alternative paradigm, has been defined
by Kingry-Westergaard and Kelly (1990) as our embeddedness in the
world we observe. In contextualism, knowledge is relevant only within
a given frame of reference. This idea was further developed by Bry,
Hirsch, Newbrough, Reischl, and Swindle (1990), who view knowledge
as limited by its historical and cultural context. They believe that we do
not simply glean knowledge from our objective observations of an ob-
jective world but that the nature of the knower contributes to the nature
of what is known, implying that science tells us as much about the in-
vestigator as it does about the phenomena being studied. A final com-
ponent of contextualism is an epistemology currently espoused by many
feminists, among others, recommending that we empower people by lis-
tening to them and understanding them from their points of view. When
people are studied in research projects, they should be treated not as
subjects but as participants. These ideas hint at a paradigm that disavows
the possibility of foundational knowledge. For that reason, the contex-
tualist paradigm may hold some hidden dangers. Taken to its extreme,
it can lead to the loss of all connection with foundational values, a loss
exemplified in the contemporary philosophy called deconstructive post-
modernism.
Deconstructive postmodernism, which is based on the work of Jacques
Derrida, has its roots in the objective era. During that era, as indicated
in the previous chapter, God was replaced by science. In the early years
of the twentieth century, the existentialists took this notion one step fur-
ther, concluding that the universe was meaningless and indifferent. In
his philosophy, the sense of separation from nature was complete. Many
in today’s artistic and intellectual circles have embraced the philosophy
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 33

of deconstructive postmodernism. This world view posits that there are

no universal truths, but rather that all concepts are culturally constructed
and all meaning is temporary and relative. Adherents believe that this
philosophy will liberate its proponents from all domination, but its critics
fear that this liberation could lead to valuelessness. Spretnak (1991) sug-
gests that this fashionable philosophy leads to a sense of groundlessness,
detachment, and shallow engagement.
During the past hundred years, eastern thought and philosophies from
native peoples have contributed to an alternative way of seeing the
world. Leading proponents of this model included German romantic phi-
losophers such as Schelling, American transcendentalists such as Emer-
son and Thoreau, English romantic poets such as Blake, and the
Theosophical Society, which began in England. In contrast to logical pos-
itivism, contextualism, and deconstructive postmodernism, this model—
ecological postmodernism—provides for a more vibrant sense of inter-
connectedness, one that is conscious of the unity in which we are all
embedded (Spretnak, 1991). Unlike the supporters of deconstructive
postmodernism, proponents of ecological postmodernism believe in the
possibility of foundational values. Through wisdom traditions in a va-
riety of cultures and religions, one can better understand the truths of
being, ‘‘the flux, dynamism, subjectivity, creativity, and inherent relat-
edness’’ (Spretnak, 1991; p. 24).
For Spretnak, foundational values can be found in Buddhist efforts to
bring serenity to the mind; in Native Americans’ reverence for and bal-
ance with nature; and in religions that practice communion with and
love for one’s spouse, one’s children or one’s God.14

PHYSICS: TOWARD PERCEPTION OF ONENESS

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn (1962) chal-
lenged the thesis that science was synonymous with the truth. Scientists
work within a paradigm, defined in the scientific context as a set of rules
and standards for solving scientific problems. When a new paradigm
emerges, it gives scientists a new set of tools that helps them answer a
new set of questions. In the physical sciences, Copernicus, Newton, and
Einstein produced scientific revolutions by introducing new paradigms,
which provided new problems worthy of being studied and new tech-
nologies for studying them. Scientists adopt new paradigms to under-
stand nature more completely; however, these new models are mere
lenses, through which they can only see the secrets of nature more
clearly. The world of science cannot provide fundamental truths, only
glimpses or hints of the intricacies of our complex world.
Most scientists have been aligned with the paradigm of logical posi-
tivism. From the perspective of Newtonian physics, the universe was a
34 COMMUNITY BUILDING

huge mechanical system. Solid objects were composed of atoms, and all
things were subject to objective description. This reductionist orientation
treats each system as mechanical, with its parts isolated from those of
other systems. This paradigm has given rise to a technology that has
dominated the world and is leading us toward ecological disaster (Briggs
& Peat, 1989).
The new science of chaos is based on wholeness and interrelationships,
and the unpredictability of nature (Briggs and Peat, 1989). The field of
chaos theory is part of a larger field of mathematics called nonlinear
dynamics. Most natural systems are seemingly unpredictable; however,
chaos theory allows scientists at times to perceive simple patterns at
higher levels of abstraction (Taubes, 1990). For example, in the early
1960s Lorenz was simulating weather conditions using nonlinear equa-
tions, and he found that entirely different weather patterns occurred
when the initial conditions, such as air movement, differed in increments
as small as those caused by the fluctuation of a butterfly’s wings (the
butterfly effect). Rather than focusing on traditional concerns such as
prediction, control, and analysis of parts, the study of chaos concentrates
on an awareness of the oneness of all things and on the unpredictability
of the whole of things (Lorenz, 1967).
The macroscopic illusion of solidity began to disappear when scientists
delved into the subatomic world and found that the protons and neu-
trons that comprise atoms are composed primarily of empty space, with
minute particles (frozen packages of light) rapidly traversing this void.
In essence, everything is made up of three types of particles: quarks,
leptons, and gluons, which hold the other two together. Inside the pro-
tons and neutrons, quarks travel at more than 60,000 miles per second
(Taubes, 1990).
At a microcosmic level, all matter is composed of highly organized
energy fields (Gerber, 1988). With Einstein’s discovery of relativity, sci-
entists came to understand that matter can be converted to energy and
vice versa. Fluctuations of energy cause particles to decay into other
particle forms and then to resume their earlier forms. In a sense, our
universe is filled with particles that are constantly coming into and out
of existence. Matter does not exist with certainty in fixed places but only
shows a tendency to exist in certain places.
Bell’s theorem suggests that subatomic particles are connected in some
way that transcends space and time. All is interconnected, and anything
affecting one particle affects other particles. As Briggs and Peat state
(1989):

The universe must be fundamentally indivisible, a ‘‘flowing wholeness,’’

as Bohm calls it. . . . Parts seem autonomous, [but] they are only relatively
autonomous. They are like a music lover’s favorite passage in a Beethoven
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 35

symphony . . . the passage is meaningless without the symphony as a

whole. . . . Bohm’s ideas give a scientific shape to the ancient belief that
‘‘the universe is one.’’ (p. 21)

Even one of the oldest sciences is inexorably moving toward a new par-
adigm for understanding the world.

PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY: CHARTING THE MIND–BODY

CONNECTION
A relatively new field called psychoneuroimmunology has embraced
some of the new ideas of ecological postmodernism (Jason, 1993). Psy-
choneuroimmunologists posit that the nervous, endocrine, and immune
systems are in constant communication with one another (Kiecolt-Glaser
& Glaser, 1989). In the early part of this century, the effects of negative
thoughts, emotions, and expectations on health and behavior were con-
vincingly documented; for example, voodoo spells have caused the
deaths of numerous people who believed that the spells were real (Can-
non, 1935). In the mid-1970s, Ader and Cohen’s pioneering work (1975)
indicated that the immune system can be conditioned, suggesting that
our thoughts and surroundings can cue immune enhancement or sup-
pression. Cousins (1989) believed that everything influenced the immune
system: ‘‘The immune system is a mirror of life, responding to its joy
and anguish, its exuberance and boredom, its laughter and tears, its ex-
citement and depression, its problems and prospects’’ (35). Candace Pert
(1986) has found receptors for tiny proteins, called peptides, throughout
the body, and she believes it is through these peptides that feelings and
emotions from the mind are transmitted into the physical realm, causing
health or disease. Kiecolt-Glaser, Garner, Speicher, Penn, and Glaser
(1984) found that, under negative emotional conditions (stress, depres-
sion, loss of control, learned helplessness, high anxiety, bereavement,
loneliness, and extremely inhibited power motivation), disease fighting
immune cells are depleted (Locke & Colligan, 1987). In contrast, support
and relaxation training strengthen the immune system.15

The Role of Thought and Affect in Healing

Cohen and Williamson (1991) have reviewed many studies that found
a relationship between stress and increased illness. For example, infec-
tious diseases caused by common germs such as streptococcus bacteria
have been related to both acute and chronic stress (Meyer & Haggarty,
1962). Kasl, Evans, and Niederman (1979) studied mononucleosis infec-
tion among cadets who were not immune to the disease. Those who
contracted mononucleosis were very committed to a military career, per-
36 COMMUNITY BUILDING

formed poorly academically, and had fathers who were described as

overachievers. This study suggests that there may be many factors—
including stress, susceptibility, and coping styles—that make people can-
didates for infectious diseases. Kobasa, Maddi, Puccetti, and Zola (1985)
found that individuals who were hardy (felt meaning in their lives, had
a sense of mastery over life circumstances, and viewed problems as chal-
lenges), exercised, and obtained social support had an 8 percent likeli-
hood of illness, whereas individuals without these qualities had a 92
percent likelihood of illness. Recent evidence suggests that social sup-
port, stressful events, and coping style influence immune function; how-
ever, some investigators believe we need to temper our enthusiasm for
this new field because there is no definitive evidence linking psycholog-
ical states to specific immune diseases (Bower, 1991).
Strategies pioneered in the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology
could possibly be employed to enhance functioning in people who are
vulnerable to disease. Relaxation training and meditation can reduce de-
spair and depression and enhance commitment, faith, hope, and joy (Ka-
bat-Zinn, 1991; Locke & Colligan, 1987). These strategies may be
particularly useful for helping people become more resilient to stressors
and disease.
Finding hope and improving mood are important tasks for normal
individuals who may be susceptible to stress-related disorders, as well
as for those afflicted with a variety of other disorders. The prevention
strategies used in psychoneuroimmunology may protect people from the
ravages of a flood of immune-depressing biochemicals. Positive emotions
may even enhance the recovery of formerly impaired immune functions.
For some, a new sense of hope and optimism is enough to allow their
bodies to heal. These individuals can begin enjoying life, and as new
energy is mobilized, they are able to continue to believe in their treat-
ment or prevention plans. Psychoneuroimmunology provides a theoret-
ical reference point for understanding the powerful influence of the mind
on prevention, behavior change, and healing processes.

Alternative Medicine: Healing the Effects of Alienation

In Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, Dee-
pak Chopra describes a new paradigm for understanding the healing
process. In traditional western medicine, according to Chopra, ‘‘magic
bullets,’’ such as sleeping pills for insomnia and tranquilizers for anxiety,
are prescribed to solve problems of living. However, in Quantum Healing,
which emphasizes relationships between the mind and body, an effort
is made to address a person’s alienation from other people and from his
or her environment. Since 1984 Chopra has been bringing together the
best of ancient wisdom and modern science in an effort to help peo-
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 37

ple make better use of their bodies’ own pharmacies and capacities for
self-healing. Chopra (1994) has also proposed seven ‘‘spiritual laws’’ of
successful living; these laws have powerful implications for healing.
Chopra believes that we need to learn to connect more effectively with
the spirit, by meditating, by communing with nature, or by being less
judgmental. We need to give to others in a considerate and joyful way,
imitating the flow of the abundant energy of the universe. Chopra be-
lieves that an abundance of choices are available to us at any moment,
but that correct choices give us joy and fulfillment. If one is unaware of
and therefore controlled by these choices, the universe is deterministic;
but if one is aware and chooses actions that give satisfaction to oneself
and others, then there is freedom in the world. The law of least effort
suggests that one can accomplish more with bliss and harmony by doing
less; the key is to harness the energy of the universe, which functions
with little effort in a joyful and loving way. The law of detachment sug-
gests that we stop being so completely associated with the roles we play.
We need to be process oriented and walk with joy down the path of life,
even if we never reach our particular goals. Finally, the law of purpose
indicates that each of us has a unique, special talent to give to others;
when we are using this talent, we feel timelessness, joy, and ecstasy.
According to Chopra, the positive feelings associated with respect for
natural laws are not mere ends in themselves; they can also enhance
immune functioning and improve overall mental and physical health.

The New Medicine: Obstacles and Opportunities

Unfortunately, present-day Western medicine is dramatically decreas-
ing physician-patient contact, with the result that physicians are too
rushed to inquire as to the real concerns of patients (Goleman & Gurin,
1993). The medicine of the future will need to deal with these structural
impediments to good patient care by providing high-quality time for full
discussion of symptoms and treatment plans.
Dreher (1995) has summarized some of the most promising areas in
the burgeoning field of mind-body medicine. Studies indicate that, by
tuning into mind-body signals of discomfort, pain, and fatigue, acknowl-
edging these to themselves and others, and asserting their own needs,
people can enhance their psychological and physical well-being. Other
attributes that optimize physical and mental health include hardiness (a
sense of commitment, control, and challenge) and the development of
many facets of one’s personality. People who form relationships based
on unconditional love and trust and are committed to helping others
also tend to be healthier. The best of mainstream and alternative medi-
cine is combined in the pioneering work of Dean Ornish (1991), who
used meditation, yoga, and low cholesterol diets to reverse the effects of
38 COMMUNITY BUILDING

heart disease in advanced cardiac patients. Another research-practitioner

in the alternative medicine arena is Herbert Benson (Benson & Stuart,
1992), a Harvard cardiologist who has shown that meditation can be
used successfully to treat a wide variety of conditions, such as migraine
headaches, chronic pain, and diabetes. In addition, David Spiegel (1991)
has shown that women with phase-IV breast cancer who participate in
support groups live significantly longer than those who don’t receive
this form of social support.
Mainstream medicine has developed sophisticated and effective tech-
nologies for treating many life-threatening illnesses. However, the ma-
jority of patients are treated by physicians not for these illnesses, but for
more time-limited conditions, such as colds or influenza, or for condi-
tions in which psychological problems play a prominent role in the
symptoms. One key to healing these prevalent illnesses is to make pa-
tients feel connected, supported, and loved (Borysenko, 1993). Loving
people do become ill, and it would be inaccurate to conclude that all
illnesses have psychological causes or contributors. However, although
we rarely know why people become ill, patients can use their health
crises as opportunities to heal. The new approaches to healing will focus
on enhancing optimism, peace of mind, and forgiveness; and on helping
people reduce judgmentalism and criticism. The ultimate gift that some
devastating health crises leave us is the ability to see all life as meaning-
ful and sacred. For example, those who have near-death experiences of-
ten report seeing all things as interconnected and part of the whole. A
psychoneuroimmunology model would endorse a holistic approach to
wellness that involves the body, mind, and spirit. Meditation, journaling,
ritual, imagery, nutrition, and prayer represent some of the most prom-
ising alternative approaches to wellness (Novick, 1995).

MYTHOLOGY AND HEALING

Myths help map our routes toward a deeper life, to the realm of am-
plified possibilities (Jean Houston, 1992). Adolescents need initiation rit-
uals and rites of passage—a journey where the child dies and the adult
emerges. Cultures once provided people with symbologies that refreshed
the spiritual dimension. Social life brought people into accord with the
world of nature. Today many people are seeking to find and articulate
the myths that they live by—the powers within themselves that are ask-
ing for fulfillment and realization. Each person must create personal an-
swers to the metaphoric themes of what he or she might be. The
popularity of two novels with themes of spiritual exploration, James
Redfield’s (1994) The Celestine Prophecy and Marlo Morgan’s (1994) Mu-
tant Message Down Under, suggests in the American public a new interest
and openness to mythic journeys.
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 39

The lack of mythologies to guide children through transitions has neg-

ative consequences for our youth. For example, after girls reach puberty,
many begin to lose their voices of confidence and autonomy, prefer the
anonymity of fitting in, and become depressed and bulimic (Gilligan,
1982). Those who do not lose their confidence and voices during this
transition have been given nurturance, encouragement for their asser-
tiveness, and protective cultural narratives and guideposts by their fam-
ilies and teachers. Life-affirming celebrations and ceremonies need to
validate the changing biological and psychological processes in our ad-
olescents. Currently, such transitions are marked by isolation, shame,
guilt, and lack of communication.

Purposes and Functions of Mythology

There are many different ways of studying myths: the functional the-
ory of Bronislaw Malinowski, the structural interpretations of Claude
Levi-Strauss, the phenomenological theory of Mircea Eliade, and the
psychoanalytic theory of Jung (Livingston, 1989). Jung believed that there
were three layers of the psyche: the conscious mind, the personal un-
conscious (where repressed and forgotten parts of personal history re-
side), and the collective unconscious (the deepest level, where forms or
images from different cultures and historical periods are stored). Within
the collective unconscious are archetypes, for example, a hero who is
able to overcome dragons and monsters. These hero images appear in
each generation, and they allow ordinary people to free themselves from
their misery and raise themselves to almost superhuman status and a
more complete fulfillment of their potential (Livingston, 1989). Reflecting
Jungian theory, Campbell (1969) believed that myths are the way the
unconscious communicates with the conscious self to deal with some of
the basic issues of life. The discussion below will borrow heavily on the
work of Joseph Campbell; although he has been accused of not being a
scholar and of oversimplifying mythology (Doniger, 1992), his ideas are
intriguing.
According to Campbell, some myths render the reality of the horror
of life—that we consume and are eventually consumed—as acceptable.
For example, myths of many of the eastern religions and Native Amer-
ican cultures affirm that we consume others in order to live and tell
ourselves elaborate stories to explain and ultimately make peace with
this reality. Some cultures, such as the Janists in India and the Hinayana
Buddhists, withdraw from this horror, and their mythology supports
that withdrawal. Finally, some mythological systems, such as those em-
braced by the western religions, attempt to correct this horror by eradi-
cating evil and improving the world.
Myths serve four functions (Campbell, 1969). The first function is cos-
40 COMMUNITY BUILDING

mological, helping people draw conclusions about the beginnings of their

world. The Garden of Eden creation story is an example of a cosmolog-
ical myth. The second function is sociological, validating and supporting
the social order. Examples of myths with sociological functions include
those in which people are punished severely for breaking the caste sys-
tem in India. The third function is psychological, occurring when myths
help carry an individual through the crises of life, from infancy to old
age. Myths depicting rites that help adolescents move from a depend-
ency status to an independent role are examples of this function. These
myths also help individuals integrate the darker sides of their lives. Fi-
nally, metaphysical myths deal with the ‘‘second half’’ of life. These
myths deal with awakening a mystical sense of awe toward the universe
or God.

The Journey of Growth and Healing

Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces provides an
interesting look at the field of experience for which the hero’s mytholog-
ical journey serves as an eloquent metaphor. The inner journey begins
with a recognition that something is wrong with the nature of the world
or with the inner self. This felt incongruity or tension is a call to adven-
ture, in which each person must travel a route where no one has jour-
neyed before. The purpose of the trip is to find what is missing—that
deepest sense of harmony, the mystery that captures our imagination
and holds it so that time passes without our noticing it. A prototypical
myth can be found in the Sir Galahad stories, among the myths of the
knights in King Arthur’s Court. These knights saw a group of angels
carrying the Holy Grail covered by a cloth and decided to embark on a
quest to find the Grail. They considered it a disgrace to set forth as a
group, so each entered the forest where it was darkest, where there was
no visible path, and where there was no one to lead the way. In other
words, the quest, as depicted in western myths and literature, is an in-
dividual journey. One often encounters dangers on this mythical trip—
and the dragons that one encounters are parts of oneself that one needs
to incorporate. If this mythical trip succeeds, the travelers begin to divest
themselves of their social roles to follow their own individual paths.
Some individuals might choose to follow a guru to find the Holy Grail;
but in relinquishing one’s independence, one might embark on a journey
whose myths explore regions that are not relevant to one’s heart. In the
West, because there is more attachment to the ego and individualism is
highly valued, it may be more difficult to follow the path of another.
Campbell suggests that people from an eastern background, with en-
during traditions of duty and obedience, might find a path involving
obedience to a guru more compatible with their beliefs.
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 41

At the beginning stage of the mythical journey, the need is to develop

oneself and slowly become initiated into the adult world. Mythologies
once provided the rites that carefully equipped and nurtured adolescents
for entry into the adult world. Without traditions, myths, and other
guideposts, the process of constructing the self, and integrating its shad-
ows into our conscious lives, is substantially more difficult. The shadows
that need to be confronted are those aspects of our existence that have
been repressed.
Childhood and the Shadow
From Freud (1901) to Bradshaw (1990), scholars have shown in metic-
ulous detail how children’s developmental experiences can be marred
by parents’ unrealistic expectations, abuse, and neglect. Horney (1970)
has shown us the consequences of the absence or inconsistency of love,
affection, and reliable care in childhood. Extreme dependence, hostility,
and loneliness can be the result of early failure to learn how to move
toward people by showing trust and friendliness, to move against people
by standing up for one’s rights, and to move away from people by en-
joying privacy. Adler (1951) has shown how early feelings of inferiority
can predispose one to later strivings to reach unrealistic goals. Heinz
Kohut’s self-psychology is one of the newer psychoanalytic conceptual
frameworks for understanding a fragmented sense of self due to early
trauma. According to Kohut, caregivers need to appreciate and respond
with pleasure to a child’s special qualities and initiatives (Lerner & Ehr-
lich, 1994). The child also needs to be able to look up to the caregiver as
an image of calm and omnipotence. The adult who was given a sense of
stability and self-confidence as a child can maintain a sense of self-
confidence and positive feelings despite life’s frustrations and disap-
pointments. Failure in parental empathy can lead to an inadequate sense
of self, one that is fragmented and discontinuous; as adults, people with
low self-image tend to urgently seek affirmation from others or con-
stantly search for people to admire.
These early experiences can cause emotional trauma, and their effects
can last through adulthood and continually sabotage the adult’s efforts
to mend. The individual’s mythical journey then includes seeing these
wounds and learning to interpret past events in ways that preserve
honor and integrity. Many studies in the field of behavioral medicine
have indicated that repression of painful memories and emotions is
linked to a number of physical diseases (Schwartz, 1990) and that speak-
ing about upsetting experiences and their associated emotions can lead
to positive health outcomes (Pennebaker, 1990). Those who successfully
confront this part of their shadow selves can learn to live with the mem-
ories that no longer drain their vital energies. At the highest level, one
42 COMMUNITY BUILDING

learns to love oneself for doing the best one could have done during
those early years.
The Mask
The next domain of the shadow is the existential dilemma of living a
life in which our social and biological needs are met, but in which our
persona—the mask that we wear—draws farther and farther away from
our souls. Society often requires that we wear a mask of respect and
order, but severe problems can occur if the ego identifies completely with
the mask (Jung, 1956). As Laing (1967) has suggested, this divided self
produces a vulnerability that can have devastating consequences for so-
cial adjustment. Many people dislike their jobs and social roles and have
lifestyles that profoundly deplete the vital energies of their souls, yet
they maintain their masks because they fear an unknown future. Taking
off the mask marks the departure on a mysterious and frightening per-
sonal journey. It takes enormous courage and faith to begin a journey
toward authenticity, on which one can reap the benefits of learning to
follow one’s own inner truth, as opposed to what society dictates.
The Balance of Opposites
Travellers on the mythical journey may confront other shadows cre-
ated by imbalance and the debilitating consequences of excess (Jung,
1956). Extraverts are drawn to power; they are active in the outer world
to prove themselves (in this concept Jung borrows heavily from the ideas
of Adler). Introverts, on the other hand, are open to the impact of ex-
periences, and they intimately feel warmth and love for the world (these
dimensions were best captured in the writings of Freud). These two as-
pects of the personality are in everyone, and our need is to learn to
balance the power and erotic drives. If one domain dominates the other,
problems can occur. Jung believed that people have superior and inferior
functions for receiving and evaluating experiences: intellect and feeling,
sensing and intuiting, acting and accomplishing, and forming relation-
ships and loving. The fully functioning person, according to Jung, can
think, feel, sense, and intuit. Even if a person loves his or her work and
has made peace with early childhood trauma or neglect, excesses in any
of these functions can create vulnerabilities that can weaken the consti-
tutional energies of the psyche over time. The mythical journey can bring
people into contact with the dimensions of their personalities that have
been underdeveloped or neglected, thus helping them increase their self-
complexity. Self-complexity is the result of a process whereby one de-
velops multiple selves as well as a central self that can organize and
tolerate multiple versions of the self. Research by Linville (1987) supports
the notion that people high in self-complexity are more resilient and less
prone to depression and physical symptoms of illness.
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 43

Achieving a balance between contrasting styles has been the theme of

several of the great philosophers and writers of the last century. Nietz-
sche (1964), for example, described the superman as someone who could
incorporate two dimensions: the ability to think and the ability to feel
and love. Similarly, Thomas Mann (1995) described erotic irony as the
ability to simultaneously synthesize and transcend love and criticism.
Mann defined love as compassion and affection toward the world, evi-
denced by insights such as the recognition that people are lovable for
their faults. He defined criticism as the work of a piercing and keen mind
that can detect faults.
Jung (1956) says that each of us has masculine and feminine qualities.
In metaphorical terms, if both domains are honored and appreciated,
one can better endure both the blaze of the sun and the tides of the moon.
Campbell (1971) believes this is the underlying message of Homer’s
Odysseus, the first great epic of western literature. Because Odysseus
had not learned to assimilate his female aspects, the gods sent him on a
perilous journey in an attempt to complete him and to change his one-
sided relationship with women. The story begins after his victory at
Troy. As Odysseus was returning home, he and his men stopped at a
town where they raped the women and plundered and robbed the citi-
zens of their possessions. The gods disapproved of this behavior and
summoned winds to blow him to the beginning of his soul journey. In
his trip to the underworld, Odysseus first had to divest himself of his
prior beliefs and lifestyle. In his interactions with Circe, a seductress who
had the power to turn men to swine, Odysseus learned that he could
not overwhelm her, and his aggression turned to eros—feelings of sexual
and romantic passion. On the isle of Calypso, Odysseus lived with a
nymph in a mature relationship. On his travels within the underworld—
or the unconscious—Odysseus gradually learned that women could not
be treated as pieces of property. To survive and complete the journey,
he was compelled to incorporate aspects of himself that he had previ-
ously rejected. With his new insights, he was ready to come back into
the real world and return to his wife Penelope. Through his journey,
Odysseus developed a more mature and healthy relationship with
women.
By integrating the opposite poles of one’s nature and accepting the
paradoxes inherent in human existence, one can begin to embrace and
love the shadow. In many myths, the hero meets a dark force—usually
a black knight, a dragon, or a whale—representing the rejected aspect of
the self. The hero’s task is to integrate the opposite aspects of the self.
In mythology, these elementary ideas come up over and over in different
cultures; Jung referred to these ideas and the characters who exemplify
them as archetypes. In a given culture these folk ideas might appear
44 COMMUNITY BUILDING

specific to that culture, but the underlying messages are universal. Myths
can move people by speaking to their souls.

Metaphysical Journeys
Psychological myths resolve around the development of the self, the
recovery from childhood abuse or neglect, the development of an au-
thentic self, and the integration of complementary aspects of the person-
ality. Once these stages have been successfully achieved during the first
part of life—however long it takes to complete that part—a different set
of myths becomes more salient. During the second part of life, meta-
physical journeys may begin (Campbell, 1969). These journeys can in-
volve opening one’s heart to another person in a sacred marriage, the
union of pairs of opposites. In mythology, when a god marries a god-
dess, each has found his or her other half. Marriage becomes the prime
event in their lives; they give themselves, not to each other, but to the
marriage. Another metaphysical outcome is the development of a special
and loving relationship with God. For example, in the father-son atone-
ment myth, the disciple envisions the father-god as having transcendent
energy. Finally, some myths feature an experience of oneness with the
universe. At this special moment, as described in the works of James
Joyce (1993), the mythical voyager gains a new appreciation for the
world. From this awesome experience, the hero gains a protective dis-
tance from the terror that exists in the world; at the same time he is able
to experience compassion and joy in the moment. The wonder and awe
of the universe have now spoken directly to the hero’s soul and opened
up a heightened appreciation of the mystery of life. This vision is beau-
tifully captured in the Gospel according to Saint Thomas, where the
Kingdom of God is described as being right in front of us, a vision that
we do not usually see because of an enchantment of the eyes. The Christ
figure disenchants us by opening our eyes. The Buddha also releases
people from the enchantment of Maya, or illusion. These metaphysical
journeys suggest that the world is a golden lotus, hidden only by the
illusions woven by our own egos. By breaking through the ego limita-
tions, one can behold paradise. These special journeys end at a place
where desire and fear no longer operate, where one has a sense of com-
passion and empathy for the terror and suffering that are part of this
world, and where one is free to experience the awe and mystery of the
universe.
Campbell (1969) believed that the dynamism of energy systems within
the body were the fertile foundation for mythology. From a sociological
point of view, human beings preferred to live civilized and peaceful
lives, but culture and society had laid only a thin veneer over the basic
human physiology. Our heritage, the first vulnerability of aggression de-
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 45

scribed in chapter 2, had imbued us with innate animalistic tendencies.

Mythology could help human beings learn to accept these aspects of
themselves as legacies of the primitive past. Rejection of these relics only
alienates us from ourselves. Myths can help us integrate the many dif-
ferent sides of ourselves. The final stage, the metaphysical journey, is the
most difficult. It requires coming to terms with the world of sorrow—
the world of human beings attempting to act in civilized ways but often
resorting to aggression as wild as that of any animal in the jungle. For
Campbell, the solution to this dilemma was to be grounded in eternity.
By realizing that the eternal was within, people could disengage and
then reengage as joyful participants in the sorrows of the world.
At the completion of these mythical journeys, many people would
have new perspectives on life. Fearing they might encounter cynicism
and doubt, some may keep their sacred new beliefs to themselves after
their journeys. Others may have difficulty communicating their new in-
sights and, faced with an unsupportive world, find their new visions
slowly disappearing. A few may recognize that the world is not ready
to accept their new ideas but still persist in trying to share with humanity
these vitalizing and energizing images.
Erikson (1959) has described the journey into middle adulthood and
old age.16 During the middle adult years, individuals must balance the
impulse toward generativity, creative concern for the world and future
generations, with the tendency toward stagnation. The final stage of life
focuses on integrity versus despair. Integrity connotes a sense of peace
with and acceptance of mortality and the human life cycle. Western and
eastern images of the second part of life portray similar issues: making
peace with mortality, finding meaning in life, and identifying the sacred
within everyday experiences.
One of our greatest challenges as human beings is to serve as authentic
guides, by honoring the journey of each individual, sharing our own
vulnerabilities, being humble, and providing a loving context within
which each person’s mythical exploration can proceed. Mythology pro-
vides examples of the journeys that others have taken to become whole,
to integrate the alienated parts of the self, and to learn to appreciate the
wonder and mystery of life. Our greatest gift may be to help children
and adolescents progress through initiation rites that are ennobling and
meaningful.

THERAPY: NEW LESSONS IN HEALING

Our new paradigm must also include and build upon therapeutic the-
ories and practices that make use of the legacy of spiritual traditions,
foundational values, and mythological traditions. There are a number of
problems that can be associated with the therapeutic enterprise as it is
46 COMMUNITY BUILDING

often practiced. Bellah et al. (1985) maintain that therapeutic relation-

ships are usually distanced, circumscribed, and asymmetrical. These re-
lationships focus on communicating and relating to others briefly and
thus begin to resemble the superficial in other relationships in our com-
plex society. If one’s ultimate response to such a relationship is to won-
der whether one is getting as much as one is giving—and if not, possibly
to look for fulfillment elsewhere—then this contractual ethic leaves every
commitment unstable. Constantly calculating the costs and benefits of
relationships, with incessant renegotiations, is an awkward and unful-
filling way of relating to others. Lazarus (1985) adds that we often pre-
scribe mechanical procedures best used to facilitate problem-focused
coping with minor surface aspects of problems in living. For example,
therapists sometimes help clients cope with adversity by teaching them
to think positively and consider the clients who do not succeed at this
technique ungrateful or resistant. This tendency to downplay the nega-
tive ends up trivializing authentic distress by denying its legitimacy.

The Need to Embrace the Dark Side

Cognitive behavioral interventions have been effectively employed to
treat anxiety and depressive symptoms; such interventions can have
many fewer negative side effects than the pharmacological interventions
that medical personnel are inclined to dispense. However, the assump-
tions upon which many behavioral interventions are based may need to
be reexamined. For example, cognitive behaviorists maintain that de-
pressives’ cognitions are pessimistic and distorted. Layne (1989) has
found that depressives are more in touch with reality than supposedly
normal subjects. Depressives’ thoughts are painfully truthful, whereas
nondepressives’ thoughts are unrealistically positive. Layne suggests that
‘‘normals’’ have learned to erect a defensive screen against painful per-
ceptions and that perhaps in our interventions for depressives we need
to help them erect a defensive screen against reality. I suggest an alter-
native course. Rather than advocating defensive screens for both de-
pressives and nondepressives, we need therapies that allow people to
acknowledge, embrace, and make peace with the dark sides of life. We
need to understand that the very real pain in life does not negate the
simultaneous existence or possibility of joy and peace. By accepting and
appreciating our vulnerabilities, we provide a firmer foundation for lov-
ing the life we have.

Therapy and the Quest for Meaning

As discussed earlier, profound discoveries in the sciences eventually
influenced some of the leading philosophers and theorists to conclude
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 47

that there is no God. At the beginning of this century, existentialism

became a dominant force in western art, literature, theology, and phi-
losophy. The existentialists challenged human beings to live lives of dig-
nity, create their own internal self-worth, and take responsibility for the
struggle of being against the possibility of not-being (May, 1960).
Frankl’s (1983) approach, logotherapy, was based on the premise that
therapy should facilitate the quest for meaning. Pleasure in life should
not be the goal of our strivings; rather, it should be a side effect. Finding
meaning in life can come through service to a higher cause or love for
another person. Because human beings no longer learn what to do from
traditions and traditional values, they increasingly find life empty and
meaningless. Frankl believed that a new neurosis was springing from
this existential frustration.
Maddi (1975) also described an existential neurosis, whose symptoms
included a low-to-moderate activity level and a sense of meaningless-
ness, blandness, and boredom. Maddi believed that the premorbid per-
sonality of people who would eventually develop this neurosis was
excessively concrete and fragmentary. Such people felt that they only
played social roles and embodied biological needs. When confronted
with recognition of this premorbid identity—through stresses such as
the threat of death or disruptions of the social order—they would de-
velop symptoms of existential neurosis. In contrast, people with healthy
personalities were able to transcend social and biological living through
active and uninhibited imagination. Acting and living with energy fueled
by imagination, we can decide what we really want to do in the world
and find the deeper meaning that exists beyond the realm of doing.

Peak Experiences and Flow States

The humanistic school helped focus mental health professionals on the
more positive and uplifting aspects of human existence. Maslow (1962)
believed that peak experiences were the moments of highest happiness
and fulfillment. During these times, people paid total attention to what
they were experiencing; their perceptions were richer, unselfish, and de-
sireless. In this godlike state, existing outside time and space, a person’s
only emotions would be pity, charity, kindness, and sadness. Maslow
believed that the self-actualization experience was a matter of degree and
frequency, rather than an all-or-nothing event. This mystical experience
has been described by people in every religion and culture.
In the popular book entitled Flow, Csikszentmihalyi (1990) describes
the flow state as an optimal experience, in which people are so involved
in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. He concludes that people
feel most happy when they have learned to control their inner experi-
ences. Csikszentmihalyi concludes that we can on rare occasions feel a
48 COMMUNITY BUILDING

sense of exhilaration and deep enjoyment, even in a cold and empty

universe that is insensitive to human needs. He considers religions in-
adequate for providing permanent answers to coping with the lack of
meaning in life. For Csikszentmihalyi, experiencing this optimal state is
the foremost goal of every human being. He cites research indicating
that people are in flow 54 percent of the time at work, and only 18
percent during leisure times, but that people would rather spend more
time in leisure and less at work. While this finding that people spend
more of their time in flow at work but prefer to spend more time in
leisure represents a paradox for Csikszentmihalyi, it suggests a funda-
mental problem with his inclusive definition of flow. Social scientists
should be careful to avoid transforming vital metaphors into concepts
stripped of their deeper meaning, symbols, and history.

Humanist Therapies
Carl Rogers (1957) was one of the first to develop therapeutic methods
based on humanistic beliefs, with an emphasis on understanding the
client’s phenomenological field. Rogers believed that therapists could
best help their clients develop and grow by establishing therapeutic con-
ditions of positive regard, unconditional acceptance, genuineness, and
empathy. Gestalt therapy, developed by Fritz Perls (1973), also embraced
the humanistic approach, with its emphasis on the here and now and its
attempt to integrate the different parts of the self.
Humanist-oriented therapies have also flourished in the East. One of
the more popular forms in Japan is called Morita therapy (Reynolds,
1984). Practitioners of Morita therapy offer clients a variety of meditative
strategies, such as counting breaths, chanting mantras, and praying. This
allows clients to constantly return to an awareness of their immediate
circumstances. Morita therapists teach three key principles: accept your
feelings, know your purpose, and do what needs to be done. Patients
undergoing Morita therapy in Japan are often given one week’s bed rest,
so they can experience the waves of emotions coming and going. Slowly
patients become more active, their attention directed toward completion
of their job tasks. Hospitalization often lasts 40 to 60 days. Other Japa-
nese therapies include Naikan, Shadan, and Seiza (Reynolds, 1980).
These eastern therapies help clients develop their concentration and im-
prove their health and stability of their character. Although Morita psy-
chotherapy began in Japan in the early 1900s and clearly preceded the
development of Perls’ Gestalt therapy, there are a number of similarities
between the two approaches. Both stress accepting your feelings as they
are and then getting on with what needs to be done. Both emphasize the
present—the ‘‘now.’’
In the mid-1970s, Ron Kurtz developed Hakomi body-centered psy-
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 49

chotherapy, which was heavily influenced by Taoism and Buddhism (Jo-

hanson & Kurtz, 1991). Rather than analyzing and talking about life,
clients are encouraged to turn their awareness toward the present mo-
ment, thus cultivating the state known in Buddhism as mindfulness. Cli-
ents practice staying with an experience—even negative emotions such
as anxiety. As they report on their experience, it deepens, and ‘‘then one
experience will lead to another and the process will move from surface
experiences to core beliefs which generate and organize these experi-
ences’’ (Johanson & Kurtz, 1991; p. 14).

Transpersonal Therapies
A number of other western therapies have spiritual dimensions; these
are often called transpersonal therapies (Weide, 1973). In these ap-
proaches, the therapist uses traditional therapeutic techniques as well as
meditation and other awareness exercises from the East (Mikulas, 1995;
Vaughan, 1979). Clients learn to develop the capacity to take responsi-
bility for themselves, to experience the full range of emotions while re-
maining detached from personal melodramas, and to meet their own
physical, mental, and spiritual needs. Rather than curing ailments, the
therapist’s job is to help clients tap into their inner resources and let
natural healing occur. Therapy is a process of awakening or becoming
conscious. During the first stage of therapy—at the ego level—the client
develops ego strength, raises self-esteem, and lets go of negative patterns
of self-invalidation. At the second stage, ego death, the client stops iden-
tifying with roles, relationships, and possessions. Finally, at the stage of
self-transcendence, the client realizes that he or she is just one part of a
larger interrelated universe. The client’s new qualities include an ex-
panded sense of identity, increased compassion and inner peace, and a
greater capacity for love and relatedness. When the therapeutic relation-
ship is used to help the client find his or her path, it can be a transform-
ing experience and journey.
In Louise L. Hay’s (1993) tape recording What I believe, she states,
‘‘Love is the healing force, love dissolves anger, love releases guilt, love
erases fear, love for ourselves is the power that heals us.’’ People with
affiliative trust, defined as a desire for loving relationships based on
mutual respect, have been found to have fewer major illnesses (McKay,
1991). The Italian psychiatrist Assagioli (1965) would have concurred
with this assessment. Assagioli believed that we wear masks for the roles
we play (perfectionist, hero, victim, or judge) to obtain acknowledgment
or attention, but that these masks are just expressions of the fear that we
are not lovable—and that it is love that we really need.
Psychological therapies could be much more potent if they focused on
teaching love and gratitude (Borysenko, 1993). Therapists would instruct
50 COMMUNITY BUILDING

clients to make lists of miracles in their lives that they take for granted,
such as not being disabled or blind. Clients could also practice affirma-
tions, such as ‘‘Bless my friends,’’ for the good things in their lives. As
in certain Tibetan Buddhist practices, visualizations could be used to
send love to others. Practice in forgiving oneself and others could be-
come a central focus of the healing process. Reframing problems to clar-
ify choices and inspire spiritual optimism could be another technique in
this transformative therapeutic process. Through prayer and meditation,
clients could learn to change their lives by seeking peace and love. Like
a shaman traveling to different parts of the soul that have been split off,
tomorrow’s spiritual healer will make soul mending a crucial part of
therapy.
Regardless of their professional identification, effective therapists tend
to be wise (Hanna and Ottens, 1995). Characteristics of wisdom in ther-
apy include empathy (ability to understand others from their point of
view), dialectical reasoning (recognition of the interplay of opposing
views), tolerance of ambiguity, sagacity (self-knowledge and self-
transcendence), deautomatization (resistance of the tendency toward
automatic thought and behavior patterns), perspicacity (ability to intui-
tively understand and accurately interpret situations), metacognitive
stance (recognition of the limits of knowledge and thinking), and skills
in problem identification and problem solving. A therapist’s possession
of wisdom qualities may be a greater determinant of his or her effect-
iveness in helping clients than the specific theories or techniques fol-
lowed. Schools of psychology and social work should consider
developing courses on the acquisition and practice of wisdom qualities.

TECHNOLOGY IN SERVICE OF HUMANITY

Chapter 2 presented an analysis of many problems associated with the
scientific and industrial revolutions. One advantage of the technologies
stemming from these revolutions has been a decrease in the premium
placed on male physical strength. With the introduction of machines that
did not require physical strength to operate, the women’s movement
could emerge. With power less determined by strength, women’s status
improved, and they secured important legal rights to vote and own
property.
George Orwell’s and Aldous Huxley’s depictions of the society of the
future were presented in 1984 (Orwell, 1950) and Brave New World (Hux-
ley, 1946). In the technologically driven societies depicted in these books,
individual freedoms were suppressed by state-controlled, mindless citi-
zens. Many have speculated whether our fascination with science and
technology will inevitably lead us to barren outcomes. Buckminister Ful-
ler (1975) was more optimistic when he suggested that some of our cur-
A NEW PARADIGM FOR HOPE 51

rent crises might be amenable to alternative technologies that alter the

physical environment in order to change our mental worlds.
The energy crisis is one of the most significant problems facing our
species. We have destroyed vast stretches of land to find coal and oil; in
burning these fuels, we have further damaged our fragile ecosystem.
Some people support nuclear power, but we have not found effective
ways to deal with the radioactive waste products. Inexpensive and abun-
dant solar energy may represent the most promising technological so-
lution, however. Thus in the development of power sources, technology
was initially part of the problem but one day might be transformed into
part of the solution.
Computers are becoming an integral part of our lives. As the new
‘‘Information Superhighway’’ becomes a reality, more people will begin
working in their homes, thereby lessening the need to commute to work
in congested cities. People who work at home should have more time to
spend with their families and on leisure activities. Gardens could replace
some of the office buildings in our crowded cities. For the past two hun-
dred years, there has been an unnatural concentration of people in cities;
the Information Revolution could facilitate the spread of the population
back to small towns and cities, which form healthier and more natural
arrangements than urban metropolises. Adequate planning for this mi-
gration could help us avoid the gutting and abandonment of inner cities
that followed some past technological advances.
In Howard Rheingold’s book The Virtual Community (1995), we see a
new vision for interactive technologies, with computers being used to
put people in touch with each other over the entire world. Today hun-
dreds of conferences occur regularly through computer bulletin boards,
and in ten years these conferences will include not only text but also
video images. Some conferences have brought people together to net-
work or work collaboratively on community problems. Rather than
passively watching television, people can be more active by holding dis-
cussions on computer networks. There are dangers to the user, however:
spending too much time with multimedia devices, relying on inaccurate
information, and being exposed to pornographic material.
Present-day supercomputers are not as powerful as a honeybee’s
brain, which has one million neurons and performs approximately ten
billion operations per second. A human being’s brain has 100 billion
neurons, a number 100,000 times greater than that of the honeybee’s
brain. These 100 billion neurons are connected to combine power, and
these billions of neurons form 100 trillion connections. There are more
connections in a single human brain than there are particles in the uni-
verse. Supercomputers are based on serial processing, whereas the brain
uses parallel distributed processing (Tryon, 1995). Patterns of neuronal
52 COMMUNITY BUILDING

activation form representations, and every experience, every image refers

to a pattern of activities across neurons.
In future generations, when supercomputers surpass the capacity of
the human brain, the world of technology will present new opportunities
and challenges to our way of life. Science fiction novels and movies have
shown us many devastating scenarios for the possible outcome of this
advance. It is possible that, instead, future supercomputers will represent
an evolutionary progression, helping people reach a higher conscious-
ness and a greater appreciation for life and wisdom.
Some futurists believe that one day we will be able to design small
computers that rearrange atoms and that these computers will then be
able to make all the products we need. Nanotechnology is the term used
to describe the production of tiny machines the size of viruses. It is pre-
dicted that nanotechnology will enable us to make many production ma-
chines with almost no pollution and at minimal cost. These machines
would be able to eliminate all diseases. They would produce all manu-
factured goods. We would then have to find something else to do with
our time. Could our scientific prowess provide the luxury to free our-
selves from the need to manufacture? Whether this new society will pro-
vide comfort for all, or for only a select few, will depend on who controls
it and on the checks and balances installed to guard against abuses of
power. The supercomputers of the future could be new ‘‘life forms,’’
helping and guiding us to a saner and more balanced existence. The
possibilities for such a future are intriguing and in some ways daunting.
Technology may not be our enemy, but it must be tempered by values
that sustain life and nature. Values and rituals have the capacity to guide
and heal and can provide a sense of identity and meaning. Some of the
values of the urban, industrial West have led to the destruction of the
ecological health of our planet. In the past, rich values and traditions
helped regulate our relationships with the earth and prevented destruc-
tion of our habitat. Beatrice Briggs (1993) suggests that the values, stories,
and rituals we need now ‘‘redirect our attention to the earth, remind us
of the beauty and mystery of creation, and make clear our utter depend-
ence on the planet’s air, soil, water, seeds, and other species for our
survival’’ (p. 36).
 4

Religion and Spirituality

[P]lease, find a way. Find a way beyond the continuous chain reaction of
craving, jealousy, ill will, indifference, fear, and anxiety that fills the mind.
Find a way that dissolves the deeply ingrained patterns of negative, dis-
trustful behavior caused by past cruelty and disappointment. Find a way
that demonstrates to you that ill will and greed are damaging to your
psyche. Find a way that grounds your deeds in wisdom, equanimity, com-
passion, and loving kindness. Find a way that reveals to you the joy of our
profound unity, the subtle interrelatedness of you and every being, every
manifestation of the unfolding universe. Find a way that will continually
deepen your understanding of that knowledge. Then we could build com-
munity without hypocrisy. Then we would have a chance.
—Charlene Spretnak
States of Grace

CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY: PERSPECTIVES ON

SPIRITUALITY

The Study of Wisdom

Greeley (1974) maintains that one of the great heresies of the western
world has been our reliance on knowledge taken only from discursive
or cognitive sources. The study of wisdom (the capacity to cope with
uncertainty, the ability to frame an event in its larger context) provides
knowledge from other sources. Staudinger, Smith, and Baltes (1992) sum-
marized literature suggesting that with age performance on fluid in-
54 COMMUNITY BUILDING

telligence tasks decreases but that some crystallized properties of

intelligence, like wisdom, show age-related stability or even growth.17
We may become nicer people as we age, substituting tolerance, moder-
ation, and balance for impulsiveness and dogmatism.
Research on mystical experiences has also produced insights into the
complicated domain of wisdom. Psychiatric explanations of mystical ex-
periences have suggested that many of these phenomena can be inter-
preted as states of regression to infancy or even symptoms of
schizophrenia. Greeley (1974) disputes this interpretation, citing the
work of William James, who characterized mystical experiences as inef-
fable (defying expression), noetic (producing an overwhelming experi-
ence of clarity), transient, and passive (creating the feeling that one has
been grasped by a superior power). Greeley (1974) and Hay and Morisy
(1978) report that from one-third to one-half of the population have had
mystical experiences, although Thomas and Cooper (1978) suggest that
many of these experiences should not be defined as mystical.18

The Functions of Religion

Spirituality and mysticism are often associated with religious experi-
ences. Advocates of religion have suggested that these experiences pro-
vide direction and comfort and encourage altruistic behavior, whereas
skeptics accuse religions of appealing to infantile security needs and pro-
viding easy answers to difficult questions (Batson & Ventis, 1982). Spilka,
Hood, and Gorsuch (1985) state that religion is a complex, multidimen-
sional phenomenon and that for most people religion is mechanical and
dogmatic: Basic religious beliefs are not to be questioned. For some peo-
ple, however, religion can sponsor growth and personal enrichment. In
a broad review of the literature, Payne, Bergin, Bielema, and Jenkins
(1991) indicate that there is a positive relationship between religiosity
and subjective sense of well-being. In addition, intrinsic religious orien-
tation is associated with healthy psychological characteristics, and ex-
trinsic religious orientation is associated with maladjustment. People
with intrinsic religiosity are unselfish and find their master motive in
religion (Allport & Ross, 1967). In contrast, those with an extrinsic ori-
entation use religion for their own aims: to attain status, security, and
self-justification. Pargament and Maton (in press) suggest that religious
participation can have a positive impact on mental health by fulfilling
the need for a sense of meaning (which helps reassure people that life
will work out at some point); the need for community and belonging
(which helps people feel that they are not alone in their struggles); and
the need for proactive involvement in improving the world (which
heightens feelings of empowerment by showing people that they can
make changes in the world and help others).
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 55

Theories of Spiritual Development

Fowler (1982) has delineated six stages of spiritual development, bor-
rowing from Piaget and Kohlberg’s stages of cognitive and moral de-
velopment. Although Fowler’s work is complex and lacks empirical
research (Spilka, Hood, & Gorsuch, 1985), it provides some interesting
schema for understanding potential religious pathways. Peck (1987) has
condensed these concepts into a sequence of four stages. Stage 1 is called
Chaotic and Antisocial. People at this level are unprincipled and selfish.
Although they may pretend to be loving, in fact they are incapable of
empathic responses to others. At this stage of underdeveloped spiritu-
ality, they are basically manipulative and self-serving. Stage 2 is called
Formal and Institutional, and it is the stage of the majority of church-
goers. They are attached to the forms of their religions, and most have
visions of God as an external, judging, rule-giving being. Stage 3 is called
Skeptic and Individual. At this stage, people reject formal religious life,
although many remain committed to social causes. Stage 4 is called Mys-
tical and Communal. At this phase, the seeker experiences the underly-
ing unity and interconnectedness of all things.
Humanity is struggling to attain a higher level of consciousness, and
people who show potential for higher states of consciousness often have
qualities associated with the most spiritually advanced people (Ring,
1984). Whether they have undergone religious or spiritual experiences,
near-death experiences, or chronic illness, many people have awakened
within themselves the potential for experiencing and responding to the
world in entirely new ways. They have found pathways that are more
complete, peaceful, appreciative, and constructive.

Categories of Spiritual Experience

There have been several attempts to devise systems to categorize wis-
dom from a cognitive point of view or to order religious experiences,
often taking into account personal experiences. A different approach has
been proposed by Berry (1988), Wegela (1988), and Burkhardt (1989).
Thomas Berry (1988) identified three basic patterns of the universe:
differentiation, subjectivity, and communion. Differentiation describes
the variety of life in our world; by attending to this process, we gain
greater appreciation of the enormous creativity before us. Subjectivity
refers to a person’s unique interior depth and spontaneity. Finally, com-
munion implies relationships, interrelatedness, and the development of
community. Actions that are in accord with these three processes are
considered ethical and wholesome.
Wegela (1988) identified three aspects of health from a Buddhist point
of view: spaciousness, clarity, and warmth. These aspects have elements
56 COMMUNITY BUILDING

in common with Berry’s conceptualizations. Spaciousness, which is sim-

ilar to Berry’s pattern of differentiation, is an accommodation to what-
ever experiences arise within. Clarity is a full apprehension, without
embellishment, of the textures, temperatures, and colors of one’s expe-
riences. Finally, warmth, which is similar to Berry’s communion, is an
experience of compassion for oneself and others. One can bring these
qualities to any experience, and in doing so, one experiences intrinsic
health. Regardless of external condition or physical difficulties, health is
always within us if we are open to these experiences. The purpose of
the healer is to uncover what already exists.
Burkhardt (1989) identified three characteristics of spirituality: inner
strength, sense of meaning in life, and harmonious interconnectedness.
Through inner strength, people find an animated sense of joy and peace
within their inner wellspring of awareness. By finding a meaning in life,
people discover a sense of hope in the unfolding mystery, uncertainty,
and ambiguity of life and an ability to see beyond the present realities.
The last characteristic, interconnectedness, is a process of finding har-
mony with the self, others, and the universe.

Measurement of Foundational Values

Jason, Reichler et al. (1997) recently developed the Foundational Val-
ues Scale, a test designed to measure these dimensions as perceived in
the life of another person. The five dimensions of this scale tap the dif-
ferent components of wisdom. The first component, Harmony, consists
of items assessing balance, self-love, good judgment, appreciation, and
purpose in life. These are internal domains; they tap some components
of Berry’s pattern of subjectivity, Wegela’s aspect of spaciousness, and
Burkhardt’s characteristic of finding a purpose in life. People who are
balanced, appreciate life, and can cope with uncertainty tend to be less
burdened by stress. The second component of the Foundational Values
Scale, Warmth, includes kindness, compassion, and animation. This do-
main is related to Berry’s pattern of communion, Wegela’s aspect of
warmth, and Burkhardt’s characteristic of harmonious interconnected-
ness. The qualities of kindness and compassion appear to be related to
being in the present and having a sense of humor. People with these
qualities can extend hope and happiness to others. The third component
of the scale is Intelligence. It is not merely the quality of intelligence, but
how it is used, that determines its connection to wisdom. Using one’s
intelligence to solve problems and help others is a key feature of wis-
dom-related intelligence. The fourth component, Nature, consists of a
concern and reverence for the environment and a sense that all life is
interconnected. This domain is closely related to Berry’s pattern of dif-
ferentiation and Wegela’s aspect of spaciousness. One component of per-
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 57

ceived wisdom is concern for the environment. This component is also

related to the experience of flow; love and appreciation of the external
world helps people become so deeply involved in an activity that noth-
ing else seems to matter. This dimension is reflected in foundational
knowledge as practiced by Native Americans, who have revered and
remained in balance with nature for thousands of years (Spretnak, 1991).
The final component, Spirituality, consists of living a spiritual life and
having a fellowship or union with God.

SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS: EIGHT EXAMPLES

Systems of identifying spirituality and wisdom are interesting and use-
ful. However, it is important to remember that the essence of spirituality
cannot be captured in any system of thought. Many believe that it cannot
be captured at all by human minds, only apprehended with greater or
lesser certainty as experiences more of the heart than of the mind. All
we can do is describe our experiences, study whatever has been written,
and look to a number of spiritual traditions.
Many religions have dealt with these higher domains of human con-
sciousness. It is to them that we may look for moral guidance and in-
spiration toward a better understanding of health, love, and a sense of
community. In this chapter, several religions are presented as illustra-
tions of the healing, powerful messages within rich cultural traditions.
Many themes within religion have been used for inappropriate purposes:
war, oppression, or financial gain. Nevertheless, most religions contain
vital, energizing symbols and messages that can help restore a sense of
meaning to those who are alienated; rekindle love for others in those
whose hearts have grown weary; reaffirm the beauty of the natural, ex-
ternal world for those who have become jaded by materialism; and re-
suscitate an inner sense of joy and peace in those whose minds have long
dwelled on negative obsessions. The following are by no means the only
examples of religions whose symbols and messages can promote healing.

Hinduism
Neki (1975) characterizes much of western philosophy as emphasizing
subject/object dualism, whereas in the East there is no such distinct
cleavage. The ideal for mental health in the West is the creation of har-
mony between subject and object, an adjustment of the self to the envi-
ronment. Western ideals focus on developing an adequate perception of
reality and mastering the environment. Eastern approaches, such as Hin-
duism, consider our perceptions of reality to be illusionary and believe
that environmental mastery breeds imbalance and excessive pride. In
58 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Hinduism there is an emphasis on intrapsychic harmony, freedom from

otherness, and liberation from the bondage of the mind.
Western readers might reject these ideas that originated in India, be-
cause they associate that country with dire poverty and sexist practices:
Families sometimes abort female children, and some adolescent girls are
sold into marriage. However, even if one disapproves of some current
practices within a country, it is still possible to recognize and value im-
portant ideas that have their origins in that culture.
A goal for Hindus is to reach a state of samadhi. People who reach this
state have attained illumination, equipoise, spontaneity, freedom, and
harmony. Illumination is a state of appreciation and a sense of enjoyment
without sensual urges, which is sustained by the ending of thought pro-
cesses. Equipoise consists of the cessation of emotional turbulence, with
pleasures and pains passing like changes of garments. Spontaneity is all
that one does naturally, without effort. Freedom is a state without desire,
greed, envy, jealousy, or hostility. Harmony is an awareness of the inner
balance and peace that pervades the cosmos.
India had a highly evolved civilization at about 2000 B.C. The Indo-
European invasions brought about a crisis in the culture, and a caste
system subsequently elevated the lighter-skinned invaders to the rank of
Brahmin, while the darker-skinned natives were assigned to lower castes
(Campbell, 1980). In the Vedas, written about 1000 B.C., the Brahmins, as
priests, were assigned the role of interpreting the holy books. These
priests were thought to be in touch with the energy of the world. In
addition, a completely new idea was introduced: that an illuminated
person had greater powers and wisdom than any god in the universe.
These and other ideas were further developed in the Upanishads, written
about 800 B.C., which taught that it is not necessary to seek help from
the Brahmins for enlightenment because the source of God is within our
own hearts. The deities of the Hindu religion are symbolic of the energies
of the self (Campbell, 1980). These holy texts pointed to eternal forces of
mystery that transcended all definitions and categories, and they were
intended to help people experience that mystery.
The Hindus believed that prana, or psychic energy, both encompasses
and extends beyond electrical, magnetic, and radioactive energy. This
energy force field surrounds the body, radiating up to 12 feet. There are
three types of energy flow (nadis): pingala, ida, and sushumna. Pingala is
the basic energy of life. It includes the action mode, the sympathetic
nervous system, the achievement of goals, and the pursuit of social re-
wards. It is associated with yang—masculine and dynamic energy. Ida’s
energy is inwardly directed. It includes the receptive mode, the parasym-
pathetic nervous system, decreases in muscle tone, and states of inaction.
It is associated with yin—feminine and receptive energy. The third force
is sushumna, or spiritual energy. For centuries yogis have claimed that
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 59

imbalances in the nadis (especially in ida and pingala) would cause dis-
ease, and that their techniques could rectify these imbalances. In Satyan-
anda Saraswati’s book Kundalini Tantra (1984), he described the work of
Hiroshi Motoyama of Japan. Motoyama developed a machine to measure
the waves and currents of energy that accompany an awakening of Kun-
dalini (the serpent-like life force rising from the bottom to the top of the
body). He found that if one’s ida or pingala energy system was under-
active or overactive, this imbalance would predispose one to disease.
Disciples of yoga use a variety of strategies to achieve oneness with
the divine energy. The egoless experience can result in a state of calm,
detachment, and nonintention. The steps of yoga include following an
ethical code, practicing certain body postures, voluntary self-regulation
of respiration, and concentration or meditation practices. Goyeche (1977)
considers yoga a way of life, whose medical benefits are considered side-
effects. As tension is relieved, people often experience gross somatic
discharges (muscle spasms). Stretching of the muscles produces propri-
oceptive stimulation, which is responsible for optimal muscle tone and
can help produce an optimal state of hypothalamic and autonomic bal-
ance. Ultimately, the reduction of proprioception can reduce the respon-
siveness of the hypothalamus and diminish hypothalamic-cortical
discharge (Goyeche, 1977).
To move prana through the body circuits, Hindus use a variety of yoga
strategies. These practices aim to expand the mind and liberate energy—
to yoke waking consciousness with pure consciousness (Chaudhuri,
1975). Hatha yoga involves breathing and body exercises to make the
body healthy and strong. In Karma yoga one learns to selflessly accept
life’s duties and act without desire or fear as an agent of the divine. This
work, which is not attached to materialistic strivings, is performed as a
devotion to God and an opportunity to learn and live a spiritual life.
Jnana yoga is a process of developing mental disciplines to gain greater
understanding of the higher realities of life. Mental discriminations,
which comprise one type of mental discipline, often involve the objects
and subjects of knowledge. For example, disciples might practice the
thoughts, I am not my body; I am just a witness. Bhakti yoga focuses on
devoting all activities to attaining self-surrender and love for a god, an
animal, or a person. While one is worshiping an external force, one is
really becoming devoted to a divine aspect of oneself. Kundalini yoga
attempts to awaken the vital, serpent-like life force within our bodies.
Mantra yoga is a process of meditating on certain sounds to attain self-
purification. Finally, Raja yoga is an eight-step path toward becoming
one with the higher self. Its goal is to stop the spontaneous workings of
the mind. This is often illustrated by the image of a pond whose water
is rippling in the blowing wind. By making the wind stop—by quieting
the mind—one can calm the water and see images of perfect form.
60 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Buddhism
Buddhism focuses on the death of the ego. Buddhists believe that suf-
fering stems from unrealistic expectations in an impermanent world. The
goal is to achieve transcendence and to be freed of desire and fear, in
order to participate in this turbulent and sorrowful world with joy and
rapture (Campbell, 1980). Through 227 observances and prohibitions, fol-
lowers of this religion restrain their actions so they can achieve a calm
and subdued mind. To control the mind, Buddhists employ the tech-
nique of mindfulness, a process that requires restraint of the senses. To
facilitate detachment from internal thoughts and perceptions, Buddhists
cultivate the habit of noticing sensory perceptions but not letting them
stimulate the mind into chain reactions of thoughts. The Buddha taught
that when the conscious mind perceived a stimulus, it would assign a
positive or negative value to it, and then negative or positive sensations
would arise in the body, depending on the intensity of the valuation
(Spretnak, 1991). Deep levels of the unconscious mind would then react
to these bodily sensations by generating pleasant or unpleasant emo-
tions. Simple awareness of subtle sensations, without judging them as
bad or good, can eradicate patterns of response that might otherwise
cause deep complexes.
Beginning Buddhists often find it difficult to fix their minds on a single
object without being distracted by thoughts. The mind processes 126 bits
of information per second, 7,560 per minute (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Trying to calm and slow down this overactive processing takes discipline
and perseverance. The conscientious student will initially reach the ac-
cess stage, where there are moments of overcoming the hindering
thoughts; this is accompanied by feelings of rapture, happiness, and
equanimity (Goleman, 1992). At this stage, some people experience
flashes of light or feel as if they are floating in air. At the next level,
called the first Jhana, awareness of painful body states and sensory per-
ceptions vanishes. This experience lasts for only a second, but in the next
four stages one gradually experiences longer periods of one-pointedness
and equanimity. At the highest levels of consciousness (beginning with
Nirvana), all attachment to ego and desire is extinguished. At the final
stage (Nirodh), awareness ceases altogether.
These are two schools of Buddhism: Mahayana and Therevada (also
referred to as Hinayana). The Therevada approach is monastic and fo-
cuses on renunciation of the world in the hope of attaining enlighten-
ment. The Mahayana school is more active in efforts to bring change into
the external world. An example of the Mahayana approach is Zen Bud-
dhism. Members of the Zen school focus on practicing zazen. In this med-
itation, the conscious mind is quieted and the unconscious is liberated.
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 61

The mind returns to the ultimate reality of the void or emptiness that
contains all (Owens, 1992).
Buddhists believe that life is full of experiences that produce suffering.
In the first of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha taught that suffering
can be experienced as a result of birth, old age, sickness, death, separa-
tion from loved ones, desire, attachment, and clinging. In the Second
Noble Truth, the cause of suffering is attributed to attachment and desire,
which inflame anger, jealousy, grief, worry, and despair. The Third No-
ble Truth is that understanding the truth about life brings about the
cessation of suffering. The Fourth Noble Truth is the path that leads to
the cessation of suffering (Nhat Hanh, 1991). Suffering can be eliminated
only through the Eightfold Noble Path: rightness in speech, action, and
livelihood (morality); rightness in concentration, mindfulness, and effort
(meditation); and rightness in understanding and thought (wisdom).
During meditation, the disciple progresses through the various levels of
the unconscious. At the first level, imagery, the meditator sees countless,
apparently meaningless, images. At the next level, neurosis, a person
may relive painful childhood problems. At the historic and symbolic
level, one sees images from history that are symbolic. Finally, at the self-
realization level, one undergoes religious experiences.
For several hundreds of years, Tibet existed as a peaceful and spiritual
country, ruled by a Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama. Although currently
controlled by China, the Tibetan people provide an example of how peo-
ple can live together in peace and deep connection with their land and
traditions. In the future countries may be established to achieve goals
that are more spiritual than economic.

Judaism
A large portion of the laws in the Torah (the first five books of the
Bible) prohibit injustices and inhumanities. Exploitation and evil are seen
as violations of the community’s special relationship with God. In spite
of considerable inter-religious warfare, the religions of the West have a
strong social ethic prescribing that one help one’s neighbor and eliminate
injustice in the world. This strong social ethic is more highly developed
in western religions than in eastern religions (Spretnak, 1991). Judaism
also produced the first consistent ethical codes based on true monothe-
ism (Upshur, Terry, Holoka, Goff, & Lowry, 1991).
Jewish mysticism has its roots in the Bible. The Jewish mystic, unlike
the Hindu mystic, never sought complete absorption or loss of separate
identity. There was always a relationship between the subject and God,
the awesome and majestic King. Epstein (1959) describes Jewish mysti-
cism as messianic, in that it posits an ongoing struggle for redemption
from evil and the coming of a Messiah who will one day restore the
62 COMMUNITY BUILDING

world to a state of harmony. The sinfulness of man began with Adam’s

disobedience; the perfect unity was then broken and evil appeared. Peo-
ple were created to restore the original unity and thereby revive the
unimpeded flow of divine love.
Jewish mysticism, or the kabbalah, includes books such as the Zohar,
Sefer Yezirah, and the Hasidic literature. Kabbalah has been practiced
since the eleventh century; it was at first a secret doctrine for a privileged
few. It developed along two distinct lines, the practical (the German
school) and the speculative (the Provence-Spanish school) (Epstein,
1959). Practical mysticism focused on cultivating the constant sense of
God’s presence through prayer, inner meditation, and contemplation, in
order to obtain a vision of Kabod, God’s divine light. In this pursuit of
the pure love of God, practitioners had to remember their duties to the
community. The Jews in Germany, oppressed and persecuted, turned to
these teachings as a means of escape from their miseries.
The Jews of Provence and Spain were more fortunate during the
twelfth through fifteenth centuries, and they were more attracted to the
speculative side of the kabbalah. Their aim was to discover the hidden
mysteries contained in every word and letter in the Bible. Around 1300,
the Zohar was compiled from various sources by Moses de Leon of Gra-
nada, and it soon became the textbook of Jewish mystics (Epstein, 1959).
This text was intended to reveal the hidden meaning of the biblical nar-
ratives. It taught that the study of Torah was one of the foremost duties
of a Jew, and that prayer practiced with devotion can result in the de-
scent of peace and joy upon the person praying, and upon others. In
study and prayer, one learns that in love can be found the secret of
divine unity.
According to the Zohar, God made His existence perceptible by pro-
jecting ten channels of light, called the sefiroth. There are many similar-
ities between the Indian chakras and the Jewish sephirot, the ten energy
centers in the body derived from the sefiroth, the luminous rays that God
poured forth at creation. According to Blank (1993), the highest sephirah
(keter) corresponds to the seventh chakra, representing God’s essence. The
second and third sephirot (hokhman and binah) correspond to the sixth
chakra. Hokhman is active, yang, masculine power; whereas binah is re-
ceptive, yin, intuitive power; each balances the other in harmonious op-
position. The fourth and fifth sephirot (hesed and gevurah) correspond to
the fifth chakra. Hesed is God’s nurturing love, and gevurah is the power
of God to move one to action. The sixth sephirah (tiferet) rests at the heart.
The seventh and eighth sephirot represent dominance (nezah) and sub-
missiveness (hod); these opposites sometimes struggle. The ninth sephirah
(yesod) corresponds to the genital chakra, and the lowest sephirah (malkhut)
corresponds to the physical world that contains only hints of the spiritual
world.
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 63

The Zohar captured the hearts and minds of Jews, and after the ex-
pulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, it became a fresh source of
strength, filling them with spiritual power (Epstein, 1959). The exiles
carried the Zohar to countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.
It was at Safed in Palestine that the Zoharic teachings reached their high-
est state. For example, Moses Cordovero taught that the infinite is pres-
ent in every part of the finite; this belief is similar to the pantheism taught
a century later by Spinoza. The sixteenth-century Jewish mystic Rabbi
Issac Luria elaborated theoretical Zoharic principles. He claimed that the
holy sparks of God’s light infuse everything but that its sparks are hid-
den by distractions, obstacles, and confusions. The Safed mystics be-
lieved that through study, prayer, and devotional exercises they could
speed up the return of the Messiah. During these centuries, the kabbalah
was still restricted to the circles of the learned. It was not until the eigh-
teenth century, with the rise of Hasidism, that these ideas and doctrines
were brought to the Jewish masses (Shapiro, 1989).
There remains today a strong mystical element within several sects of
Judaism, including those from the Hasidic traditions as well as a more
recent movement called P’nai Or, a number of current Jewish mystical
techniques focus on quieting the mind, letting in the ‘‘still small voice of
God,’’ reciting wordless melodies, visualizing the name of God, con-
versing with God, and focusing on nothingness (Shapiro, 1989).

Christianity
Mysticism and deep levels of spirituality have periodically risen within
the Christian religions for two thousand years. In lower Egypt in 1945,
13 Gnostic texts were discovered. They had been written in the second
century and buried during the third or fourth century. These early Chris-
tian texts stressed the inner journey toward the divine (Kenny, 1991).
Salvation was thought to come not through the Church or the sacraments
but rather from finding the divine spark within. The widespread Gnostic
communities of the second century believed in poverty and chastity and
took a dim view of sexuality. They considered women the spiritual
equals of men. By the fourth century, these early Gnostics were perse-
cuted by the Church, and most of their books were burned.
In the Middle Ages, the movement toward mysticism was revived and
spread through Italy, France, and Germany (Kenny, 1991). In the 1200s,
this movement was seen as a threat to the Church, because the Gnostics
believed that Church officials could not tell them what to do; rather, they
believed that each person had to find his or her own beliefs and inner
teachings. Pope Innocent III began the Inquisition to root out the Gnostic
heresy.
The third appearance of Gnostic ideas occurred in the Renaissance in
64 COMMUNITY BUILDING

the mid–1400s. When the Turks came to power in the eastern portion of
the old Roman Empire, a flood of books from the East came into Italy
(Kenny, 1991). The hermetic sciences of astrology and alchemy became
known to some of the leading thinkers of this time. Written in the third
century by scholars in Alexandria, hermetic books stressed that human
beings could transcend their daily predicaments by using the mind to
reach enlightenment. These were powerful ideas; they represented a new
form of humanism, one that viewed human beings as filled with wonder
and capable of anything. Science could be used to look closely at every-
thing, including the human body. These humanistic ideas—affirming
that to be human was divine—were born of the same impulses as the
Gnostic ideas. The Church once again began to persecute people who
subscribed to hermetic ideas.
The fourth great revitalization of the Gnostic tradition began in this
century. After the discovery of the Gnostic texts in 1945, Jung spent much
of his remaining life reading and studying these materials. For him, the
languages of all dreams and myths were similar, and these archetypical
materials were richly portrayed in the Gnostic gospels (Kenny, 1991).
Today, the Christian mystic’s deepest form of religious experience is
the realization of union with God. The ordinary duties of life are seen
as part of self-discipline. The three phases of a mystic’s life are purifi-
cation (purging of self-centeredness), illumination (fellowship with God),
and union (self-transformation as part of the mystical body of God). The
Christian mystics attempt to develop their full humanness by being de-
cent human beings; this state renders them more capable of plumbing
their mystical depths. Growth of perfect charity entails loving God first,
then one’s neighbor. Prayer is considered a delight, for through prayer
one experiences the presence of God. Asceticism requires detachment
from little desires, so that one can concentrate on the one all-
encompassing desire, the desire for God. Silence and solitude allow one
to experience the presence of God (McNamara, 1992).
O’Hanlon (1981) has noted similarities between Christian and eastern
practices. In both, the true self awakens when the surface mind and
disordered desires are stilled. Through prayer or through watching one’s
breath, observing sensations, or repeating mantras, one can experience
deeper stages of mystical experience.
Perhaps the most well-known Christian mystic was Thomas Merton.
In his autobiography, Merton (1948) noted that in our materialistic so-
ciety, worldly success depends on the applause of others, as if this is the
only way to feel real. In contrast, at his Trappist monastery, the best
people attracted the least attention. Merton detached himself from the
world in order to lead a contemplative life. According to Merton, one
can be filled with peace and gratitude by loving God and devoting one-
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 65

self to a life of service. His poignant message is well summed up in the

following passage:

Virtues are precisely the powers by which we can come to acquire hap-
piness. Without them, there can be no joy because they are the habits which
coordinate and canalize our natural energies and direct them to the har-
mony, perfection and balance of the unity of our nature with itself and
with God, which must in the end constitute our everlasting peace.

Islam
The religion of Al-Islam was established among the Arabians in the
early part of the seventh century by the Prophet Muhammed. Although
Islam permits its followers to have different understandings of Islamic
concepts, modern Muslims have split into a number of schisms and cults
whose differences far exceed the differences permitted. The Islamic belief
mandates all Muslims to worship The One God (Allah) as a unified com-
munity (the Ummah) and to base their concepts upon teachings from the
Quran and Hadith.
The faith of Al-Islam outlines a comprehensive framework within
which Muslims can worship God in each aspect of their lives. The
Prophet Muhammed formulated the religion as a spiritual guide for all
facets of human existence. For practicing Muslims, Al-Islam provides
meticulous descriptions of the proper methods for prayer rituals, per-
sonal conduct, domestic roles, professional endeavors, economic systems,
political structures, and social involvement.
Faith in Al-Islam is intended to instill justice and equity as the fun-
damental principles in the Muslim lifestyle. Western media have often
failed to distinguish the glaring discrepancies between Muslim teachings
and the practices that have been branded fanatical, sexist, and anti-
quated. Yet the religion of Al-Islam forbids Muslims to participate in any
discriminatory practices, including the subordination of women and ar-
ranged marriages that are prevalent in certain segments of Arab and
Muslim societies.
The fundamental principles of practice in Al-Islam are manifested in
the Five Pillars of Faith: (1) to bear witness that there is no deity except
Allah and that Muhammed is the Messenger of Allah; (2) to observe the
five daily prayers; (3) if one’s financial resources exceed a specified min-
imum, to pay 2.5 percent of one’s earnings into an annual Zakat that is
distributed among financially needy people; (4) to fast during the month
of Ramadan; and (5) to perform a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once
in a lifetime.
The perspectives on justice in Al-Islam have enabled the religion to
play a major role in social reformation throughout history. After its es-
66 COMMUNITY BUILDING

tablishment in Arabia, Al-Islam dramatically changed Arabia into one of

the most productive and advanced civilizations of its era. Muslims’ me-
ticulous study and implementation of their religion allowed Arab society
to implement social reforms, including the abolition of liquor, gambling,
slavery, prostitution, superstition, discrimination, and all forms of self-
indulgence.
With these changes, the Islamic civilization in Arabia assumed a van-
guard position in social enlightenment and development. The Muslims’
commitment to piety and knowledge became a catalyst for significant
contributions to the fields of science, culture, and religion. Arab contri-
butions spread to Europe, influencing the great revival of arts and sci-
ences that became known as the Renaissance.
Within Islam, Sufism is the most mystical school or spiritual path. The
aim of Sufism is to open oneself to ‘‘high knowledge,’’ ‘‘deep under-
standing,’’ or wisdom (Ornstein, 1992). Practitioners of Sufism believe
that questions such as What is the meaning of life? cannot be answered
systematically through the rational mind but must be approached
through experiential knowledge. The Sufi mission is to help people
awaken and start their journey toward living the present life in all its
fullness. In the quest to develop their true permanent part, their slogan
is to ‘‘Be in the world, but not of the world.’’
There is no dogma or fixed system in Sufism. What is appropriate to
open one’s eyes in one civilization may not be appropriate in another.
In Sufi teaching tales provide lessons. A sage may play the part of an
ordinary man, and in the story the reader may follow an unexpected
course and end with a better ability to understand the limitations in
contemporary social customs.
In Sufism, one need be neither vegetarian nor celibate. One need not
give up one’s current identity; rather, the stories urge practitioners to
‘‘wake up.’’ The awakened person remains active in the world.

Native American Spirituality

For more than 20,000 years, Native American nations have maintained
an earth-based spirituality that has attempted to attain harmony and
balance with the laws of nature (Spretnak, 1991). Because the world was
seen as suffused with spiritual powers, interactions with it were always
respectful. Communal ceremonies bound communities together by help-
ing their members remain in balance with the universe, maintain an at-
titude of respect and gratitude, and fulfill their obligations to the land.
Shamans are integral parts of many Native American traditions, as
well as the traditions of cultures in South America, Africa, and Asia.
Shamanism began with the early hunters and gatherers, and it never died
out. Shamanism is not a religion, and it has no formal priesthood or
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 67

dogma (Heinze, 1990). Shamans are in touch with the spiritual dimen-
sion, but they are always humble. They see themselves not as healers
but as guides. A shaman can see three levels of reality: the earth, the
regions below the earth, and the regions above. The shaman can regu-
larly travel to the realms above and below the earth, meet with spirits,
and bring knowledge back to earth (Walsh, 1990). Shamans have an ec-
ological sense of the world: they see everything we do affecting every-
thing else on a planet where all is interconnected and whole. While the
behavior of shamans during their journeys might lead some to consider
them psychotic, their perceptions are not agitated or disturbed; rather,
they can control their states of mind, they experience good concentration,
and they have a coherent sense of self (Walsh, 1990).
Missionaries during the sixteenth century and beyond worked to erad-
icate indigenous religious practices in North, Central, and South America
and attempted to convert the people to Christianity. In the Native Amer-
ican religions, as well as in the African religions, there is no separation
between the secular and the sacred. Rather, the whole of existence is
considered a religious phenomenon.

African Religions
Sharing the wisdom of her native West Africa, Some (1995) describes
how many African boys and girls go through religious initiation rites.
During these ceremonies, drumming helps adolescents enter the spirit
world. After they return from this experience, the participants are
changed in nature, for they have entered and seen a new reality. They
have a sense of previous lives and are better able to rid themselves of
useless traits, behaviors, and attitudes.
The indigenous religious world has an intensity and aliveness that is
beyond intellectual knowledge; this experience is hinted at in the African
saying, ‘‘The thing that knowledge can not eat.’’ Elders in a village do
not explain people, objects, or events; rather, they say ‘‘Learn by watch-
ing.’’ There is another African saying, ‘‘It takes a village to raise a child,’’
a phrase that has been used often in this country in recent years, as a
slogan and program title. We have much to learn from this perspective
that suggests that religious life and values need to be woven into the
entire fabric of the community for our wisdom, teachings, and traditions
to be passed on to future generations.
This collectivist creed—putting the needs of the ethnic group before
one’s own needs—is worth honoring and restoring. Many African Amer-
icans in this culture face the choice between self-oriented American in-
dividualism and African-derived collectivist strivings. Gaines and Reed
(1995) maintain that, when African Americans assume that the person-
ality of the dominant culture is the ideal norm, that assumption sets the
68 COMMUNITY BUILDING

stage for a number of dysfunctional patterns. The principles of Kwanzaa,

an African-American celebration developed by Maulana Karenga based
on traditional African values, represent a contemporary effort to promote
the psychological health and strength of African Americans by affirming
these deeply rooted cultural values. The seven principles of Kwanzaa
(the Nguzo Saba) are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination),
Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative econom-
ics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).

Liberation Theology
Arising within African and Latin American contexts, liberation theol-
ogists interpret the Christian Gospel as a call for justice and liberation
from oppression. Leading spokespersons for this movement, including
Paulo Friere and Dom Helder Camara of Brazil, Gustavo Gutierrez of
Peru, and Juan Luis Segundo of Uruguay, believe that one cannot sep-
arate religion from politics and economics. They teach that the domi-
nated and disenfranchised classes need to dismantle the oppressive
systems that keep them powerless. This philosophy and activist per-
spective could help shift the focus of many of our current intervention
programs that serve the oppressed. Rather than merely transferring skills
that improve people’s ability to adapt to the sociopolitical systems in
which they live, these programs could work on changing the oppressive
systems themselves.

COMMONALITIES AMONG TRADITIONS

There are important commonalities among these different religious be-
liefs. For instance, mystical experiences seem to be an integral component
of most of these religions. Many religions also refer to energy systems
in the body that can be activated for higher states of consciousness and
healing. In this country, Wilhelm Reich experimented with healing en-
ergy within the body, energy that he called ‘‘orgone.’’ Reich believed
that this ‘‘orgone’’ was inner energy that could break through the body’s
armor (Reich, 1948). This energy has been given different names in dif-
ferent cultures. In India it is called Kundalini energy, as described by
meditating yogis who mapped out the body energy circuits and centers
(chakras). In China it is called chi energy, as discovered by the acupunc-
turists who traced these energy channels along meridians. In western
religions, it has been referred to as the energy of the Holy Spirit. Reich’s
work with exercises, massage, and deep breathing paved the way for
many of the body therapies that are popular in the human potential
movement, including bioenergetics, Rolfing, and primal scream therapy.
Western medical scientists will one day be better able to identify some
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY 69

of the biological characteristics of these energy states; some have sug-

gested that they are connected to brain peptides and other naturally oc-
curring chemicals influencing the brain.
Many spiritual practices are capable of helping people achieve health-
ier states of consciousness. It is helpful therefore to focus on common
dimensions of these diverse teachings. Anderson and Hopkins (1992)
interviewed 30 spiritual women from different religious and spiritual
traditions. They were all living the sacred life and were connected to the
real essence of their being in their daily activities. Even in despair or
crises, they could still see the larger whole, the larger landscape. Often
the women experienced a cycling process, alternating between confi-
dence and confusion. However, they always remembered that the path
through life was sacred. From these interviews, Anderson and Hopkins
concluded that there are multiple paths to the sacred. Many of the
women had found the spiritual life after experiencing despair, which
helped force them to let go of all mundane certainties in order to gain a
larger sense of certainty and determine their true identities. Some of the
women followed spiritual practices and others did not, but all were able
to see the divine in everyday life.
In Tony Schwartz’s book What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in
America (1995), he comes to a similar conclusion: The spiritual path is a
process of going forward, slipping, then getting up and trying again. In
a sense, the process of being on the path is more important than the
ultimate outcome. On this path, both psychological and spiritual prac-
tices are necessary, and most people will profit from multiple teachers
on this journey to the realization of wisdom.
In the book Chopping Wood, Carrying Water (Statser, 1978), Zen masters
suggest that we can find spiritual life in everyday life. Compassion and
wisdom develop and mature over time, but they rarely emerge with full
force. The great wisdom traditions help us identify the wonders that are
before us, but it takes time to develop these new ways of seeing the
world. The spiritual path is one that sees all of life as a series of oppor-
tunities to learn lessons on how to be more loving and kind.

CAUTION IN THE SPIRITUAL APPROACH

The new paradigm that embraces spirituality as a component of psy-
chological health is unpredictable and full of paradox. No doubt there
are hidden dangers on the spiritual journey, currently exemplified in the
excesses seen in some New Age movements and religions. Many spiri-
tual masters and their practitioners claim exaggerated powers, and many
continue to engage in unethical behavior. In the November/December
1990 issue of Yoga Journal, Swami Rama, the leader of the prestigious
Himalayan Institute, was accused of engaging in sex with his female
70 COMMUNITY BUILDING

students (Webster, 1990). Tal Brooke’s Riders of the Cosmic Circuit (1986)
exposed unethical practices that occurred within ashrams of the most
respected spiritual gurus. For example, Muktananda allegedly had sex-
ual relations with a number of underage girls. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
was said to have attempted to break every taboo (including murder,
drug smuggling, prostitution, gang rapes, and brutal beatings) as rites
of passage. It seems that the danger in spiritual movements—as in other
types of movements—is heightened when they have highly visible lead-
ers who accept and use all the power that their followers will give them.
Many spiritual leaders are arrogant and inconsistent in their behavior.
Many are rigid and exclusionary in their practices. Enlightenment, they
preach, can be achieved only through initiation into their faith. It is not
uncommon to find gurus who denigrate religions other than their own.
Many of these ideologies are simplistic and narrow in scope. For ex-
ample, in some of the New Age religions, practitioners say that it is more
important to be happy than to be right. This means that they would
rather let go of controversy and fail to win others over to their point of
view than to persist in argument and experience the psychic and social
disturbance that controversy creates. Many who are involved in social
change efforts would find this philosophy short-sighted and reactionary.
Activists believe that it is more important to be ‘‘right’’ and persevere
against difficult obstacles to ensure the success of their causes, even if
those efforts result in personal distress and unhappiness.
The core spiritual teachings are relatively straightforward, for they
concentrate on cultivating an appreciation of small daily events.
Schwartz (1995) maintains that in any field only a small minority of
practitioners are committed and effective; there is no reason to assume
that this would not also apply to the spiritual domain. There are many
highly commercial programs which claim that spirituality can be gained
relatively quickly. Such programs must be viewed cautiously. On the
spiritual path, the analytic, thinking mind needs to accompany and pro-
tect the open heart.
 5

A Sense of Community

The one thing we can be certain about is that in our society the absence
or dilution of the psychological sense of community . . . (sense that one was
part of a readily available, mutually supportive network of relationships
upon which one could depend and as a result of which one did not ex-
perience sustained feelings of loneliness) . . . is the most destructive dynamic
in the lives of people in our society.
—Seymour Sarason
The Psychological Sense of Community

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY

Lyon (1989) suggests that a good community fosters public safety, has a
strong economy, provides health care and educational opportunities, and
has an optimum population size. It is clear that the ecosystem in which
one lives has a strong influence on one’s ability to develop a balanced
and wholesome life. But our ecosystems have been compromised by
many factors. Seventy-five percent of Americans now live in cities, and
many people experience social isolation in this highly mobile and tech-
nological society with its 50 percent divorce rate. People living in the
suburbs are no more likely to express satisfaction with their neighbor-
hoods or with the quality of their lives than those living in cities (Adams,
1992). People are looking for relationships that can be characterized as
kind and understanding, but it is growing harder and harder to find
open and expressive relationships. People’s ties with each other are in-
72 COMMUNITY BUILDING

creasingly fragile, and their bonds with others are being disrupted more
often as friends move away or change jobs. There is a basic human need
to belong, which includes the need for frequent personal contacts and
for bonds with others marked by stability and emotional concern (Bau-
meister & Leary, 1995). Unfortunately, an increasing number of people
do not have this bond with others in their lives; these socially isolated
people tend to be unhappy.
A possible antidote to this crisis can be found in the development of
a psychological sense of community. Sarason (1974) originally defined
the term ‘‘psychological sense of community’’ to mean a supportive net-
work, a stable structure that one can depend on for psychological sig-
nificance and identification. Sarason further stated that the psychological
sense of community should be the overarching goal of all community
interventions. He (1974) believed that achieving a sense of community is
one of the major tasks of life. The absence of this sense of community is
one of the most destructive forces in our society, leading to alienation
and anonymity.19
Part of the attractiveness of mutual support groups, block associations,
intentional communities, and voluntary associations lies in their ability
to create a sense of purpose and community for their members.20 Com-
munity activism, such as working on public policies and voting, can also
help participants develop a sense of community.
A sense of community is positively related to a subjective sense of
well-being (Davidson & Cotter, 1989). Moen, Dempster-McClain, and
Williams (1989) have found that women who engage in multiple roles
and are members of voluntary organizations tend to live longer; more
recent research by this group has found that these characteristics also
promote psychological well-being. The process of helping others, with-
out regard to outcome, has been found to provide significant health ben-
efits (Luks, 1992).

Characteristics of True Communities

Chertok (personal communication, 7 April 1992) believes that psycho-
logical sense of community refers to an organizational feature of a set-
ting, rather than just the individual’s experience or a characteristic of the
setting. Bishop, Chertok, and Jason (in press) evaluated a scale to mea-
sure conceptual constructs in the psychological sense of community. On
this scale, Factor 1 is labeled Mission; it encompasses the perception that
one is actively engaged with others in the pursuit of a common purpose,
which embodies values and goals that transcend individual participants.
Formal mission statements, or passages and phrases from materials, may
be read and recited at meetings to reinforce the sense of mission. Work-
shops and presentations that define the setting’s mission could be a prin-
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 73

cipal way of attracting new members. Logos, names, and promotional

materials can all help define and disseminate the group’s mission. Factor
2, labeled Reciprocal Responsibility, refers to the perception that there
are acknowledged members of an ongoing group who are mutually re-
sponsible to each other. Reciprocal Responsibility connotes that members
are seen as valuable resources within the setting, and that the setting
responds to the needs of the individuals. This domain concerns the help
and assistance people feel they can receive from their fellow group mem-
bers. People tend to be more satisfied when they believe that all can
receive and give something of value. When in a given setting there are
more roles than people to fill them, people often feel more welcome to
participate.
In some countries, certain regions have a more robust sense of com-
munity than others. For example, Putnam (1993) has reported on a 20-
year study of social capital (norms of reciprocity and networks of civic
engagement) in Italy. Norms of reciprocity include a sense of trust that
the benefits one gives to others will be repaid in the future. When com-
munities have more advanced networks of civic engagement, their citi-
zens are more likely to cooperate for the mutual benefit of the
community, indicating stronger norms of reciprocity. In northern Italy,
there is a substantial stock of social capital, which has led to higher levels
of trust, cooperation, and collective well being. In southern Italy, less
social capital is in evidence. People show less trust in their neighbors
and a greater propensity to use hierarchical solutions, such as coercion
and exploitation, in trying to hold society together. These differences in
Italian subcultures can be traced back to the eleventh century. At that
time in northern Italy, norms of reciprocity and networks of civic en-
gagement were embodied in horizontal civic bonds, such as guilds, mu-
tual-aid societies, cooperatives, and unions, whereas in southern Italy,
social and political relations were vertically structured, resulting in mu-
tual distrust, exploitation, isolation, and disorder. If the social context of
a region is poor—if people feel exploited and powerless, and if there is
little involvement in civic associations—new institutions and reforms
will have more difficulty succeeding than in regions with a history of
greater social capital.

The Process of Community Building

Peck (1987) suggests that there are four stages of community making.
In the first stage, there is pseudo-community, in which people avoid
disagreements and just pretend to be a community. During the next stage
(chaos), healers attempt to heal and convert others; this is a time of con-
siderable fighting and struggle. During the third stage (emptiness), peo-
ple begin to remove barriers to communication, such as expectations,
74 COMMUNITY BUILDING

prejudice, and ideologies. During the final stage—aptly called commu-

nity—a peaceful, soft sense of quietude descends. People feel safe to
share their vulnerabilities, their sadness, and their joy.
McLaughlin and Davidson (1986) have provided several useful guide-
lines for building community. First, clear visions, purposes, and common
practices need to be established. Attempts to build solid relationships
among members are also important. In addition, there must be good
processes for resolving conflicts and reaching clear agreements on
authority, responsibility, and finances. When qualities of dedication,
commitment, positive thinking, flexibility, and ego detachment are cul-
tivated, the probability of developing a successful community is en-
hanced. Cottrell (1976) has proposed seven conditions that are necessary
to enable a community to function competently: enhancing commitment
(constituents are willing to work to sustain the community’s ability to
act effectively); developing a clarity of vision with which different seg-
ments of the community can perceive their identities and their interre-
lationships (constituents can see how the interests of one component are
compatible with the interests of other components); fostering the ability
of each part of the community to articulate its views, attitudes, and
needs; creating procedures to address conflict openly and constructively;
maintaining open channels of communication; developing systems for
facilitating interaction and decision making; and managing relations with
the larger society.

The Natural Community

An apt place to begin our examination of community-building efforts
is with communities that have evolved naturally throughout history into
cohesive and nurturing environments. There is some evidence that rates
of schizophrenia decrease when there are secure and accustomed roles
in a community. Murphy (1982, 1983) found low rates of schizophrenia
in the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific and in a collectivist pacifist
Hutterite sect in western Canada. While excessive individualism and per-
sonal insecurity seem to foster schizophrenia, high degrees of social har-
mony and low degrees of preoccupation with social acceptance and
financial security are associated with lower rates of schizophrenia.
An example of a well functioning community is the French Huguenot
city Le Chambon. This city is populated by members of a Protestant sect
that was persecuted for centuries by the Catholic Church. During World
War II, the villagers hid five thousand Jews from the Nazis. Almost all
families in the village participated in that humanitarian effort. In this
poor rural community, ordinary people performed acts of extraordinary
courage, at the risk of their own lives. Without thinking of themselves,
they became heroes. In helping others, they were nourished and vital-
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 75

ized. In Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, lives another example of a well

functioning community: the Amish. A common norm within the Amish
community is the notion that if one is in need, one’s brethren will help
supply that need. Although they have renounced many modern conven-
iences, members of this community have a sense of purpose and com-
munity that is energizing and meaningful.

BUILDING SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITIES

To attain a psychological sense of community, we should develop
traditions, norms, and values that are tied to the settings or communities
in which we live. The notion of a supportive community represents a
comprehensive way of thinking about health and healing. Such an ap-
proach combines strategies that strengthen inner resources by instilling
hope, confidence, enthusiasm, and the will to live with strategies that
provide a place for people to live that is protected and nourishing.
Many individuals no longer have a strong community or family to
provide support, although Etzioni (1993) maintains that many cities have
sustained some elements of community and that there are neighborhoods
where many people still know their neighbors. Gary Melton (1992) sur-
veyed three inner-city and two small-town communities. When people
were asked whom they sought when they had problems with their chil-
dren, virtually no one mentioned clergy, neighbors, or relatives—sources
of help who would have been cited frequently 20 years ago. Instead, the
poorer people answered ‘‘nobody,’’ or if they cited any source of help,
it was the emergency room; whereas wealthier people in suburban areas
named professionals from whom they could buy services.
Thousands of individuals are homeless, and others released from state
hospitals and detoxification settings have no place to go. Still others live
alone and isolated with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Some of our pre-
ventive interventions with high-risk children may be compromised or
thwarted by the ecosystems in which these children live: The children’s
vulnerabilities may be directly related to their environment and its in-
adequate sense of community. For these difficult situations, the psy-
chological sense of community can be an energizing force for problem
solving. Community psychologists have many roles to play, including
the establishment of supportive settings, collaboration with and advo-
cacy for the creation of such settings, and evaluation of their effective-
ness.
The following examples of individuals and groups who have formed
alternative settings or communities demonstrate a variety of approaches
to individual and community problems (Jason & Kobayashi, 1995). In
each of these structured, cohesive settings, members share a common
mission, connection, and reciprocal responsibility. These communities
76 COMMUNITY BUILDING

were established through the efforts of professionals, ordinary people,

and members of disenfranchised groups.

The Lodge
George Fairweather pursued the role of social problem-solving scien-
tist, acting as a research advocate and lobbyist for people with chronic
mental illness. Fairweather noted that many patients with mental illness
were stable but had little motivation and great institutional dependency.
Adaptive behaviors in the hospital did not translate well to the com-
munity, and formerly hospitalized patients showed high rates of recid-
ivism (Fairweather, 1979). When chronically mentally ill patients moved
back into the community to live, they returned to the hospital at a rate
of 70 to 75 percent, irrespective of the types of treatment they had re-
ceived during hospitalization. Based on these observations and on his
experiences with hospitalized individuals, Fairweather voiced the radical
notion that people with mental illness could benefit from approaches
other than traditional hospitalization and live relatively normal lives in
mainstream society. Toward this end a model for community reintegra-
tion emerged. It was called The Lodge.
The Lodge was a self-governing organization in which members had
participative roles in management and decision making (Fairweather,
1979). Fairweather had previously found that when professionals were
present with patients and ex-patients in an organization, the profession-
als assumed top administrative positions and thus dominated the orga-
nization. To avoid this problem, in The Lodge professionals were
assigned the roles of consultants, so they could play a meaningful part
in the creation of the setting without taking it over. To optimize its
chances of success, The Lodge was located in a racially mixed blue-collar
neighborhood that was relatively accepting of its existence. As part of
the program, members owned and operated their own business, with
opportunities for productive work roles. The program was not designed
to be transitional but to function as a surrogate family (Tornatzky &
Fergus, 1982).
Important evaluation findings over five years included the following:
Mutual acceptance and respect of neighbors and Lodge members in-
creased over time; compared to a control group, Lodge members spent
a significantly greater amount of time employed and in the community;
and the cost of The Lodge was one-third that of traditional community
mental health programs. Lodges have now been established throughout
the United States. A group called the National Conference of Adopters
Coalition for Community Living was established in 1985, to bring all the
Lodge adopters together to share ideas for future dissemination of this
model program. Fairweather’s well-documented experiences provide
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 77

both precious information for developing new models and an inspiring

example of a social scientist committed to the belief that we can partic-
ipate in the creation of new support systems that enhance the psycho-
logical sense of community.

HOME
Like community psychologists, social workers have long advocated the
concept that certain problems of individuals, such as social isolation and
insufficient social support, can be most effectively addressed through the
creation or strengthening of communities. For example, in the late 1800s
Jane Addams established Hull House in Chicago to fight the problems
faced by poor immigrants struggling to make a new life. Michael and
Lilo Salmon provide a contemporary example of this type of commit-
ment and action. They have founded HOME (Housing Opportunities
and Maintenance for the Elderly), an organization committed to creating
living situations that are supportive and family-like in atmosphere for
low-income elders in Chicago. The mission of HOME is to treat elderly
people with respect: to preserve their dignity and independence, and to
consider them friends rather than clients. Lilo, a social worker, believed
that the housing problems of the elderly could be addressed more effec-
tively by creating intergenerational communities. Therefore, the Salmons
established intergenerational homes, not as agency programs adminis-
tered by professionals, but as communities where the staff are also res-
idents or members. In each home live 12 to 14 elderly individuals, a
full-time coordinator and his or her family, and several college students
who receive free room and board in exchange for completing chores.
These intergenerational homes offer elderly residents ‘‘an alternative to
high rents, loneliness, isolation and the burden of day-to-day self care
[and] . . . an innovative communal possibility for a new and different life-
style that fosters companionship and friendship by offering the residents
the opportunity of caring for each other’’ (HOME Brochure, 1991, p. 8).

l’Arche
Ordinary citizens have also taken extraordinary steps toward devel-
oping communities that offer companionship, friendship, and support in
bearing the burden of day-to-day living. In 1964 Jean Vanier, a philos-
opher, founded l’Arche (the Arch) community, where people with men-
tal retardation and ‘‘normal’’ intelligence live together. Vanier had no
formal training in mental retardation; therefore, his approach to people
with mental retardation was not affected by the role expectations that
human service professionals might bring to such a project. His intention
was to create a community built on trust and interdependence. The un-
78 COMMUNITY BUILDING

derlying mission of l’Arche is the creation of a nurturing environment

for people with mental retardation (Dunne, 1986). Vanier believed that
the barriers that prevent people from making contact must be tackled in
the life of each individual through the creation of a more humanizing
lifestyle. At l’Arche, community life follows a pattern of work (garden-
ing, housekeeping, or workshop), meals, and recreation. At the heart of
the community, members struggle to grow in ‘‘their capacity to be more
open and loving within the ideals of communitarianism’’ (Dunne, 1986;
p. 47). Dunne further suggests that the sense of community, as experi-
enced in l’Arche, is ‘‘an awareness of the relationships and accepting the
risks, pain, and weaknesses encountered in self and others’’ (p. 53). In
the years since the project’s inception, more than 70 l’Arche communities
have been formed.

Needs Foundation
There are other examples of ordinary citizens acting on the realization
that the elderly and people with disabilities often need support that is
not readily available from the family or society. One such individual is
Bill Allison, founder of the Needs Foundation. Bill’s wife has multiple
sclerosis, and Bill and his wife needed more in-home support than their
income and insurance allowed. Bill recognized that his family was not
the only one faced with the need for affordable in-home assistance. While
watching a television documentary highlighting the plight of the home-
less, it occurred to Bill that there were probably homeless people who
would be willing to be trained to provide in-home, non-medical care.
Such an arrangement would benefit both individuals. The elderly person
or the person with a disability would receive affordable assistance, while
the caregiver would acquire training, an alternative living arrangement,
and work experience. The Needs Foundation facilitates the matching of
care receivers and caregivers through an extensive screening and match-
ing process. To date more than a hundred matches have been arranged
(Ogintez, 1992). The individuals involved in these relationships find con-
nectedness and a sense of community (Ferrari, Billows, & Jason, 1997).

Oxford House
Individuals demonstrate surprising resilience in creating communities
designed to promote their own healing and stability. There are hundreds
of Oxford Houses across the country based on the model of the original
Oxford House, founded by Paul Molloy and a group of men recovering
from alcoholism. Paul Molloy had worked as a Senate committee staff
member from 1967 to 1972. During that entire time he had abused
alcohol, and in 1975 he left his government position and began his re-
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 79

covery from substance abuse. While living in a halfway house in Mont-

gomery County, Maryland, he saw 12 fellow house members forced to
leave the house because they had reached six months’ residency, the
maximum length of stay. Of these 12 men, 11 relapsed within 30 days.
Paul and the other residents then received word that the halfway house
had lost its funding and would close within 30 days. After considerable
confusion and exchange of ideas with members of the Alcoholics Anon-
ymous (A.A.) community, the residents decided to rent the house them-
selves. Although they initially had wanted to hire a staff person, they
were unable to do so because of the cost. They decided to run the house
in a democratic fashion. They named their community Oxford House,
after the Oxford Group, an organization that inspired the founders of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
In discussing the way the house should operate, local A.A. members
urged the residents to keep the house simple. Many had disliked the old
halfway house’s rules. One house member spoke about his experience in
a college fraternity, which had housed 16 men without a house manager.
A plan for organizing the house emerged from these discussions. Mem-
bers agreed that one positive aspect of the halfway house had been its
reinforcement of sobriety through the immediate eviction of residents
who used alcohol or other drugs. The basic rules of conduct for Oxford
House were, and remain, simple: operate democratically, with each
member paying his or her rent and doing all assigned chores; and stay
sober. Deviation from these rules is cause for immediate eviction. There
are no professional staff members at Oxford Houses, and all costs of the
program are covered by members.
Six months after the first Oxford House was formed, it had accumu-
lated enough resources to begin a second; members of the second house,
in turn, worked to form a third. Within 13 years the number of Oxford
Houses had grown to more than 20. In July 1988, Congressman Edward
Madigan asked residents of Oxford House for ideas for legislation that
would help promote the Oxford House concept nationwide. After resi-
dents testified about their experiences, new legislation was introduced
to help spread this innovation. A provision within the Federal Anti-Drug
Abuse Act of 1988 mandated that each of the 50 states establish a re-
volving fund of $100,000 to be used to establish group homes for
substance abusers along the lines of the Oxford House model. Between
1988 and 1997, the number increased to more than 600 houses. The his-
tory of the establishment of the original Oxford House demonstrates the
tenacity of a group of people committed to changing their lives.
Oxford Houses for women and children have recently been formed,
in response to recovering alcoholic and drug-addicted mothers’ need for
a safe and sober place to live and raise their children (Dvorchak, Grams,
Tate, & Jason, 1995). The houses are affordable places to live, and more
80 COMMUNITY BUILDING

stable and secure environments in which to raise children, than shelters,

halfway houses, public housing complexes, or the homes of relatives or
paramours who still drink and use drugs. Child care is shared by house
members, producing a much healthier and more loving environment for
the children than they would experience in a drug-abusing environ-
ment—or in many of the low-income environments that newly recov-
ering mothers would find affordable—thus reducing their risk of
becoming drug abusers in the future. Because residents run the houses
themselves and personally affect their environments, Oxford House’s
democratic system empowers women by allowing them to become more
assertive and independent. These supportive fellowships are part of the
surrounding community, so women are able to learn about and gain
access to local resources and experience a sense of the larger community.
These new communities are providing an exciting and powerful oppor-
tunity for families who need a second chance—and for researchers
studying the process of building community and family.
For the past five years, I have been a member of a DePaul University–
based research team that has been involved with the Illinois Oxford
Houses in an effort to understand this model (Jason et al., 1994; Jason,
Ferrari et al., in press). When I approached the leader of the Oxford
House movement, Paul Molloy, he was eager to cooperate with the
DePaul University researchers and to receive the benefit of their expertise
in program evaluation. Our research team has written proposals for
grants to support recruiters who have established new houses. In addi-
tion, the researchers have assessed the dynamics and efficacy of the Ox-
ford House model. In April 1994, the Seattle Times printed an in-depth
article about Oxford House, displaying the success of the houses and
reviewing the dynamics behind them (Gelernter, 1994). The DePaul Uni-
versity research team was instrumental in supplying much of the infor-
mation for the article, which introduces Oxford House to readers in a
very positive light, describing the responsible and self-supporting nature
of the residences and outlining their struggles and achievements. The
team also supplied research findings to defend against a lawsuit filed in
the U.S. Supreme Court against an Oxford House in the state of Wash-
ington. The suit was based on a zoning law that prohibits more than five
unrelated people from living in one dwelling; it was representative of
some communities’ unwillingness to support Oxford House for fear of
reducing their property values. The outcome of this case was positive
(the suit against Oxford House was defeated) and it has had a beneficial
impact on other Oxford Houses, similar residences, and halfway houses.
Community psychologists have important roles to play in helping to
evaluate and support these community-building efforts.
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 81

Delancey Street Foundation

Delancey Street is a residential self-help center for former substance
abusers and offenders. There are more than seven hundred residents in
five facilities located in New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and
California. The average resident has been in prison four times. Many are
former gang members who have been trapped in poverty for genera-
tions. The average resident entering Delancey Street is illiterate and un-
skilled. Before graduating, residents receive a high school equivalency
degree and training in marketable skills. The average stay is four years.
In addition to academic and vocational skills, residents learn interper-
sonal and social survival skills and the sense of responsibility and self-
reliance they need to live drug-free in mainstream society. Thousands of
men and women have graduated from this program at no cost to the
taxpayer, since Delancey Street has no staff and has never accepted any
government funds. The entire organization is run by its residents; no
salaries are paid, even to the president of the organization. Delancey
Street is more like an extended family than a treatment program. Longer-
term residents help newer ones, and everyone works. The organization
supports itself through its training programs, which provide vocational
skills to residents. They include a moving and trucking school, a restau-
rant and catering service, a print and copy shop, retail and wholesale
services, advertising sales, specialty sales, Christmas tree sales and dec-
orating, and an automotive service center.
Delancey Street residents have built a 350,000 square-foot self-
managed self-help complex in San Francisco. This four-story complex
contains street-level retail stores, a public restaurant, and 177 dwelling
units. In addition, it houses educational and recreational facilities that
give three hundred formerly unemployed drug addicts and ex-felons
training in purchasing, contracting, and computer and accounting serv-
ices.

Kindness House
In the early 1970s, Bo and Sita Lozoff were living in an ashram in
North Carolina. They worked hard on a farm, awoke at four in the morn-
ing, ate meals in groups, and refrained from sex. When they visited Bo’s
brother-in-law in prison, they found that he also worked on a farm, woke
up early, ate in groups, and had no sex. While all three were living in
similar ways, Bo’s brother-in-law hated where he was, while Bo and Sita
loved their life. They realized that prisons could be a place where trans-
formative changes could take place. As a result, over time they set up
the Human Kindness Foundation.
82 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Bo and Sita began corresponding with prisoners across the country in

a project that became known as the Prison-Ashram Project, which now
has a mailing list of 20,000 prisoners. They opened Kindness House,
which helps prisoners make the transition to the outside world, in May
1994 (Swift, 1995). Residents learn the satisfaction of serving their fellow
human beings. They correspond with others and grow their own food.
Love and compassion occur more naturally in this setting. Positive atti-
tudes can even be cultivated in prisons, facilitated by people in the com-
munity (like Bo, Sita, and their group) who write letters and send books
to inmates and conduct workshops in prisons.

Bonaventure House
Adelman and Frey (1994) have described a unique residential facility
in Chicago. This setting houses 30 men and women infected with HIV,
many of whom already evidence symptoms of AIDS. Founded in 1988
by the Alexian Brothers, a Roman Catholic community of men, Bona-
venture House is a vital living community of people with HIV/AIDS.
Residents have reported that the opportunity for increased social support
was one of their principal reasons for moving into Bonaventure House.
The Alexian Brothers who live in this house are paid a minimum sal-
ary and are perceived as figures of great compassion. There is also a
paid staff available to help in securing social services and deciphering
the rules and forms required for such services. Volunteers offer practical,
emotional, and social support.
What distinguishes Bonaventure House from the other communities
described in this book is that the residents are living with the reality of
death—their own and that of the people with whom they have formed
relationships. Group rituals have emerged to deal with the grieving pro-
cess. For example, there is a balloon-releasing ceremony that functions
as a symbolic letting-go of the resident who has died.
Communities encounter a number of problems when they rely on gov-
ernment funds. Many of the residents of Bonaventure House receive gov-
ernment assistance because of their illness, and many are recovering
substance abusers. To receive government funding for residents who are
recovering from substance abuse, the staff is required to conduct room
searches to maintain a drug-free house. This invasion of personal privacy
threatens the feeling of community that the staff is trying to foster.

Seaside, Florida
Approximately 13 years ago, Duany and Plater-Dyberk planned a new
community in northern Florida (Seaside); since then, they have com-
pleted plans for more than 40 additional communities. Seaside was de-
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 83

veloped to restore a sense of community and an old-fashioned sense of

neighborhood. The town’s design devalues automobile traffic and frees
the streets for people. Porches on each home encourage interaction
among residents. In a survey of Seaside residents, Plas and Lewis (1996)
found that 72 percent of respondents praised the town’s ability to make
them feel at home, and 77 percent described having a positive emotional
connection with others. In addition, 45 percent spoke of a sense of loyalty
to Seaside and its values. The survey’s findings included indications that
the town’s design helped people form emotional connections, the archi-
tecture provided opportunities for exchange with neighbors and feelings
of membership, and the town philosophy encouraged the development
of a sense of community. Finally, 77 percent of interviewees cited the
sense-of-community variable as the most important factor that had
drawn them to the town. The residents believed that the environmental
variables were responsible for the creation of a sense of community.

Other Initiatives
It is not possible to describe all the types of initiatives that people are
involved in throughout the country that could fall under the community-
building rubric. However, I will briefly mention a few more prominent
community-building efforts.
Some Americans are experimenting with co-housing opportunities, a
model borrowed from Denmark approximately 23 years ago in an at-
tempt to regain a lost sense of community (Intentional Communities,
1990). Each community member has a private living space; these spaces
are arranged around a larger main house, where community activities
such as cooking and babysitting occur. Residents have their own kitch-
ens, but at least once a month each resident is required to cook a group
meal. These communities tend to include from 12 to 40 households; de-
cisions are made by consensus; and the members work collectively to
maintain common areas, such as courtyards and green spaces. This
model, which allows for a sense of extended family, could represent the
next evolutionary step in housing.
Colleges and universities are also experimenting with new models for
developing a sense of community. For example, at DePaul University,
The Amate Collegiate House combines community living and volun-
teerism under one roof. Each student who lives in this residence provides
nine hours of volunteer service per week, while living in a community
of peers. The volunteers share their experiences and are challenged by
discussions on justice, faith, and leadership. Many undergraduates in
these settings have become involved in mentoring programs, based on
the knowledge that positive mentors have been shown to provide pro-
84 COMMUNITY BUILDING

tective influences for at-risk adults and adolescents (Rhodes, Contreras,

& Mangelsdorf, 1994).
In Chicago, a neighborhood organization called BUILD has been work-
ing for 20 years on developing community-building efforts to discourage
adolescents from joining gangs. In a study conducted by Thompson and
Jason (1988), school children at risk for joining gangs were provided anti-
gang classroom sessions and after-school activities, such as organized
sports clinics that encouraged intragroup cooperation. In addition,
BUILD staff made it possible for these youth to travel out of their neigh-
borhoods to participate in events and activities with similar groups from
other locations. These after-school activities continued throughout the
school year. About 10 percent of children from this neighborhood ulti-
mately joined gangs, but none of the youth who participated in this
intervention joined a gang. By giving these at-risk children alternative
activities and a sense of fellowship and community, BUILD staff were
able to protect them from the dangerous gang subculture.
Cowan (1993) has called for the introduction of community-building
techniques in workplaces. Managers need to realize that there are alter-
natives to the ubiquitous use of punishment, shame, and meaningless
award programs for motivating workers. Work should be a setting in
which one is motivated by care and concern for others. Workers need to
be able to express their spirit in their jobs and to speak their minds
despite the potential for disapproval. A new attitude and group spirit in
work settings could allow workers to be peaceful and calm, bearing wit-
ness to both successes and failures without being overwhelmed by
doubts or fears.
Religious settings have also been strengthened by community-building
efforts. Jason and Lattimore (1990) provide a case example. In an inner-
city neighborhood in Chicago, over the past 20 years a Roman Catholic
church’s membership had changed from Italian to almost exclusively
African American. During this period of time, the church services had
remained traditional, with the priest assuming the major role and only
minimal participation by members. Many of the African-American mem-
bers of the church had Baptist and Pentecostal religious backgrounds, in
which sermons were loud, members actively participated in religious
services, and a variety of instruments accompanied the music. Members
of the parish noticed that membership and participation in services was
gradually decreasing. With the help of a community psychologist, the
Liturgy Committee developed a short questionnaire to survey the mem-
bers and seek ways of increasing the sense of commitment and com-
munity. After looking over the returned questionnaires, the committee
decided to take steps to increase participation, vigor, and vitality in
church activities. For example, at one Mass a children’s choir was intro-
duced, and at another Mass an adult choir was formed. After attendance
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 85

at Masses markedly increased, the church officials began experimenting

with other structural changes to promote increased member involvement
and ultimately provide a richer source of social support for church mem-
bers.
Many more examples of this community-building spirit can be cited.
Gould Farm provides a secluded retreat and healing milieu for people
who need psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation. Grandmother’s
House, a residential farm in New Mexico, is another example of a com-
munity for individuals recovering from serious mental disorders. Grand-
mother’s House offers life- and job-skills training, such as construction
classes and job placement. Available work includes gardening, dairy
farming, and food production. In 1985, the Mental Patients’ Liberation
Front, a campaigning group run by ex-patients, opened a user-controlled
environment that features self-help, recreational, and advocacy activities.
Members are responsible both for making and for enforcing the rules;
they thus have a stake in the maintenance of this safe and nurturing
environment (Chamberlin, 1996).
A community-building approach is also being used with mentally re-
tarded people at Camphill and Innisfree Village. People First of Illinois,
a self-advocacy movement run by and for persons with developmental
disabilities, also demonstrates these principles (Miller & Keys, 1996).
Wellness communities have been formed in California for people recov-
ering from cancer. The Family Resource Coalition is an advocacy orga-
nization working with community-based planning groups to support
family self-sufficiency. The Gesundheit Institute is building a health-care
community to help people with physical and mental illnesses. In ad-
dition, M. Scott Peck has created The Foundation for Community
Encouragement, which sponsors community-building weekend work-
shops (Peck, 1987).
All these communities were built by people with vision and commit-
ment to an ideal. Psychologists, professionals from other disciplines, and
ordinary citizens have been involved in the creation of these settings.
These types of comprehensive healing environments might exist in many
communities, but these settings have rarely been the focus of the work
of psychologists and other mental health professionals. I believe that
these community-building innovations represent our next frontier.
Comprehensive approaches to community building will one day be
more common. There is a clear need for more of these healing places
where people’s personal journeys can be honored, where helpers and
people helped mutually benefit from the process of living together, and
where humanitarian and democratic values replace economic issues as
the basic goals.
Community-building initiatives need not always involve large groups
of people or include housing initiatives. People’s efforts on the individual
86 COMMUNITY BUILDING

level can help revitalize life settings and lead to a stronger sense of com-
munity. For example, a magazine aptly called Simple Living has sug-
gested to its readership a number of ways of practicing what it calls
simple living. The magazine encourages people to leave their living
rooms and gather with others who have similar interests in living simply.
At these meetings, people discuss books and articles that help them de-
velop personal strategies for bringing more community and creativity
into their lives. They spend time discussing questions such as: How alive
do we feel? What forces keep us from experiencing life in depth? What
are the things that make us happy? How much of our time is spent in
creative activities? How much time do we spend laughing?

Questions for Future Development

Many questions remain unanswered concerning these types of com-
munity-building efforts. For example, most of the communities described
above have been operated on a rather small scale; it is unclear whether
they could be effectively implemented on a larger scale, or whether in-
creased size would encourage the development of power structures, in-
viting abuses of power. Perhaps instead the proliferation of small-scale
projects could lead to a transformation of the larger society.
Many of the communities described above do not emphasize spiritu-
ality, but it is possible that those that emphasize common values,
traditions, and spiritual paths might have an easier time developing
long-term communities. Many of the communities that have been formed
are adult-oriented. More communities are needed that focus on children
and adolescents. There must be more research to determine the elements
that are necessary for community-building efforts to succeed. It is also
important to determine appropriate definitions of success for these new
communities and to identify potential issues of concern in apparently
successful communities. For example, is it possible that some commu-
nities are so strong in their adherence to their central doctrines that they
are suffocating and unhealthy for the personal development of their
members?
Other issues include the best means of disseminating information
about successful communities. We also need to determine in which cases
it is best to have separate communities for different groups and in which
cases it is best to create programs for the general population. Where
might funding come from to support these types of initiatives? And on
a deeper level, is it possible to transform the current tendency of self-
absorption to an external orientation that would support community-
building initiatives?
Many would agree that the form and structure of our associations are
changing and conclude that sense of community must be found in spite
A SENSE OF COMMUNITY 87

of limited support, by relying on temporary networks and provisional

associations. If in fact our society is moving toward an individualistic
future, it still is necessary, if not critical, for voices of a different future
to be raised. In a sense, our most noble task may be to question our
current directions and to provide guideposts for alternative visions, even
if those visions may seem impractical for the immediate future.
 6

Partnerships with Communities

When the deepest part of you becomes engaged in what you are doing,
when your activities and actions become gratifying and purposeful, when
what you do serves both yourself and others, when you do not tire within
but seek the sweet satisfaction of your life and your work, you are doing
what you were meant to be doing. The personality that is engaged in the
work of its soul is buoyant. It is not burdened with negativity. It does not
fear. It experiences purposefulness and meaning. It delights in its work and
in others. It is fulfilled and fulfilling.
—Gary Zukav
The Seat of the Soul

THE COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGIST AS PARTNER AND

SUPPORT
It is time for further exploration of the practical applications of com-
munity psychology. This discipline helps build communities and
strengthen community members’ capacity to solve their own problems.
However, I believe that our efforts would be incomplete—and in some
cases potentially dangerous—if they were not undertaken in true part-
nership with the communities we seek to serve. Community input,
community ownership, and community effort are all required if an in-
tervention is to have long-term success. Too many communities have
been purely the subjects of interventions, rather than their co-creators.
Too often the positive effects of these interventions have faded with the
90 COMMUNITY BUILDING

withdrawal of professional attention. A truly effective intervention cre-

ates a self-sustaining initiative that will nurture community health and
progress long after the intervention is complete. The community psy-
chologist must be available to provide ideas, expertise, resources, and
support before, during, and after the intervention.
This chapter provides a series of examples of interventions undertaken
in partnerships between community psychologists and community mem-
bers. Because I know of so many successful interventions worldwide,
nationwide (for example, see Biglan, 1995; Fawcett, 1990; Hobfoll, 1988;
Winett, 1993), and even in my own city, I have avoided the daunting
task of sorting through them by simply choosing the most representative
interventions in which I have been involved. I am familiar with these
interventions down to the smallest detail, and this option saves me the
difficulty of choosing among the work of so many worthy friends and
colleagues.

THE COMMUNITARIAN MODEL

Before we look at examples of community-based interventions, let us
examine one more contemporary theory of community building. Etzioni
(1993) has offered a community model for restoring values and recom-
mitting ourselves to the social fiber of our communities. Etzioni believes
that Americans have a strong sense of entitlement but a weak sense of
obligation to serve their communities. According to Etzioni and his Com-
munitarian movement, however, there is a core set of values that we can
all agree with, and these moral values should be taught in the schools.
For example, with rare exceptions, telling the truth is better than lying.
Schools need to focus on character formation, and it is easiest to teach
self-control when there are clear rules, organizational structure, and
guidelines, and assignments are feasible and properly rewarded. Parents
have a moral responsibility to invest their time, energy, and other re-
sources in the proper upbringing of their children. Etzioni strongly sup-
ports drug-free work sites, environmental protection, and the reduction
of bias-related hatred and violence.
While I echo Etzioni’s call for greater citizen involvement in the so-
lution of our problems, I must differ with the extent to which he seems
to dismiss non-western core values and traditions. While Etzioni states
that our overarching values need not be western, he also states that our
core values are a commitment to democracy, to the Bill of Rights, and
to mutual respect between ethnic and racial groups. And while he admits
that a variety of heritages should be embraced, he also states that ‘‘those
committed to democracy, individual rights, and mutual respect will find
little comfort in other major cultural traditions’’ (Etzioni, 1993; p. 159).
Although the Communitarian movement of Etzioni has many construc-
PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES 91

tive elements, this message would alienate many who endorse non-
western values and traditions. A variety of cultures have important
contributions to make to our core values. In a more inclusive vision of
our democratic form of government, credit should be given to some Na-
tive American tribes, whose experiments in democracy were known by
some of our Founding Fathers. Moreover, our nation could profit from
the values of ancient cultures, in which everyday life was honored and
people’s lives were lived in balance with nature. Western culture has
excelled at controlling nature, but we need to study earlier cultures to
learn how we can live in harmony with nature.
However, whether we consider our values to be purely democratic or
acknowledge the contributions of other cultures, it is essential that we
clarify them. Before planning and implementing our interventions, we
must ensure that they are in harmony with the values of the communities
we serve. If there is such clarity and harmony, our direction will be surer,
and our enthusiasm and energy will be less likely to be compromised
by inner conflict.

RESEARCH TO ENACT LEGISLATION

The first category of intervention I examine is the use of research to
support legislation designed to promote the health and well-being of
individuals and communities.

The Pooper-Scooper Caper

My first attempt in this area began with a subject that is neither schol-
arly nor politically chic: dog litter. The inspiration for the dog-litter in-
tervention came from a Chicago alderman’s representative who made a
presentation at one of my community psychology classes. I asked the
representative what community problem generated the greatest number
of resident complaints and personally pledged to work on whatever
problem he identified. When the representative uttered the words ‘‘un-
collected dog feces,’’ my mouth literally fell open in astonishment. In
addition to detracting from the aesthetic value of the community, un-
collected dog droppings represent a health hazard because they can
spread infection and disease.
During the study, researchers observed, for five hours each day on one
city block, the number of dogs, the number of dogs who defecated, and
the number of dog defecations picked up by dog owners (Jason, Zolik
& Matese, 1979). In addition, each morning the researchers collected and
weighed all defecations that had not been picked up by dog owners.
During the seven-day baseline phase, only 5 percent of dog owners were
92 COMMUNITY BUILDING

observed picking up after their dogs, and more than 19 pounds of dog
feces were deposited in the target block.
When anti-litter signs were posted during the second phase of the
project, relatively few changes occurred on the criterion measures. How-
ever, during the next phase, when all dog owners were given instructions
and demonstrations on the use of a plastic bag to pick up dog feces, 82
percent of owners picked up after their dogs. These findings indicate
that the prompting intervention, which applied both instructions and
modeling, effectively motivated dog owners to dispose of their dogs’
wastes properly. A 25-month follow-up indicated that there was an 89
percent reduction in dog litter at the intervention site.
A Chicago alderman asked me to present the study results at City Hall,
in support of a proposed ordinance that would require dog owners to
have pooper-scoopers in their possession when they walked their dogs.
This ordinance was passed by the City Council, making Chicago the first
city in the country to pass a pooper-scooper ordinance. Many other cities
soon adopted similar ordinances. The alderman to whom I had originally
provided the data mentioned to me that my study, which received con-
siderable media exposure, had helped change the politicians’ perception
of this problem, which they had previously considered trivial. The al-
derman also told me that, because I had been willing to study this issue
and document the extent of the problem, legislators were willing—for
the first time—to seriously consider enacting legislation to help alleviate
the dog litter problem. Later, our team worked with community organ-
izations in Chicago to help them implement campaigns to rid their neigh-
borhoods of uncollected dog droppings (Jason & Zolik, 1985).

The Illinois Child Passenger Restraint Law

Another example of this type of work—on a far more serious topic—is
a study I undertook with a colleague in collaboration with the Child
Passenger Restraint Association (Jason & Rose, 1984). Each year
thousands of children are injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents. In
fact, for children under age one, it is one of the leading causes of death.
The majority of these injuries and fatalities could be prevented if appro-
priate child restraints were used. Legislation mandating the use of such
restraints represents a viable strategy for dealing with this pressing social
problem. Our study evaluated the results of sending technical informa-
tion to Illinois state senators prior to a vote on a Child Passenger Re-
straint Bill. We wrote a letter to the senators, which provided them with
data supporting the Child Passenger Restraint Bill: Between 1975 and
1981, 140 children in Illinois were killed and 25,828 were injured in au-
tomobile accidents; during a nine-month period, an estimated 93 percent
of Illinois children were not placed in appropriate restraints when they
PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES 93

rode in automobiles; and, in a citizen survey, 78 percent of adults ques-

tioned responded that they supported passage of the Child Passenger
Restraint Bill. The majority of senators receiving the letter voted for pas-
sage of the bill.
On July 1, 1983, the Illinois Child Passenger Restraint Law went into
effect. Any child under age four is now required to be secured in an
approved child restraint system while riding in a vehicle, and any child
between the ages of four and six is required to be placed in either an
approved child restraint system or a seat belt. As a result of the law, it
is estimated that infant use of appropriate restraints has increased from
49 to 74 percent, and for children aged one to four years, that use of
these restraints has increased from 13 to 42 percent. After the law went
into effect, deaths of children in Illinois due to traffic accidents over a
two-year period decreased by 53 percent (Fawcett, Seekins, & Jason,
1987).

MEDIA-BASED HEALTH-PROMOTION EFFORTS

A practical example of the productive use of technology, media-based
health-promotion interventions have the potential to reach large seg-
ments of the population. About 15 years ago, I became interested in
proactively working with the media by exploring ways of altering in-
appropriate advertising (Jason & Klich, 1982) and decreasing excessive
television viewing (Jason, 1985). These early experiences gave me a con-
ceptual foundation upon which to design and launch a series of large-
scale, community-based preventive media interventions. Eight are
described below.

Smoking-Cessation Interventions
In 1980 I was asked to serve on the Smoking and Health Committee
of the Chicago Lung Association. The committee chairperson had known
of my development of school-based smoking prevention programs (Ja-
son, 1979) and my evaluations of methods for establishing non-smoking
sections (Jason & Savio, 1978). After serving on this committee for several
years, Larry Gruder and I proposed a new direction for the association’s
smoking cessation initiatives. We recommended to John Kirkwood, the
Executive Director of the Chicago Lung Association, that an appropriate
goal for 1984 would be to launch a media-based initiative that would
reduce barriers to participation in association-sponsored smoking ces-
sation clinics, which had only been attractinog a small group of smokers.
Donna Stein, Marketing Director of The Prudential Insurance Company’s
health maintenance organization (PruCare HMO), generously agreed to
underwrite a large-scale smoking cessation program.
94 COMMUNITY BUILDING

During January 1985, we worked with Channel 5, the NBC affiliate in

Chicago, on adapting the American Lung Association’s self-help program,
‘‘Freedom From Smoking in 20 Days,’’ for presentation on the evening
news. The series was broadcast on Channel 5’s 4:30 P.M. and 10:00 P.M.
news broadcasts. Approximately 500,000 viewers watched the 10:00 P.M.
broadcast. Fifty thousand self-help manuals, which represented a step-by-
step procedure for gradually reducing smoking and ultimately quitting,
were distributed in more than 300 True Value Hardware stores.
There were 431 companies who participated in the program by getting
manuals. The Chicago Lung Association conducted twice-weekly sup-
port group meetings at 21 work sites during the three-week program.
Forty-one percent of those who attended the group meetings were
abstinent by the end of the program, but only 21 percent of non-
attendees, who were provided with self-help manuals and watched the
television broadcasts, had quit (Jason et al., 1987). At a one-year follow-
up, the abstinence rate was the same (21 percent) for those provided
group meetings, media intervention, and manuals and those who just
received the media intervention and manuals (Jason et al., 1987). A rea-
sonable conclusion is that brief group interventions must be followed by
ongoing support and reinforcement. This large-scale project was devel-
oped and implemented without state or federal funds. A number of vol-
untary associations, community groups, and for-profit corporations
worked eagerly on this project and donated resources because each
group reaped enormous publicity gains from its sponsorship of this pop-
ular community intervention.
This successful first effort completed, we sponsored another smoking
cessation program in November 1985, again with PruCare HMO and the
Chicago Lung Association. During this second project, WGN-Channel
9—a superstation whose programming is beamed via satellite through-
out the United States and Central America—carried the 20-day program.
For this program, 100,000 manuals were distributed through True Value
Hardware stores (Jason, Tait, Goodman, Buckenberger & Gruder, 1988).
Nielsen ratings conducted during the month in which the health pro-
motion program was aired indicated that approximately 286,000 and
583,000 people in the Chicago area watched the 12:00 noon and 9:00 P.M.
broadcasts of the program, respectively. Epidemiological data suggest
that approximately one-third of these viewers were likely to be smokers.
The January and November 1985 interventions reached an estimated
150,000 smokers; if only 10 percent (a very conservative estimate)
achieved long-term abstinence, then our programs helped 15,000 people
quit smoking. The public health implications of these findings are im-
portant in that the lifetime health savings from the prevention of chronic
diseases (such as cancer) for each middle-aged adult who quits smoking
is conservatively estimated to be $40,000. If 15,000 people stopped smok-
PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES 95

ing, this would create an estimated $600,000,000 in health-care cost sav-

ings (Oster et al., 1984). In other words, these two health promotion
programs, which relied solely on resources from the local community,
potentially saved hundreds of millions of dollars. This does not even
begin to assess the value of the prolongation of individual lives.
In spring 1987, Brian Flay and other researchers, including myself,
received federal funds to mount a third televised smoking cessation in-
tervention, which was broadcast for 20 days on the local Chicago ABC
television station. Because in the first study we found that many partic-
ipants in the group meetings who had stopped smoking by the end of
the program relapsed later (Jason et al., 1987), for this study DePaul
University researchers conducted 12 monthly follow-up support groups
and provided incentives in the form of a lottery for participants at work
sites throughout the Chicago metropolitan area (Jason et al., 1989). At a
24-month follow-up, the rate of abstinence for participants who attended
the group meetings, watched the media presentation, and received man-
uals was significantly higher than the rate for those who only watched
the media presentation and received manuals (30 percent compared to
19 percent) (Salina et al., 1994). These results indicate that follow-up
groups and incentives helped reduce the erosion effects that frequently
occur at the completion of smoking cessation interventions. The media
can be used to reach thousands of people and to prepare them for health
promotion intervention. Support groups can then reinforce the messages
from the media and self-help materials and provide the structure, rein-
forcement, and encouragement to make behavior changes (see Jason, Mc-
Mahon et al., 1995).

Smoking Prevention in African-American Communities

In November 1989, a comprehensive prevention program was imple-
mented to decrease the incidence of new smokers within the African-
American adolescent population in Chicago. This program combined a
school-based curriculum with a comprehensive media intervention
(Kaufman, Jason, Sawlski, & Halpert, 1994). The Board of Education sup-
plied 472 elementary schools in Chicago with copies of ‘‘Smoking De-
serves a Smart Answer,’’ a curriculum developed by the American Lung
Association.
The curriculum was introduced into the schools in conjunction with
the launching of a media intervention, which was divided into three
components. The first component was implemented through The Chicago
Defender, a Chicago-based newspaper with a daily circulation of 30,000
to predominantly African-American readers. Publishers of The Chicago
Defender agreed to print a smoking prevention curriculum on their
weekly children’s page.
96 COMMUNITY BUILDING

The second component of the media intervention was disseminated

through WGCI, a Chicago-based radio station with a predominantly Af-
rican-American listening audience of more than one million people.
WGCI ran eight smoking prevention public service announcements dur-
ing October and November 1989. In addition, WGCI aired a call-in talk
show with a focus on helping parents improve communications with
their children, thereby empowering parents to help their children combat
environmental factors influencing them to smoke. WGCI also promoted
and aired the winning entries of a Smoking Prevention Rap Contest for
school children. The entries were required to convey a message encour-
aging their peers not to start smoking cigarettes. Winners were chosen
from five different age groups. Grand prize winners from all age groups
had their raps aired on WGCI’s Friday Night Rap Show; the overall
winner was a guest DJ on that show.
In the third component of the media intervention, Gannett Outdoors,
the owners of approximately two-hundred billboards in the Chicago
area, sponsored a smoking prevention poster contest. As with the rap
contest, the children learned about this competition through announce-
ments in all Chicago public schools. The rules of the contest required
children to develop posters conveying messages designed to discourage
others from starting to smoke. A winner was chosen from each of five
age groups, and Gannett turned each of the winning posters into a bill-
board displayed in five different locations in the Chicago area. In addi-
tion to receiving individual prizes, each of the winners was presented
with a certificate and a prize for his or her school at a special assembly.
The results of this intervention are encouraging: Students decreased
their use of tobacco and reported lower family use of cigarettes, alcohol,
and marijuana. My colleagues and I believe these favorable effects are a
product of the community-wide, comprehensive nature of the interven-
tion. They demonstrate the success that we may achieve through part-
nership between researchers and community members. The reports of
decreased family substance use indicate that parents’ habits changed af-
ter they became involved with their children’s homework assignments.
In fact, many parents participated in the radio and newspaper compo-
nents, to the extent that they listened to WGCI’s call-in show and read
The Chicago Defender’s anti-smoking messages. These results also support
the hypothesis that family involvement is effective in implementing sub-
stance abuse interventions.
Also vital to the success of the project were the relationships among
the researchers and the Chicago Lung Association, community organi-
zations, schools, and the media. All were true collaborators and partic-
ipants in this project. These partnerships seem especially important when
one considers that the target population was urban African-American
children, rather than the more common target population of white mid-
PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES 97

dle-class suburbanites. The WGCI rap contest is a good example of ef-

fective cultural awareness. The intervention made use of a preexisting,
common, and enjoyable activity of urban African-American children, in
order to motivate their interest and make learning fun. The students
were able to use their own language and style, thus making the anti-
smoking message meaningful and memorable.

Drug Abuse Prevention

Our next study was of a statewide substance-abuse prevention pro-
gram, Kids InTouch, targeted at children and parents, which was initi-
ated by the Illinois Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse in
spring 1990 (Jason, Pokorny, Lahmar, & Bennetto, 1994). The first com-
ponent of this intervention was an ‘‘In Touch’’ supplement in the Chicago
Tribune, which was distributed prior to the telecast of a daily series of
news segments. Circulation on the day of distribution was 1.2 million
copies. The Tribune supplement provided a daily format that coincided
with the upcoming news series. In addition, the supplement included
family exercises and anti-drug drawings and messages by students. The
supplement contained a statewide resource guide to substance abuse pre-
vention activities and other supportive services, state and national refer-
ral services, and a phone number for parent training workshop sites.
A daily series on WGN television was aired on the 12:00 noon and 9:00
P.M. news. The purpose of the WGN television component was to build
awareness, increase sensitivity to issues of substance abuse, and an-
nounce parent training groups throughout Illinois. The six-part news
series combined facts about drug initiation, substance abuse, and chil-
dren of parents dependent on alcohol and other drugs. Special interest
profiles of Chicago families who had addressed these issues were also
included. Information about parent training workshops was given at the
close of each news segment.
Approximately six hundred human service agency staff and commu-
nity workers were trained to conduct the parent training workshops,
which were open to all residents of Illinois. In comparison to a control
group of parents, those participating in the parent training workshops
showed significant improvement in alcohol and other drug knowledge
and in parenting skills.
Another component of this multilevel intervention was the ‘‘High Top
Tower’’ series, which aired Saturday mornings on Chicago’s Channel 32
for six consecutive weeks, beginning on November 10, 1990. Other sta-
tions across the state aired the program on different days and in a variety
of time slots. Since the series was intended to reach children prior to
drug initiation, the content of the weekly broadcasts addressed such is-
98 COMMUNITY BUILDING

sues as self-esteem, tactics for resisting use, problem solving, and alter-
natives to drugs.
The final program component was a school-based curriculum that con-
sisted of 12 classroom activities designed for children ages 5 to 12. Like
the ‘‘High Top Tower’’ television series, it covered such topics as self-
esteem, family structure, health and safety, and information about alco-
hol and drugs. The school-based curriculum became available to school
teachers across the state in the winter of the 1990–91 school year. State-
wide, 2,137 copies of the curriculum were distributed.

Stress-Management Intervention
During spring 1986, WGN television joined the Chicago Lung Asso-
ciation, PruCare Health Maintenance Organization, and True Value
Hardware stores in producing a stress management program (Jason,
Curran, Goodman, & Smith, 1989). The program was aired daily on the
12:00 noon and 9:00 P.M. WGN news. At True Value Hardware stores in
the Chicago area, 170,000 free manuals entitled ‘‘Success Over Stress’’
were distributed to the public. The manuals were designed to help view-
ers follow the daily TV broadcasts and to provide supplementary ex-
ercises and activities. The daily broadcasts featured the following
components: defining stress, describing the body’s response to stressors,
identifying major life stressors, assessing one’s social support network,
and identifying a variety of behavioral, cognitive, and psychological cop-
ing strategies for dealing with stress.
This primary preventive program was developed and funded by local
sponsors, which received valuable publicity as a result. The television
program on stress management was so popular it was aired during
‘‘sweeps week,’’ a time when television stations closely monitor their
audiences.

Nutrition and Weight Reduction Intervention

During a three-week period in fall 1986, another large-scale health pro-
motion program cosponsored by the Chicago Lung Association was
launched on WGN. This series featured daily reports on the 12:00 noon
and 9:00 P.M. news concerning healthy nutritional practices and effective
exercises (Jason, Greiner, Naylor, Johnson, & Van Egeren, 1991). In ad-
dition to this media component, the intervention included the distribu-
tion of 100,000 self-help manuals on the series throughout Chicago at
True Value Hardware stores. As in the stress reduction program, all re-
sources were generated from the local community. One component of
this overall study involved a group of viewers who had weight prob-
lems. A randomly selected group attended ongoing weight-control self-
PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES 99

help groups, watched the television show, and read the self-help
manuals. This group succeeded in losing more weight than a comparable
group, which was only exposed to the media program and manuals and
did not attend meetings.

HIV/AIDS Prevention in Families

‘‘Families InTouch: Understanding AIDS,’’ which was partially funded
by the Centers for Disease Control, was a multimedia health promotion
strategy targeted toward HIV/AIDS prevention within the family unit
(Crawford et al., 1990). In fall 1988, for six consecutive days, five- to ten-
minute segments on AIDS and the family were televised on the 12:00
noon and 9:00 P.M. news broadcasts on WGN. In addition, a 16-page
supplement appeared in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. On the Sunday be-
fore the telecast, 1,200,000 copies of the Chicago Tribune were distributed.
‘‘Families InTouch’’ provided factual information about AIDS, including
means of transmission and prevention. It focused on improving the fam-
ily’s effectiveness in educating its members about the dangers of drug
abuse and high-risk sexual practices by providing information relevant
to the family and interactive exercises for parents and children designed
to enhance communication, problem solving, decision making, and val-
ues clarification. The exercises were included in the Chicago Tribune AIDS
Prevention Supplement. The ‘‘Families in Touch: Understanding AIDS’’
program represented a departure from most other AIDS prevention pro-
grams in its attempt to incorporate the use of the media as an interven-
tion strategy and the targeting of the family as the unit of change.
Children who watched the program spoke more about sexual issues
within their families and became more knowledgeable about AIDS.

FORMING COMMUNITY ALLIANCES

There are abundant opportunities to find local resources to develop
and implement these types of large-scale preventive and health-
promotion interventions. However, the success of this approach depends
on associating and working with networks of supportive grassroots or-
ganizations. Early on I developed a relationship with the Chicago Lung
Association’s Smoking and Health Committee. This organization pro-
vided entry into a number of other critical organizations. When the com-
mittee set as a priority the launching of a media-based smoking cessation
intervention, we were fortunate that a progressive HMO was simulta-
neously seeking to launch a similar project. Once these alliances were
formed, we gained access to a number of television stations and other
100 COMMUNITY BUILDING

businesses. After the success of our first program, we had easy entry into
other television stations and organizations.
Key factors in our success were patience and readiness to use a vast
set of networks, each of which gained direct, tangible benefits from their
participation. For a number of these interventions, the Chicago Lung
Association and PruCare Health Maintenance Organization provided
staff to develop the programs and funds to print the manuals, in
exchange for considerable media coverage. Approximately two-hundred
15- and 30-second promotions aired prior to many of the interventions,
and the primary sponsors were identified in each promotion. True Value
Hardware also provided financial resources in exchange for publicity on
television, association with a worthy public health effort, and potential
customers coming into their stores to pick up manuals. Each of the spon-
sors had its organization’s name printed prominently on the self-help
manuals and promotional materials. The television stations were iden-
tified with a credible community-based health promotion program,
which helped to attract new viewers.
The media represents an excellent forum to alert thousands of com-
munity residents to health-promotion initiatives. Once alerted to these
programs, participants can pick up materials and resources that reinforce
the concepts broadcast and encourage opportunities for practice. Perhaps
the most exciting possibilities lie in more interactive interventions.
Groups can be assembled to watch the programs together; or participants
can receive additional support by being put in touch with helpers, self-
help groups, or other community agencies. Many efforts to alter addic-
tive behaviors have been unsuccessful in producing long-term change.
Perhaps by lowering barriers to participation in programs, and by de-
vising imaginative ways to enable participants to continue receiving sup-
port and encouragement following the end of the media programs, we
will be able to engender sustained improvement.
 7

Wisdom Traditions as Our Guide

What more chilling commentary on the modern world could there be than
that most people die unprepared for death, as they lived, unprepared for
life.
—Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

BREAKDOWN AND TRANSFORMATION

There is considerable evidence that we are witnessing a breakdown in
the psychological sense of community. Putnam (1995) has documented
dramatic decreases in the number of organizations that involve civic par-
ticipation, such as the Elks, the League of Women Voters, and bowling
leagues. More people are participating in solitary activities, using wide-
spread technologies such as TVs, VCRs, and stereos. Constant restruc-
turing within American corporations has resulted in unprecedented
profits for shareholders, but hundreds of thousands of American workers
have lost their jobs (Dugger, 1995). People in third-world countries aspire
to America’s economic development ideology because they see its ma-
terialistic lifestyle as an antidote to their poverty. Whether one looks at
rates of divorce, homelessness, or crime, there are severe problems facing
our society, and at least some of it can be blamed on the individualistic
preoccupations of contemporary citizens of industrialized countries. In
chapter 2, I argued that a cluster of vulnerabilities has converged during
102 COMMUNITY BUILDING

this century to separate us from our past ancestry, our vital symbols,
and our roles and communities.

ROLES OF THE COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGIST

The field of community psychology emerged in the late 1960s. It rep-
resented an effort by some psychologists to become more active in help-
ing to solve some of the social and community problems that confronted
our country during that turbulent period. Duffy and Wong (1996) re-
cently described the characteristics that distinguish this branch of psy-
chology: emphasis on prevention rather than treatment and on strengths
and competencies rather than weaknesses; an ecological perspective that
examines the relationships between people and their environment; ap-
preciation and respect for diversity and differences; stress on empow-
erment, which involves enhancing the processes by which people gain
control over their lives; emphasis on action research and social change,
which provide more alternatives; collaboration with other disciplines;
and reliance on interventions that build a sense of community.
In the field of community psychology, there have been several ap-
proaches proposed to help deal with this country’s enormous social
problems. For example, generic primary preventive strategies include
modifying the environment by such methods as increasing social support
or decreasing the effects of stress; eliminating stressful agents by such
methods as legislative initiatives or psychological interventions; and
strengthening the competence of the host to deal with stressors (Gesten
& Jason, 1987).
Cook and Shadish (1986) have suggested that there are three ways of
implementing social change. The most successful model involves making
incremental modifications in existing social programs. Few policies are
approved if they call for more than marginal changes in the status quo.
A bolder approach is the use of demonstration programs to test the ef-
ficacy of a planned innovation; however, many successful demonstration
programs have never been widely replicated. On the other end of the
spectrum lie the interventions that change basic social structures, but
these types of changes are rare. Albee (1986), a supporter of this model,
believes that we will always have undesirable levels of psychopathology
as long as we have exploitation; imperialism; excessive concentration of
economic power and nationalism; and institutions that perpetuate pow-
erlessness, poverty, discrimination, sexism, racism, and ageism. Al-
though the elimination of these conditions is a laudable goal, this book
argues that only a transformation of our values will provide sufficient
motivation and willingness to work on the forces that cause unequal
distribution of the world’s resources.
WISDOM TRADITIONS AS OUR GUIDE 103

Many advocates of community psychology have adopted a compe-

tence-building approach that involves systematically teaching clusters of
personal or social skills to promote competence or prevent psychological
dysfunction. An alternative model focuses on empowerment, which in-
volves strategies to enhance justice and people’s sense of control over
their own destinies (Rappaport, 1981).
The paradigm that has captured the attention of many community
psychologists is the ecological model (Mann, 1978). Lewin’s (1951) sem-
inal work emphasized the interdependence of the person and the envi-
ronment in determining behavior, and Barker (1968) continued this work
with his emphasis on non-psychological behavior. Moos (1984) and Sar-
ason, Carroll, Maton, Cohen, and Lorentz (1977) have continued to elab-
orate upon the ecological approach. Kelly and his colleagues, particularly
Ed Trickett, are some of the leading theorists in this fascinating line of
research (Kelly, 1977, 1985, 1987, 1990; Trickett, Kelly, & Vincent, 1985).
Kelly’s goal has been to develop theories of how people become effective
and adaptive in varied social environments. The ecological paradigm is
a guiding framework for understanding behavior in interaction with its
social and cultural contexts.21
Kingry-Westergaard and Kelly (1990) have recently suggested that a
fundamental principle of ecological approaches is the need to use mul-
tiple methods to understand the complex qualities of relationships and
systems. An important method used in the ecological approach is to
increase our understanding of what we claim to know through a collab-
orative relationship: Concepts and hypotheses are developed and tested
by both researcher and participants. The ecological endeavor is a discov-
ery process in which researcher and participants share the different con-
structions of their contexts, learn about events and processes that help
define their understanding of these contexts, and work together to define
the research activity.
Much of the attention of community theorists has been directed to the
skills and abilities that children and adolescents need, as well as, to a
somewhat lesser degree, the opportunities they have to display such
competencies and be rewarded for engaging in positive behavior. Un-
fortunately, the ecological context does not always receive the attention
it deserves. We regularly see youngsters with clear social skill deficits.
In observing their difficulties we are motivated to find ways of being
helpful—often through assessment and intervention. This desire to do
something can at times prevent us from understanding the macro-level
forces that have produced the social incompetence; without attention to
these systemic variables, our efforts are likely to be less comprehensive
and less effective.
104 COMMUNITY BUILDING

Operation Snowball
There are many excellent school-based drug abuse prevention pro-
grams that operate on the premise that certain skills and abilities can be
taught and that youngsters who have learned effective life skills will be
more resistant to using drugs. These programs focus on the individual
student. Family bonding is sometimes considered in these programs;
however, the number of studies that take this factor into consideration
is exceedingly small.
As an alternative, schools and communities—as partners—can assess
norms within the schools and begin changing the standards for accept-
ability. Operation Snowball in Illinois is an example of one such pro-
gram. Youngsters and adult role models spend time together developing
school programming that extends beyond one classroom or one series of
lessons on drug abuse and emphasizes constructive messages, values,
and beliefs. When participants actively set up alternative drug-free set-
tings such as dances and fundraisers, the drug-free ideology is woven
into adolescent notions of what is appropriate. In addition, when young-
sters take on the task of helping others, the system slowly begins to
change. The helping roles represent a countercultural movement,
launched into a subculture that formerly endorsed inappropriate risk-
taking behaviors.
Also possible is a more radical approach, one that views the school
within its larger context. The values of our society directly affect the
ways in which children make decisions about a variety of health-
enhancing and health-compromising behaviors. For example, if society
allows children easy access to dangerous substances, then we are sending
a clear message of permission to our youth. If our competency-enhancing
programs are situated within environments that openly contradict these
programs’ primary messages, their effectiveness will be limited.

The Woodridge Project: A System-Wide Intervention

Let me be more specific and provide an illustration of a system-wide
intervention. For a number of years I have been interested in developing
strategies to decrease the incidence of smoking by children, of whom an
estimated four thousand begin the habit each day (Rhodes & Jason,
1988). In 1988, I switched my attention to the merchants and store owners
who sell cigarettes to minors even though this transaction is against the
law. When our community’s merchants openly sell cigarettes to minors,
they are sending the insidious message that it is acceptable for children
to be smoking. Giving children easy access to cigarettes is reprehensible,
since smoking accounts for more than a quarter of a million deaths in
this country annually (Rhodes & Jason, 1988). In my study, I found that
WISDOM TRADITIONS AS OUR GUIDE 105

about 80 percent of the stores in the Chicago area that sold cigarettes
sold them to minors. These findings were extensively publicized by the
media in the Chicago area (Jason, Ji, Anes, & Xaverious, 1992). The state
law prohibiting such sales was not effective because a police officer first
would have to observe a minor purchasing cigarettes and then take the
store owner to the police station to process the complaint. A criminal
trial could then take place—a time-consuming process for the police of-
ficer. It is not surprising that police officers rarely arrested merchants for
this offense.
Officer Talbot of Woodridge, a suburb of Chicago, contacted me after
my study had been publicized. He said that the Chief of Police had
addressed this problem in his community by sending a letter to all mer-
chants explaining the Illinois law prohibiting cigarette sales to minors
under 18. I told Officer Talbot that, based on my experience, this letter
would probably not change the merchants’ behavior. We decided to
work together to investigate the problem and its possible solutions. Over
the next two years, we sent several minors on a regular basis into all the
community’s stores to assess the extent to which cigarettes were sold to
minors. In August 1988, 70 percent of the community’s stores sold cig-
arettes to minors. At this point, we began developing legislation to attack
this problem. In November 1988, the sales rate was 60 percent. In Feb-
ruary 1989, the sales rate was 79 percent.
Working with these data, Officer Talbot and I helped draft Wood-
ridge’s Tobacco Licensing and Enforcement Law, which was passed on
May 1, 1989. The law required merchants to buy a license to sell ciga-
rettes. This feature of the law had several benefits. First, the money could
be used to repeatedly monitor compliance with the law. Second, the first
time store owners violated the law, they were warned; the second time,
their license was suspended, causing them a significant loss of income.
The law required all vending machines to be outfitted with a special
lock, which could be opened only by an employee. Therefore, minors no
longer had open access to cigarette machines. If store employees sold
cigarettes to minors, they would be ticketed. In addition, although state
law allowed this practice, merchants could not rely on a note from a
parent saying the purchase was for an adult according to the city law.
In June 1989, soon after passage of the law, we found that 33 percent
of stores sold cigarettes to minors. First offense warnings were issued to
these stores. The remaining stores that refused to sell cigarettes to minors
received letters from the police thanking them for their compliance. We
sampled again in August 1989, and 36 percent of the stores sold to mi-
nors; half were repeat offenders from June. The repeat offenders received
a one-day cigarette license suspension and a $400 fine. No merchant
contested the penalty. In November 1989, and January 1990, we repeated
our study. None of the stores sold to minors.
106 COMMUNITY BUILDING

The significant finding is that we found less than 5 percent of mer-

chants sold cigarettes to minors in Woodridge for over a year after pas-
sage and enforcement of the sales enforcement and vendor licensing
provisions. Presampling education and awareness efforts (in the form of
the police department’s informative letter) were ineffective. Woodridge
is the first community in the nation to document sustained reductions in
illegal cigarette sales to minors as a result of legislation and enforcement
(Jason, Ji, Anes, & Birkhead, 1991). During all phases of the study, I met
with Officer Talbot and other police personnel to develop each step of
this collaborative project. When baseline data indicated high sales levels,
that information was used to gain support for the legislation. After pas-
sage of the legislation, continued sampling indicated that the problem,
although reduced, still existed. These data helped convince our team of
the need for continuous monitoring and feedback to the merchants. Most
important, two years after passage of this legislation, cigarette smoking
among Woodridge youth had been reduced by more than 50 percent
(Jason et al., 1991). In other words, when access to cigarettes grew more
difficult, fewer youths began experimenting with them.
In 1996 we conducted another follow-up investigation and found sig-
nificantly less cigarette smoking in Woodridge and another community
with similar laws, compared to communities without such laws. In ad-
dition, in Woodridge there was significantly less marijuana use as well.
In towns with enforcement, the adolescents said that over the past year
they had been approached less frequently by someone trying to give or
sell them illegal drugs (Jason, Berk, Schnopp-Wyatt, & Talbot, 1997).
Since passage of the legislation, we have been approached by dozens
of surrounding communities interested in initiating similar campaigns.
In addition, congressional hearings concerning cigarette sales to minors
were held in 1990, and Officer Talbot presented our study at these hear-
ings. In spring 1990, Health and Human Services Secretary Sullivan pro-
posed a national legislative initiative to reduce cigarette sales to minors.
Many of the major features of this proposed legislation were adopted
from the Woodridge study. In 1992 the Synar Amendment was passed,
and our work in Woodridge was used as a model that states around the
country could follow in solving this problem. In addition, Officer Talbot
became a national authority on this topic and has continued to consult
with federal organizations and cities throughout the United States on
ways of helping them reduce illegal sales of cigarettes to minors.

THE ECO-TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL

I have coined the term ecological transformational, or eco–transforma-
tional, to describe the types of work described in this book. I believe that
community psychologists function as visionaries and mystics by ident-
WISDOM TRADITIONS AS OUR GUIDE 107

ifying the issues that we as a society will need to face and deal with in
the future. Community psychologists also engage in archeological exca-
vations to better understand the historical, philosophical, and epistemo-
logical issues that contribute to our current social problems. The field of
community psychology is predicated on the assumption that some of our
most complex and intransigent social and community problems can be
synergistically transformed by the recognition, appreciation, and utiliza-
tion of the assets and inner resources that already exist within social set-
tings. This function represents the alchemist role of the community
psychologist. And finally, the discipline espouses a commitment to pub-
lic articulation of our values; by such action, we explicitly adopt the dis-
tinct role of advocate, while many other social scientists adopt more
impartial program evaluation roles.
Two questions central to any intervention—and to intervention pro-
cesses as a whole—are whether there are fundamental developmental
and psychological initiations that we as human beings need to progress
through, and whether certain core values may underlie our efforts to
help others. Without road maps or guides, it may be difficult to design
interventions that address the structural issues that create so much iso-
lation and alienation. To the extent that we are dealing with a crisis of
values and a breakdown in the psychological sense of community, our
methods of conceptualizing our problems may require historical and
philosophical theories as anchor points for deeper analysis.
In more primitive times, there were rituals, customs, and rites that
helped ease the transition from the dependent status of youth to the
more independent role of adulthood. Some of the problems of our youth
may represent an attempt to deal with the loss of the myths and rituals
that gave previous generations a more tangible sense of meaning within
society. Some of our efforts could be used to explore the remnants of
ancient mythologies that still exist within our youth and to actively help
them recreate myths that are meaningful to their families and commu-
nities.
Many of our social interventions and conceptualizations of community
problems have omitted reference to heuristic ideas within the fields of
history, philosophy, and mythology. Some social scientists consider such
ideas to be incompatible with the scientific method. However, it can be
argued that a broadened conceptualization yields many benefits. For ex-
ample, each individual life has its psychological and metaphysical
themes, and their resolution greatly influences the ability to participate
in a communal or family setting. Because each person is on his or her
own unique voyage and has different shadows to contend with, it is not
unusual for conflict to occur among those who are trying to create new
collective settings. Although each journey is a solo mission, a critical task
along that journey is to learn to live together in community. This is an
108 COMMUNITY BUILDING

element often neglected by those describing the spiritual journey: the

creation of social settings that provide a sense of community to all mem-
bers and a sense of meaning to one’s spiritual yearnings, and altruism
that refuses to be preoccupied with one’s own individual needs.
The social competence approach is limited by its ahistorical and phil-
osophical tenets. For example, many interventions within this model can
help individuals become more independent and raise their self-esteem;
however, this result can reinforce tendencies to become less intercon-
nected with family and community. The ecological perspective does not
indicate which groups to collaborate with, and it is apparent that there
are many community groups and organizations whose missions are di-
rected toward control and domination of other people and of the envi-
ronment. As for the empowerment model, again the question arises as
to which groups to help empower.
The wisdom traditions could provide guides for energizing the visions
of a new paradigm. An eco-transformational model, the term that I use
for this new paradigm, suggests that interventions should be sensitive
to the vulnerabilities discussed in chapter 2. Eco-transformational inter-
ventions help people become aware of their biological urges, the primi-
tive shadows that have both aggressive tendencies and creative and
playful parts. Eco-transformational interventions support protective self-
regulatory processes that channel these energizing forces into productive
cultural outcomes. Eco-transformational programs support our intercon-
nectedness with the natural world and help us live in balance with na-
ture, as opposed to trying to control her. This model supports scientific
and technological investigations that help explore the mysteries of life,
and reaffirms and validates the importance of rituals, traditions, and
initiatory processes that help people and their communities mature and
develop intimate bonds. Finally, eco-transformational interventions at-
tempt to recapture the sense of community that provides responsibility,
mission, and commitment to the welfare of one’s community. The wis-
dom traditions speak to deep sources within our souls. Our analyses and
social programs would be immeasurably enriched by learning how to
honor our thoughts (through Buddhist practices), love our bodies (as
practiced in the goddess traditions), appreciate the world of nature (as
in Native American traditions), care for those in need (based on ethics
from the great western religions) (Spretnak, 1991), and develop a robust
sense of community.
These foundational values inspire our enthusiasm and commitment to
a particular problem; they tap energizing components that sustain long-
term involvements with social issues; they center our actions and allow
us to persevere despite numerous obstacles; and they establish visionary,
transcendent values for a more protected and connected future. Why do
people feel so intensely when they listen to music, look at a piece of art,
WISDOM TRADITIONS AS OUR GUIDE 109

or undergo a religious experience? Why do some people spend count-

less hours raising funds for causes or devoting their lives to the attain-
ment of an ideal, when there are few monetary incentives for such
activities? Foundational values can provide passion, zeal, and commit-
ment. These inward forces sustain and nourish the voyages to often
unattainable shores that represent our greatest challenges, our noblest
ventures, and our most human activities. If our work touches these gen-
erative springs, it will have a better chance of capturing the public’s
imagination and the decision maker’s agenda.
These values form a life-thread of energy, more mysterious than doc-
umentable, but tangible nonetheless. We need to learn to see what we
can barely hear, to feel what is as omnipresent as the air we breathe, and
to smell the colors that pervade our senses. As we begin to live by these
values, our analyses will be sharper, our collaborations richer, our mis-
sions clearer, and our work more meaningful and ultimately more so-
cially important.
The future will in all probability be a brave new world, with the full
spectrum of tendencies: independence and separation on the one hand,
interconnectedness and spirituality on the other. It is understandable
that, as we emerged from nature, these two ways of being in the world
would present our greatest challenge. It is also possible, however, that
our efforts to control and dominate through technology will provide the
leisure in which we can more fully appreciate and explore the alternative
paradigm of interconnectedness and community. Our planet will face
many significant problems in the coming years, including the need to
feed an escalating population, increased poverty in many countries and
excessive waste of resources in others, and environmental degradation.
As a society, we need to find ways to focus on improving the quality of
life and fulfilling our responsibility to our communities, rather than on
increasing profits and economic development.
Two billion years ago, the first bacteria that developed were solely
exploitive, but over time they learned to become cooperative (Sahtoris,
1989). Our systems and our lives are far more complicated than those of
bacteria, and so our transformational processes are undoubtedly more
complicated than theirs. However, given the traditions and values that
lift us above the limits of our animal nature, we cannot say how much
farther we may evolve and what benefits may befall the whole of hu-
mankind.
 Afterword: An Eco-
Transformational Application:
Bridging the Macro to the Micro

As a social worker and trauma specialist who treats people with disa-
bilities and chronic illnesses, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), Lupus, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I have long been aware
of the ongoing necessity to provide interventions that consider the con-
text and culture of the identified patient as well as that of the healthcare
professional. Treatment approaches that ignore the ecological exchange
between patient and provider typically are limited in their effectiveness
and can in fact be damaging and even traumatizing to the patient and
his or her family and community. The long social work tradition of as-
sisting the individual through strengthening the living environment and
helping to create community, echoed throughout Jason’s volume, is un-
questionably critical.
The eco-transformational approach put forth in his work considers so-
ciocultural influences as well as the individual as part of a multi-layered
social exchange system. It also clearly values the need to include other
systems of knowing—philosophy, mythology, history—beyond the
mechanistic, linear and behavioral scientific approaches typically applied
to understanding and treating social issues.
I have seen sociocultural influences converge within the cultural
framework of our society and create a social context and discourse,
which dictates social beliefs and values such as social attitudes toward
social problems, disability, illness and treatment; and social roles played
between patients and practitioners, and patients and their communities.
These influences create a social discourse within which a social issue,
112 AFTERWORD

disease entity, or syndrome is recognized or ‘‘born,’’ investigated,

treated, and ultimately enculturated. Subsequently, a history emerges
within a social framework, which includes families and communities as
primary actors. Within this framework, persons encounter beliefs and
attitudes that are sometimes stigmatizing and traumatizing.
Specific factors of this social framework need to be carefully consid-
ered in the assessment and treatment of individuals, families, and com-
munities. Within the context of community, the most prominent factors
include (1) cultural intolerance of suffering; (2) cultural intolerance of
ambiguity; (3) cultural intolerance of chronic as opposed to acute social
issues; (4) the ongoing psyche-soma duality among care providers; and
(5) initial social issue illegitimacy and subsequent enculturation. These
factors, in my view, are a product of the four vulnerabilities discussed
in chapter 2. In our separation from nature and the subsequent elevation
of science we have developed a cultural intolerance of the not-yet-
known, the unknowable, and the mysterious. Complexity and chaos is
avoided, even feared. A contributing factor to this cultural intolerance
has been the elevation of science, technology, and quantitative systems
of knowing, combined with the devaluation of qualitative or spiritually
guided systems of knowing. Science can help us develop a better appre-
ciation of the mysterious and the unknown, but more often it becomes
a tool of our fears or a deity to be worshipped. In the scientific concep-
tualization, all that is true or real is observable, measurable, and ulti-
mately knowable. Anything that does not yield to these criteria is
suspect. The cultural elevation of the quantitative and allegedly objective
above the qualitative and subjective has contributed to the view that
ambiguous social situations or problems are somehow dangerous, and
possibly immoral, and should therefore be avoided.
As professionals and laypersons, we have no cultural precedent that
encourages the appreciation and use of the wisdom traditions together
with analytic methods. This situation leaves us inadequately prepared
when approaching thorny social issues. Furthermore, a systemic analysis
of a social issue is incomplete without the inclusion of the historical and
cultural background that brought the community face to face with the
social problem in question. An examination of a social issue in light of
the four social-cultural vulnerabilities discussed in Jason’s book will help
reveal specifically how our aggressive tendencies, our literal and intel-
lectual separation from nature, and our concurrent stripping of metaphor
and mythology have left us vulnerable to severe social decay.
An example of an intervention model that demonstrates the eco-
transformational framework is a social application of my Four-Phase
Model of Social Change (for an example of a clinical application of this
model to a chronically ill population, see Fennell, 1995). This four-phase
process acknowledges the individual, the individual’s family, workplace,
AFTERWORD 113

social network, care provider, and general community as dynamic, in-

teractive, and interdependent factors within an organic whole. In Phase
I the social issue moves from an onset to an emergency phase, and the
social task of the individual and the community is coping with trauma.
In Phase II the social issue moves into the breakdown and restablization
phase, and the social task of the individual and the community is the
initiation of stabilization. In Phase III the social issue moves into the
existential phase, and the social task is the development of meaning. In
Phase IV the social issue moves into the integration phase, and the social
task is integration and transcendence. At each phase a coalition of the
wisdom traditions together with more behavioral approaches is utilized
to help the community meet the tasks at hand and move successfully
into the next phase.
Through an understanding of this paradigm, patients, families, and
caregivers can experience less fear and anxiety. The unknown becomes
more known as individuals locate themselves on a narrative map or ex-
periential time line. This map serves as a tool for patients by helping
them develop a sense or order of the sometimes traumatic experiences
that are happening to them. As the experience of ambiguity and chaos
is diminished, patients gain a degree of coherency regarding their ex-
periences. They have a method to validate their experiences, stabilize
and structure their responses, develop meaning for their experiences, and
ultimately transcend them. As indicated by Jason throughout this vol-
ume, helping individuals find their path on this life journey is a critical
task for people who want to build sturdy communities.
Regardless of the helping tools that are utilized in addressing a social
problem, the following three transformational steps or processes are in-
herent in the Four-Phase Model and should be considered in the healing
of personal and social issues: (1) acceptance of suffering, as opposed to
its rejection and the subsequent rejection of the self; (2) development of
a compassionate response to the suffering of the rejected sick, stigma-
tized self; and (3) development of respect for the actual act of suffering—
for the time in the tunnel, not the light at the end of it. These steps create
a respect for the new self. The process necessitates borrowing from the
wisdom traditions and the faith of the care provider as the patient and
his or her family gropes through this lengthy, frightening process. In the
pit of their grief, individuals reach out to the wisdom traditions for sup-
port and find mercy for suffering, integration of pain and loss, and en-
couragement and grace to embrace the paradox of living. Through this
experience, they may begin to consider another way to be in the world,
through role and identity experimentation. This process facilitates the
development of meaning for their experiences, while it creates an op-
portunity to begin integration of aspects of the precrisis self with the
new emerging respected self. By fully embracing the shadow, as sug-
114 AFTERWORD

gested by Jason in this volume, some individuals and communities may

spend their financial and human resources on educational and support
organizations, creative expression, political activism, or community
building.
Finally, Jason’s eco-transformational model integrates linear quantita-
tive systems of evaluation and intervention with more qualitative sys-
tems of knowing and healing. My Four-Phase Model is a manifestation
of this inclusive framework, which utilizes culture, context, and ecolog-
ical exchange between all the actors and agents and develops meaning
by employing constructs from a variety of qualitative disciplines and
fields. The eco-transformational approach validates the necessity of com-
munity in the process of healing, by supporting the caregiver, and re-
covery, and by helping to provide the social container necessary to
support the patient, families, and communities as they experience the
trauma of Phase I, create stabilization in Phase II, patiently develop
meaning and thus reclaim the power over their lives in Phase III, and
achieve integration, connection, and community in Phase IV. As the eco-
transformational approach makes clear, the health and willing involve-
ment of one’s immediate and larger communities are salient indicators
of who recovers and who does not.
—Patricia A. Fennell, CSW-R
Albany Health Management Associates, Inc.
 Notes

1. More recently, evolutionary psychologists have rejected notions of pro-

grammed inflexibility or environmental unmodifiability. DeKay and Buss (1992)
suggest that over the centuries, when males and females confronted different
adaptive problems, gender differences emerged. Jealousy in men is more likely
to be aroused by threats of sexual infidelity, whereas in women jealousy appears
to be aroused by the loss of a partner’s commitment and investment in the re-
lationship. The risk to the male is not knowing if he is the father of the child,
whereas the female’s risk is loss of the partner’s resources. Gender differences
in the value of relationships will be viewed from different points of view in this
book; but for now, it is of interest that there may be evolutionary explanations
for them.
2. Approximately five to seven million years ago, climatic changes in Africa
drove chimpanzees to leave their tree homes for the grassy open plains. Crea-
tures with the face of an ape began to walk upright, making it easier to spot
enemies and prey. In 1974, Donald Johanson’s discovery of the remains of Lucy,
a member of a hominid species called australopithecine, provided evidence of
the missing link between apes and human beings, which lived about three mil-
lion years ago (Johanson & Shreeve, 1989). Lucy had an ape-like brain a little
larger than that of a chimp, and she was probably a vegetarian. By walking on
two feet, australopithecines could travel long distances across grasslands to new
forests, and their hands were free to carry food back to their families. Just as our
species has constantly adapted to changing conditions, these adaptations gave
our ancestors a competitive edge on the plains of Africa.
The first primitive human beings, known as Homo habilis, whose bones were
discovered by Mary Leakey in 1960, emerged about two million years ago. This
was a major evolutionary leap, for this more intelligent species could make ru-
116 NOTES

dimentary tools. By bashing one rock against another, Homo habilis could pro-
duce a sharp stone that could be used as a cutting tool. Homo habilis may have
used these stone tools to break the bones of dead animals in order to eat the
nutritious marrow. Some anthropologists have claimed that this use of tools
marked the dawn of human technology. These early human beings were pri-
marily scavengers, with a largely vegetarian diet.
As more of the forests turned to grasslands in Africa, there were new com-
petitors, including lions and packs of hunting dogs. Intelligence was the key to
survival for Homo erectus, who emerged 1.5 million years ago with a skull twice
the size of Lucy’s. With a tall, powerful body, this ancestor of ours could travel
to a carcass quickly, using the newly developed stone ax to carve up dead ani-
mals before this food was taken away by stronger hunting animals. With the
discovery of fire about a million years ago, Homo erectus was able to cook food
and frighten away other animals. This innovation allowed our ancestors to leave
Africa and venture into colder climates.
During the Ice Age from 150,000 B.C. to 35,000 B.C., the Neanderthals roamed
the earth. They used simple stone tools and buried their dead but left few hints
of higher culture. The experts are divided about whether the Neanderthals were
our direct ancestors or an evolutionary dead end.
3. During those primitive times, people in the colder northern areas procured
food by hunting (Campbell, 1980). Archeological findings from hunter societies
suggest that primitive hunters made religious pacts with the animals they
hunted: If certain magical rituals and rites were performed before, during, and
after the hunt, the hunters believed the animals would be reborn after dying,
thus preserving an abundant supply of food (Livingston, 1989). Wilber (1995)
cites evidence suggesting that, although men hunted and women were involved
in food gathering and child rearing, there was no difference in status between
men’s and women’s work. In the warm equatorial zones, where either gender
could easily collect the abundant fruit and vegetables, the relative importance of
the male role was reduced. In those warmer climates, female images became
dominant because women brought forth life (Campbell, 1980). It was also in these
climates that rites of human sacrifice became more common.
Human sacrifice is difficult for us to comprehend, yet this practice provides
useful glimpses into ancient world orders (Campbell, 1980). One old custom on
a Polynesian island represented the tribe’s response to the passage of boys and
girls into adulthood. One boy and one girl would be selected from all those
reaching puberty. The youths would be killed and eaten by the villagers, who
expressed joy and gratitude that their god had sacrificed itself for the tribe. When
the tribe ate, they were eating the body of their god. It was with respect and
reverence that they sacrificed two of their children as part of the renewal of this
mystery. As horrible as this rite seems to us, it does indicate how these people
resolved one of the great perplexing issues that we all confront: how to ration-
alize the fact that we must consume other lives in order to live, and that ulti-
mately we are also consumed by other organisms, including predators in the
wild and bacteria in decomposition. Because these people lived completely in
the world of nature, they accepted this fact of nature without reservation. Even
if we now find their methods abhorrent, we can understand the need for reso-
lution.
NOTES 117

4. In India around 2000 B.C., a civilization developed on rich land nourished

by nearby rivers. In accordance with their Hindu religion, inhabitants led a
strong spiritual life, believing that all life was sacred. China’s great civilizations,
begun around 1500 B.C., were also based on a reverence for moral and natural
order and were heavily influenced by Confucius’s belief in respect for the family
and the law and by the Taoist principle of respect for the forces of nature best
articulated by Lao Tsu. During the period from about 2500 to 500 B.C., these
ideas from the Orient spoke to the goddesses of the planting people. Through
the Upanishads, the teachings of Buddha, and the writings of Lao Tsu, a philos-
ophy was given voice that emphasized being at one with the mystery of nature.
These teachings did not rely on a priestly class that in other civilizations had
become the intermediary for humanity’s relationship with the deity; rather they
spoke of a direct relationship with the almighty, and—at the highest level—of a
merging with universal forces.
In the great Mayan civilization in Central America, the corn farmers originally
lived in balance with nature. The Mayans were well versed in writing and as-
tronomy; they used mathematics to predict eclipses. The Mayan cities grew and
became powerful, even though they were in a state of constant warfare (Gilbert,
1995). As the population grew, houses covered the valleys and the fertile land
where food had once been grown. As the land was deforested, erosion also be-
came a significant problem. Finally, in approximately 800 A.D., plagued by severe
droughts and the challenge of survival on less fertile lands, the people aban-
doned the great cities and began drifting back to the jungles. Because the people
had disrupted their balance with nature by overworking the land, the great Ma-
yan civilization was destroyed. Even civilizations with sophisticated cultures can
fail when their people do not live in balance with the ecosystem.
5. All living beings attempt to increase their population, but nature regulates
this tendency toward overpopulation by imposing checks and balances on this
dynamic process. For example, if there are many predators, the number of prey
decreases, resulting eventually in a reduction in the number of predators. Some
might argue that it was not a reverence for nature, but the checks and balances
of nature, that kept ancient civilizations from abusing the land and their re-
sources. Even if this is true, it is still important to understand the forces that led
to the development of science and technology, which provided our species with
the tools to overcome the limitations imposed by nature.
6. The Aryans of the western group were the ancestors of the Greek, Latin,
French, Spanish, German, English, and Celtic languages. The Aryans of the east-
ern group were the ancestors of the languages of Northern India, Persia, Ar-
menia, Russia, and Poland. The Semitic groups from the Saudi Arabian desert
were responsible for the languages of the Arcadians, Babylonians, Hebrews, and
Arabs. The discovery and use of bronze as a weapon, and the domestication of
horses, possibly gave these nomads the resources to be efficient and effective
warriors.
7. The promise of a messiah destined to free the people from the grip of evil
is one of the tenets of the ancient Jewish religion. The emphasis on controlling
nature can also be found in the Old Testament. In a section of Genesis, God said
to man:
118 NOTES

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that creepeth upon the earth. (Gen. 1:28)
This passage clearly shows that the ancient Jews believed the world was created
for our species to control and dominate.
We have argued that the impulse to control nature had many negative con-
sequences. However, within religions that espoused this belief, there also existed
many generative and powerfully constructive values and traditions. For example,
the Jewish people, as absolute monotheists, took a stand against all polytheism
and paganism. The notion that there was only one God, and that this was the
God for all people, led to the idea that the human race was unified. This made
possible the teaching of the brotherhood of all human beings, the idea of loving
one’s neighbor as oneself. Moral and ethical values became an integral part of
Jewish religious life, and human sacrifice and other inhumanities, such as cru-
cifixions as practiced by the Romans, were rejected. Children were regarded as
the highest of human treasures, whereas in many other early cultures, children
had few rights or protections (for example, the Greeks left weak children to
perish exposed on mountain tops) (Hertz, 1960). In the prophetic traditions, peo-
ple were instructed that they had a responsibility to the disenfranchised, the
poor, and the hungry. Jews have a historical experience with oppression, and
they have often felt a moral imperative to liberate the oppressed (Furman, 1991).
8. Furman (1991) provides a somewhat different interpretation of the para-
dise myth. Adam and Eve’s actions may be paradigmatic of human freedom to
choose between good and evil. In Judaism, both Adam and Eve were responsible
for the act of disobedience, thus averting the frequent Christian association be-
tween Eve and the fall, and therefore between women and evil. The patriarchal
roots of Judaism are universal among world religions (Furman, 1991). In Bud-
dhism, women were subservient to men (Read, 1991), and in the Hindu system,
women were burned alive after their husbands died (McCann, 1991). In the cur-
rent era, many religions are undergoing major transformations in an attempt to
eradicate the previous practices of discrimination toward women.
9. After the Emperor Constantine merged the Roman Empire with the Chris-
tian Church, the new religion of Catholicism spread widely. In the hierarchical
universe described in that religion, God was at the highest level, followed by the
angels, then by men, and finally by women, who were considered separate from
and valued less than men. People’s connection with the land and sense of place
in their communities were still nourishing and vital, and their social and eco-
nomic roles usually provided a sturdy sense of meaning. With the collapse of
the Roman Empire, and the nomadic invasion of Europe, however, many of the
cities were destroyed and thousands lost their lives.
During the Middle Ages, a feudalism emerged that was based on farming and
loyalty to a lord or king. This hierarchy began to break down when peasants
began migrating to cities. The seeds of later problems were being sown. In the
1300s the bubonic plague, or ‘‘Black Death,’’ ravaged Europe, and up to one-
third of the people in that part of the world died. From 1337 to 1453, England
and France were involved in a brutal series of wars, and the Turks began to
overrun Europe.
10. Putnam (1993) provides an insightful analysis of Italy, which in the me-
NOTES 119

dieval period had the most advanced political structure in Europe. From the
eleventh century onward, northern Italy relied more on horizontal collaboration
than on vertical hierarchy, which was the structure typical of most monarchies
at the time. Communes were formed from voluntary associations, groups of
neighbors who pooled their resources for common defense and economic coop-
eration. Soon craftsmen and tradesmen formed guilds to provide self-help and
mutual assistance. These groups pressed for political reform and greater repre-
sentation on town councils. Although only a minority of the population became
members of the emerging communes, they served as a starting point for popular
participation in government affairs.
Gradually other local organizations were formed as well, including neighbor-
hood associations, parish organizations, religious societies, and political parties.
These groups provided a rich network of associational life. As people gained
greater control in shaping their political destinies, they developed strong alle-
giances to their cities. New experts in municipal government emerged, and the
ranks of lawyers and judges grew, in response to the need to interpret the new
agreements among associations. Commerce expanded rapidly, as merchants from
northern Italian cities extended their trade networks to the entire known world,
from China to Greenland. A new economic revolution began, facilitated by the
invention of credit, which provided an intermediary between individual savers
and investors and allowed private capital to be harnessed for economic growth.
Long distance trade required credit; therefore, both buyers and sellers had to
have confidence in contracts and laws. Due to networks of civic engagement,
which flourished in northern Italy, people were willing to invest their savings in
larger commercial enterprises; this fueled the vast economic growth of cities and
ultimately contributed to political and economic advances.
In sharp contrast, southern Italy—settled by Norman mercenaries—was
strictly autocratic and authoritarian, never allowing the independent communes
that existed in the north. As the centuries passed, the feudal monarchy persisted,
with a landed aristocracy ruling poor peasant masses, bridged by a small middle
class of ineffective administrators and professionals. This authoritarian political
structure engendered exploitation and dependence; the states were poorly ad-
ministered, and the poor peasantry was overworked and granted no civic rights.
Many of the historical events discussed below were described in Theodore K.
Rabb’s (1993) book Renaissance Lives: Portraits of an Age. In the 1300s and 1400s,
city-states in Italy, such as Venice and Genoa, became powerful centers of fi-
nance. This was based on trade, much of it going through the Near East. In 1453,
when the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, the western merchants lost
many of their trading concessions to the Near East. In order to find an alternative
route to the Far East, merchants in Genoa and Prince Henry of Portugal invested
in voyages of exploration down the west coast of Africa. Columbus’s explorations
across the Atlantic, supported by Queen Isabella of Spain, were also efforts to
find an alternative trade route to China.
The powerful city-states of Venice and Genoa began inventing techniques of
modern industry. With patronage from the traders, architecture and art flour-
ished. The Renaissance artists looked at the world with new eyes and greater
precision and sparked a rebirth of interest in the ancient Greek and Roman civ-
ilizations. In 1453 Gutenberg invented the printing press. As a result, more peo-
120 NOTES

ple learned to read and to explore the world of ideas that was previously
reserved for a few privileged scholars. In Florence, Machiavelli wrote about how
a ruler could manipulate perceptions in order to gain power. The Italian cities
were dominated by powerful families, each ruthless clan struggling to crush the
others. A new class of capitalists was emerging, with money as their primary
value and their source of power.
Spain, Portugal, and the Italian city-states profited from new trade routes to
the New World, selling slaves from Africa for the gold, silver, and other re-
sources plundered in the Americas. The destructive capacity of gunpowder, a
substance originally invented by the Chinese, gave the European soldiers a clear
advantage over African and New World populations. Spears and arrows were
no match against muskets and cannons. At the expense of the populations of
other continents, this trade led to an enormous expansion in wealth and re-
sources for Spain and other European trading countries.
King Philip II of Spain developed new ways of maintaining order and control
over his rivals and his people. His subjects were told that their existence could
be maintained only through service to their country. New laws were passed, and
a bureaucracy was established to collect taxes from the local citizens. The power
of the prince and the central state were now used to keep a large realm united.
After the British defeat of the Spanish navy in 1588, Northeastern European
countries became the preeminent powers. The produce of the world was now
being transported to Amsterdam and London. New agricultural techniques, such
as crop rotation and better methods of livestock management, were developed,
and plants from the New World, such as the potato, were introduced. These
developments led to a greater and more stable food supply, allowing the North-
eastern European population to expand.
11. In the 1300s the Church was the authority, and from birth to death there
were rules for life that would guarantee access to salvation. However, some
Catholics began to notice that a variety of practices within the Roman Catholic
Church differed from those taught by Jesus Christ as reported in the New Tes-
tament. For example, in 1403 Jan Huss asserted that Christ had preached that
everyone, not just the priests (as was the practice in the Roman Church), could
drink wine from the chalice. After criticizing the purchase of indulgences for
gold and silver as a substitute for true repentance, Huss was burned at the stake.
Martin Luther read the sermons of Huss, and by 1517 he was preaching that the
scriptures did not set forth the requirement that an intermediary translate be-
tween God and man. The believer needed only faith and a Bible; the Church was
not required (Brecht, 1990). Dissent began spreading to all segments of the pop-
ulation, and serfs began to realize that they were born free in the sight of God.
In revolts all over Germany, more than 120,000 peasants were killed. Even
though at this point Luther had become reactionary, siding with the princes, this
new appreciation for dissent had become one of the most liberating elements of
the Renaissance. Freedom of expression fueled a growing rejection of political
tyranny and opened the world of ideas for exploration.
In the 1400s, natural philosophers were studying and debating the works of
the past. Their speculations were intimately tied to the teachings of the Christian
Church. Their passion to understand God’s expression through nature helped
them create new ways of seeing and understanding nature; this led to the emer-
NOTES 121

gence of science. Copernicus was the first to propound the theory that the sun,
rather than the earth, was the center of the universe; however, his audience was
very limited, and he lacked the evidence to prove his theory. In the 1600s Kepler
found evidence that the planets’ orbits were elliptical, and that the sun was at
their center. In 1610 Galileo published his discoveries, which were possible be-
cause of the telescope, a new instrument that joined technology with theory.
Galileo collected persuasive evidence that the earth did in fact revolve around
the sun. Yielding to Church pressure, he recanted his theory in 1633.
12. It was not long before intellectual prowess and achievement became the
primary symbols of success. The Protestant work ethic emphasized achievement
as evidence of righteousness, and efforts to achieve were often directed at con-
trolling nature and opposing the forces of evil. In addition, as pointed out by
Bartel and Guskin (1971), notions of equality from the French Revolution were
paired with an obligation to take advantage of the opportunity to be equal. If
one did not succeed, one’s social stakes and reputation tended to suffer.
13. Even though religious beliefs have been challenged by scientific discov-
eries, many people have continued to maintain allegiance to some religious
organization, although formal participation in religious services may be per-
functory. Ladd (1993/94) claims that in the United States there is a persistent
strength of religious belief, and a 1981 Gallup poll indicated that 79 percent of
Americans gained strength from religion. Hayes and Lipset (1993/94) also main-
tain that the majority of Americans continue to take an active role in their local
religious communities. It is important, however, to distinguish a willingness to
engage in occasional religious festivities and rituals from a deeper intrinsic com-
mitment and faith; this difference will be explored further in later chapters.
14. Both the contextual model and the post-modern deconstructive model
posit that an understanding of any phenomenon is based on cultural relativity.
In other words, neither model asserts the existence of foundational values. Eco-
logical post-modernists, on the other hand, believe that there are hundreds of
varieties of foundational values and that these values increase meaning, vitality,
energy, connection, and authenticity. A key question is whether one can have
foundational values and be culturally relativistic but not espouse deconstructive
post-modernism. It may be possible to be culturally relativistic and foundational
as long as these different viewpoints on reality have their sources within foun-
dational values. Immanual Kant believed that the choice of moral values was not
solvable by scientific thought because only objects of experience could be known.
However, in his Critique of Practical Reason (1788), he maintained that morality
required a belief in the existence of these values. If we assume that moral values
pertain to particular cultural groups (cultural relativism), then we should extend
these values and apply them to other groups. Thus foundational values would
become relevant to humanity.
15. There has been a tendency among psychologists to develop instruments
that tap negative psychological traits, although there are some psychologists who
have focused more on health-promoting psychological attitudes such as life pur-
pose and satisfaction (Kass et al., 1991). Antonovsky (1987) suggests that we need
a salutogenic orientation, one that focuses on how people move to the positive
end of the health–disease continuum. To this end, he has developed the sense of
coherence concept, which describes an enduring feeling of confidence that one’s
122 NOTES

environment is predictable and that things will work out as well as can be rea-
sonably expected.
16. Scientists from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful
Midlife Development, including Ronald Kessler, Margie Lachman, Gilbert Brim,
David Featherman, and Paul Baltes, suggest that middle age can be the best time
in one’s life. In summarizing their work, Gallagher (1993) writes that during these
years, most individuals are healthy and productive, have enough money to do
the things they like, and don’t have to deal with the anxieties of youth or the
pains of old age. Even though many in middle age have a lot going on, they are
at their peak in terms of competence and ability to handle stress. The majority
of people come to terms with their finite resources in a gentle rather than a
painful process, by adopting practical goals (using their brains and skills rather
than physical prowess) or substituting alternate goals (if work is not satisfying,
some people focus on satisfactions from other facets of life, such as home and
family). Only 10 to 12 percent of respondents report having a midlife crisis, and
most of these individuals experienced internal upheavals throughout their lives.
By midlife, the majority of respondents report being more or less content. Most
people seem to maintain a manageable life through the years. They do this by
constantly resetting goals that demand about 80 percent of their capacity; push-
ing beyond that level leads to stress, anxiety, and burnout.
In this book, I argue that there has been a significant breakdown in the psy-
chological sense of community in contemporary society. Yet the findings of em-
inent researchers on midlife adjustment suggest that this has not occurred. There
are several ways of interpreting this difference. It is possible that the breakdown
in a sense of community has occurred only for a minority (10 to 12 percent) of
the population, and that the majority is relatively content. It is also possible that
the samples used by Kessler et al. were biased toward an affluent, middle-class
population, and that many more individuals—particularly those with fewer re-
sources—are experiencing this breakdown in the sense of community. Finally,
the quantitative methods used to gather much of the midlife data may have
missed the qualitative picture of the deeper and more troubling issues confront-
ing our citizens. For example, a man may express high levels of personal satis-
faction by channeling all of his time and energy into his work; yet at a deeper
level, his life may be imbalanced, his family may feel neglected, and his contri-
bution to the significant issues facing his neighborhood may be minimal.
17. They used five criteria to characterize wisdom-related knowledge: factual
knowledge about fundamental life matters, procedural knowledge about dealing
with life problems, life span contextualism, relativism of values and life goals,
and recognition and management of uncertainty. To tap these domains, people
were asked to think aloud about vignettes describing life problems, and their
responses were tape recorded and later rated on the five criteria. Most individ-
uals performed only in the average range on the wisdom-related criteria.
18. Hood (1977) has been among the most prolific students of mysticism and
intense religious experiences. In developing the Religious Experience Episodes
Measure (REEM), he culled reports of religious experiences from the writings of
William James and then edited 15 experiences (Hood, 1970). To measure the
degree of reported religious experience, each of these experiences was rated on
a five-point scale. Individuals who measured high on psychological strength
NOTES 123

were more likely to report intense religious experiences (Hood, 1974). Hood
(1975) also developed a Mysticism Scale to measure reported mystical experi-
ences. Two factors emerged from the 32–item scale. Factor 1 was an indicator of
an intense experience, such as unity, inner subjectivity or ineffability, and factor
2 measured the joyful expression of traditionally defined religious experiences.
The Mysticism Scale had a significant positive correlation with the REEM, and a
measure of openness to experience. Persons reporting mystical experiences can
be described as creative and innovative, tolerant of others, socially adept, and
unwilling to accept simplistic or incomplete solutions to problems (Hood, Hall,
Watson, Biderman, 1979).
Several other scales have been developed to measure spirituality. For example,
Ellison (1983) has developed a Spiritual Well-Being Scale that has two dimen-
sions: sense of well-being in relation to God, and sense of life purpose and sat-
isfaction. Kass, Friedman, Leserman, Zuttermeister, and Benson (1991) have
developed the Index of Core Spiritual Experience. Items on the scale include the
conviction that God exists, and the attitudes that are present when people believe
that God either is close to them or is dwelling within them. This instrument is
related to increased life purpose and decreased frequency of medical symptoms.
19. Not all agree that we are presently confronted with a breakdown in the
sense of community. For example, Lyon (1989) suggests that there is little evi-
dence to support the claim of individual alienation and further claims that much
Gemeinschaft remains in contemporary society. Lyon further states that efforts
that rely on conflict to revitalize neighborhoods through community develop-
ment, such as the work of Alinsky (1969), have had limited success because they
are difficult to implement and because they require the time-consuming and
continuous efforts of a community organizer. Lyon recommends two other ap-
proaches: self-help and technical assistance. In the self-help approach, a facilitator
brings people together, and the people then decide what needs to be done. In
the technical assistance approach, an outside expert provides skills to help guide
and evaluate the community development process. Lyon considers both ap-
proaches to be useful strategies for building a stronger sense of community. He
also suggests that Gemeinschaft qualities can be enhanced through efforts to
strengthen voluntary organizations, and that these organizations can provide a
needed sense of belonging.
Some also suggest that in response to America’s social decay, a renewed in-
terest in community is in evidence (Economist, 1995). Decreasing crime rates are
sometimes cited as proof of this trend. However, decreasing crime might be the
result of improvement in the economy; decreasing numbers of teenagers, the age
group most likely to commit crimes; and longer prison terms for criminals. The
fact that the prison guard’s position is one of the fastest growing occupations in
this country is, however, an ominous sign (over 1.5 million Americans are cur-
rently behind bars).
20. McMillan and Chavis (1986) defined this concept as having four elements:
a feeling of belonging, a sense of making a difference, shared emotional connec-
tions, and a feeling that members’ needs will be met. Dunham (1986) suggested
that this concept should not be limited to the notion of place, but rather that it
was better conceived as a process than a fixed geographic location.
Glynn (1981) was the first to develop a scale to measure the psychological
124 NOTES

sense of community, which he considered a common bond with other people.

Glynn found that the number of years one expected to live in a community, and
the number of neighbors one could identify by first name, were strong contrib-
utors to a perceived sense of community. His scale taps both the actual and the
ideal senses of community and is tied to a certain place. Doolittle and MacDonald
(1978), Chavis, Hogge, McMillan, and Wandersman (1986), and Buckner (1988)
also developed scales to measure sense of community, and their scales were also
tied to a particular place.
One of the problems with scales that measure sense of community is that many
of their items tap concepts that could be thought of as either the causal roots or
outcomes of sense of community (Chertok, personal communication, 7 April
1992). Chertok further notes that most of the scales mix items that tap different
levels of analysis. They also include items such as commonly held beliefs and
attributes of the setting.
21. In brief, Kelly has proposed four ecological principles that can serve as a
conceptual framework for examining settings and behavior: interdependence, cy-
cling of resources, adaptation, and succession. Interdependence indicates that any
change in one component of an ecosystem can effect changes in relationships
among other components of the system as well. The principle of cycling of re-
sources provides a guide for understanding how ecosystems create and use new
resources. It allows us to determine how resources can be used more effectively
in a setting and how additional resources can be generated. Adaptation is the
principle that environments shape people’s methods of adaptation. A behavior
that is adaptive in one setting may not be adaptive in others. This principle points
us toward trying to assess who participates in defining the adaptive roles and
toward generating normative acceptance and support for a wide range of adap-
tive behaviors. Finally, the principle of succession suggests that communities are
in a constant process of change, and that over time the demand for adaptive
capacities changes. While these principles focus on different aspects of the social
context and behavior, they also overlap and complement each other.
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 Index

Abdul-Adil, J., 29 American Association for Protecting

Access, stage of Buddhism, 60 Children, 2
Adam and Eve, 14, 15, 118 American Lung Association, 94, 95
Adams, R. E., 70 Amish community, 75
Adaptation, ecological principle of, Anderson, S., 69
124 Anes, M. D., 105, 106
Addams, Jane, 77 Animal ancestry, 8
Adelman, M. B., 82 Antibiotics, 3
Ader, R., 35 Antisocial, stage of spiritual develop-
Adler, A., 41, 42 ment, 55
Adolescence, modern problems of, 2 Antonovsky, A., 121
Affiliative trust, 49 Arrien, A., 5
African religions, 67, 68 Aryans, 14, 117
Age of reason, 20 Asceticism, 64
Aggression, 8, 9 Asher, S. R., 2
Agriculture, 11 Assagioli, R., 49
AIDS, 1, 82; prevention of, 99
Al-Islam, 65, 66 Bacon, Sir Francis, 16
Allah, 65 Baltes, P. B., 53
Albee, G. W., 3, 102 Baltes, Paul, 122
Alcoholics Anonymous (A. A.), 79 Banks, C., 10
Alexian Brothers, 82 Barker, R. G., 103
Alinsky, S., 123 Barnes, Hazel, 18
Allison, Bill, 78 Bartel, N. R., 121
Allport, G. W., 54 Batson, C. D., 54
Amate Collegiate House, 83 Baumeister, R. F., 72
142 INDEX

Belief systems, 5 Bureaucratization, 20

Bellah, R. N., 4, 26, 46 Burkhardt, M. A., 55, 56
Bell’s theorem, 34 Buss, D. M., 9, 115
Benedict, Ruth, 20
Bennetto, L., 97
Benson, H., 38, 121, 123 Camara, Dom Helder, 68
Bergin, A. E., 54 Campbell, J., 11–13, 16, 22, 39, 40, 43–
Berk, M., 106 45, 58, 60, 116
Berry, T., 55–56 Camphill, 85
Bhakti yoga, 59 Camus, 18
Biderman, M., 123 Cannon, W., 35
Bielema, K. A., 54 Carroll, C., 103
Biglan, A., 90 Catholicism, rise of, 118
Bill of Rights, 90 Cavalieri, P., 8
Billows, W., 78 The Celestine Prophecy, 38
Binah, 62 Chakras, 62, 68
Biophilia, Edmond Wilson’s concept Chamberlin, J., 85
of, 18 Chaos, stage of community building,
Birkhead, S. H., 106 73
Bishop, P., 72 Chaos theory, 34
Blank, W., 62 Chaotic, stage of spiritual develop-
Blumenkrantz, D. G., 30 ment, 55
Body therapies, 68 Chavis, D. M., 123, 124
Bonaventure House, 82 Chertok, F., 72, 124
Borysenko, J., 38, 49 Chicago Defender, 95, 96
Bower, B., 36 Chicago Tribune, 97, 99
Bradshaw, J., 41 Chi energy, 68
Brave New World, 50 Child passenger restraint, 92; Associa-
Breakdown, phase of social change, tion, 92; Bill, 92
112 Chodorow, N., 21
Brecht, M., 120 Chopping Wood, Carrying Water, 69
Briggs, Beatrice, 52 Chopra, D., 36, 37
Briggs, J., 34 Christ, 44
Brim, Gilbert, 122 Christianity, 63–65
Brooke, T., 60 Christian mysticism, 63, 64
Bry, B. H., 32 Cigarette sales to minors, 104–106
Buckenberger, L., 94 Civic engagement, networks of, 73
Buckner, J. C., 124 Clarity, aspect of health, 55, 56
Buddha, 44, 60, 61, 117 Clean water, 2
Buddhism, 31, 49, 60, 61, 118; access Coditz, G. A., 95
stage of, 60; Jhana stage of, 60; Ma- Co-housing, 83
hayana school, 60; Nirodh, 60; Cohen, N., 35
Nirvana, 60; Therevada school, 60 Cohen, S., 35, 103
Buddhists, 33, 50, 108; aspects of Collaboration, between psychologists
health, 55; Four Noble Truths of, 61; and communities, 89–100, 103, 104
Hinayana, 39; Mahayana, 60; There- Colligan, D., 35, 36
vada, 60; Zen, 60 Communal, stage of spiritual devel-
BUILD (Chicago), 84 opment, 55
INDEX 143

Communion, Berry’s pattern of the Davidson, W. B., 72

universe, 55, 56 Deconstructive postmodernism, 32,
Communitarian: model, 90; move- 33, 121
ment, 164 DeKay, W. T., 9, 115
Community: alliances, 99, 100; build- Delancey Street Foundation, 81
ing, 73, 74, 80, 83–86; effort, 89; in- Dempster-McClain, D., 72
put, 89; intentional, 83; ownership, DePaul University, 80, 83, 95
89; stage of community building, 74 Derrida, Jacques, 32
Community psychologists, 75, 80, 89, Descartes, 16
90, 102, 103, 106, 107 Development, midlife, 122
Community psychology, 89, 102, 103, Dewey, John, 27
106, 107 Diener, C., 7
Competence-building approach, 103 Diener, E., 7
Computers, 51 Diet, contemporary, 2
Confucius, 117 Differentiation, Berry’s pattern of the
Consciousness, The Evolution of, 11 universe, 55, 56
Constantine, Emperor, 118 Divorce, 2
Contextualism, 32 Dobyne, L., 26
Contextual model, 121 Domestic violence, 1, 2
Contreras, J. M., 84 Doniger, W., 39
Cook, T. D., 102 Doolittle, R. J., 124
Cooper, P. E., 54 Dreher, H., 9, 37
Copernicus, 17, 33, 121 Dropout, rates of, 2
Cordovero, Moses, 63 Drug abuse, 2; prevention programs,
Cornford, F. M., 25, 28 97, 98, 104
Cosmological, function of myths, 39, Dualism, 13, 15
40 Duality, 13, 15; psyche-soma, 112;
Cotter, P. R., 72 subject-object, 57
Cottrell, L., 74 Duany, 82
Cousins, N., 35 Duffy, K. G., 102
Cowan, J., 84 Dugger, R., 2, 101
Crawford, I., 99 Dunham, H. W., 123
Crawford-Mason, C., 26 Dunne, J., 78
Crime, 1 Dvorchak, P. A., 79
Critique of Practical Reason, 121
Crystallized intelligence, 54 Eastern religions, 39; similarities with
Csikszentmihalyi, M., 47, 48, 60 Christian religions, 64. See also
Cultural intolerance: of ambiguity, names of specific religions
112; of chronic social issues, 112; of Ecological: model/paradigm, 103; per-
suffering, 112 spective, 102, 108; principles, 124
Cultural relativity, 121 Ecological postmodernism, 33
Curran, T., 98 Ecological post-modernists, 121
Cycling of resources, ecological prin- Ecosystem, 2
ciple of, 124 Eco-transformational: interventions,
108, 111–114; model, 106–109
Dalai Lama, 61 Education, 26–32
Darwin, 17 Ehrlich, J., 41
Davidson, G., 19, 74 Eightfold Noble Path, 61
144 INDEX

Einstein, 33, 34 Foundation for Community Encour-

Eliade, Mircea, 39 agement, 85
Ellison, C. W., 123 Four Noble Truths, 61
Emergency, phase of social change, Four-Phase Model of Social Change,
112 112–114
Emotional intelligence, 27 Fowler, J. W., 55
Empowerment, 103; model, 108 Fox, D. R., 4
Emptiness, stage of community build- Frankl, V. E., 47
ing, 73 Freedom, Samadhi, 58
Energy crises, 51 Freud, S., 8, 21, 41, 42
Energy systems, in the body, 68 Frey, L. R., 82
Epstein, I., 61–63 Friedman, R., 121, 123
Equipoise, Samadhi, 58 Friere, Paulo, 27, 68
Erikson, E. H., 45 Fuller, Buckminister, 50
Etzioni, A., 2, 75, 90, 91 Functional, theory of myths, 39
Evans, A. S., 35 Furman, F. K., 118
Evolutionary psychology, 115
The Evolution of Consciousness, 11 Gaines, S. O., 67
Existential: frustration, 47; neurosis, Galileo, 121
47; phase of social change, 112 Gallagher, W., 122
Existentialism, 47 Gandhi, 28
Existentialists, 18, 47, 52 Gang activity, 1, 2
External symbols, loss of, 17, 18 Gannett Outdoors, 96
Garner, W., 35
Fairweather, G., 76 Gavazze, S. M., 30
Faith, Five Pillars of, 65 Gelernter, C. Q., 80
Families InTouch: Understanding Gemeinschaft, 19, 123
AIDS, 99 Gender differences, 115
Family Resource Coalition, 85 Genocide, 9
Fawcett, S. B., 90, 93 Gerber, R., 34
Featherman, David, 122 Gesellschaft, 19, 20
Federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Gestalt therapy, 48
79 Gesten, E. L., 102
Fennell, P. A., 111–114 Gesundheit Institute, 85
Fergus, E. O., 76 Gevurah, 62
Ferrari, J. R., 78, 80 Gilbert, A., 117
Finn, M., 2 Gilligan, C., 21, 39
Five Pillars of Faith, 65 Glaser, R., 35
Flay, B., 95 Glynn, T. J., 123, 124
The Flies, 18 Gnostic(s), 31; texts, 63, 64
Flow, 47 Goddess, 11, 12, 14 –16; traditions,
Flow states, 47 108
Fluid intelligence, 53, 54 Goff, R. D., 11, 13, 19
Formal, stage of spiritual develop- Goldman, D., 27
ment, 55 Goleman, D., 37, 60
Fortes, Meyer, 20 Goodall, Jane, 8, 9
Foundational values, 108, 109, 121 Goodman, D., 94, 98
Foundational Values Scale, 56, 57 Gorsuch, R. L., 54, 55
INDEX 145

Gould Farm, 85 Hod, 62

Goyeche, J. R. M., 59 Hoff, Benjamin, 7
Grams, G., 79 Hogge, J. H., 124
Granada, Moses de Leon of, 62 Hokhman, 62
Grandmother’s House, 85 Holoka, J. P., 11, 13, 19
Grassroots organizations, 99 Holy Grail, 40
Graves, R., 14 Holy Spirit, energy of, 68
Greeley, A. M., 53, 54 HOME (Housing Opportunities and
Greenhouse effect, 3 Maintenance for the Elderly), 77
Greiner, B., 98 Homelessness, 1, 2
Gruder, C. L., 93 Homer, 43
Gruder, Larry, 37 Homo erectus, 10, 116
Gurin, J., 37 Homo habilis, 10, 115
Guskin, S. L., 121 Homo sapiens, 10, 11
Gutierrez, Gustavo, 68 Hood, R. W., Jr., 54, 55, 122, 123
Hope, A., 27
Habits of the Heart, 4 Hopkins, P., 69
Haggarty, R., 35 Horney, K., 41
Hakomi body-centered psycho- Houston, J., 38
therapy, 48–49 Hull House, 77
Hall, J. R., 123 Humanistic psychology, 47; therapies,
Halpert, J. A., 95 48
Hanaway, E. K., 2 Human Kindness Foundation, 81
Hanna, F. J., 50 Human sacrifice, 116
Harmonious interconnectedness, Huss, Jan, 120
Burkhardt’s characteristic of spiritu- Hutterite sect, 74
ality, 56 Huxley, A., 50
Harmony: component of Foundational
Values Scale, 56; samadhi, 58 Ida, 58, 59
Hasidic Judaism, 63 Illinois Child Passenger Restraint
Hatha yoga, 59 Law, 92, 93
Hay, D., 54 Illinois Department of Alcohol and
Hay, L. L., 49 Substance Abuse (DASA), 97
Hayes, J. W., 121 Illumination: christian mystics’ life
Healing, process of, 113, 114 phase of, 64; samadhi, 58
Heinze, R. I., 67 Imani, 68
Heney, C., 10 Independence, 109
Henry, Prince of Portugal, 119 Index of Core Spiritual Experience,
Hermetics, 64 123
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 40 Individual, stage of spiritual develop-
Hertz, J. H., 118 ment, 55
Hesed, 62 Industrialization, 20; problems associ-
‘‘High Top Tower’’ series, 97, 98 ated with, 101
Hinayana, school of Buddhism, 39, 60 Industrial Revolution, 19, 20, 26
Hinduism, 31, 57, 58, 117, 118 Information Age, 4, 5, 26
Hirsch, B. J., 32 Inner strength, Burkhardt’s character-
HIV, 82; prevention of, 99 istic of spirituality, 56
Hobfoll, S., 90 Innisfree Village, 85
146 INDEX

Institutional, stage of spiritual devel- Kessler, R., 122

opment, 55 Kessler, S., 31
Integration, phase of social change, Keys, C. B., 85
112 Kids InTouch, 97
Intelligence, 56; crystallized, 54; emo- Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., 35
tional, 27; fluid, 53, 54 Kindness House, 81, 82
Intentional communities, 83 King, Jr., Martin Luther, 28
Interconnectedness, 56, 109 Kingry-Westergaard, C., 32, 103
Interdependence, ecological principle Kirkwood, John, 93
of, 124 Kitto, H. D. F., 28
Isabella, Queen of Spain, 119 Klaber, M., 27
Islam, 65, 66 Klich, M., 93
Italy, historical analysis of politics of, Knowledge, wisdom-related, 122
118, 119 Kobasa, S. C., 36
Kobayashi, R. B., 75
Kohlberg, L., 21, 27, 55
James, William, 54, 122
Kohut, H., 41
Janists, 39
Kuhn, Thomas, 33
Jason et al., 2, 29, 56, 80
Kujichagulia, 68
Jason, L. A., 29, 35, 72, 75, 78, 79, 84,
Kundalini: energy, 68; yoga, 59
91–95, 97, 98, 102, 104–106, 111,
Kundalini Tantra, 59
113, 114
Kurtz, R., 48, 49
Jenkins, P. H., 54
Kuumba, 68
Jewish mysticism, 61, 62
Kwanzaa, 68
Jhana, 60
Ji, P. Y., 105, 106
Lachman, M., 122
Jnana yoga, 59
Ladd, E. C., 7, 121
Johanson, Donald, 10, 115
Lahmar, K., 97
Johanson, G., 49
Laing, R. D., 42
Johnson, S., 98
Lao Tsu, 117
Joyce, James, 44
l’Arche (‘‘the Arch’’), 77, 78
Judaism, 61–63, 118
Lattimore, B., 84
Jung, 39, 42, 43, 64
Layne, C., 46
Lazarus, R. C., 46
Kabat-Zinn, J., 36 Leach, E. R., 20
Kabbalah, 62–63 Leakey, Mary, 115
Kant, Immanual, 121 Leary, M. R., 72
Karenga, Maulana, 68 Le Chambon, 74
Karma yoga, 59 Legislation: cigarette sales to minors,
Kasl, S. V., 35 105, 106; initiatives, 102; research to
Kass, J. D., 121, 123 enact, 91–93
Kaufman, J. S., 95 Lerner, H. D., 41
Kellert, S. R., 18 Leserman, J., 121, 123
Kelly, J. G., 32, 103, 124 Lever, J., 22
Kelly, N. L., 95 Levine, M., 2
Kenny, J., 63, 64 Levinson, D. J., 21
Kepler, 121 Levi-Strauss, Claude, 39
INDEX 147

Lewin, K., 103 McClelland, D. C., 22

Lewis, S. E., 83 McKay, J. R., 49
Liberation theology, 68 McLaughlin, C., 19, 74
Linville, P. W., 42 McMillan, D. W., 123, 124
Lipset, S. M., 121 McMahon, S. D., 95
Livingston, J. C., 11, 12, 39, 116 McNamara, W., 64
Locke, S., 35, 36 Meaning in life, Burkhardt’s charac-
Lodge, The, 76, 77 teristic of spirituality, 56
Logical positivism, 32, 33 Media-based health-promotion inter-
Logotherapy, Victor Frankl’s, 47 ventions, 93–99
Lorentz, E., 103 Melton, G., 75
Lorenz, E. N., 34 Mental Patients’ Liberation Front
Lorenz, K., 8 (MPLF), 85
Lowry, B., 11, 13, 19 Merton, T., 64, 65
Lozoff, Bo and Sita, 81, 82 Mesopotamia, 13
Luks, A., 72 Metaphysical: function of myths, 40;
Lung Association, Chicago, 93, 94, 96, journeys, 44, 45
98–100 Meyer, R., 35
Luria, Rabbi Issac, 63 Midlife development, 122
Luther, Martin, 120 Mikulas, W. L., 49
Lyme disease, 3 Milgram, Stanley, 10
Lyon, L., 19, 71, 123 Miller, A. B., 85
Mission, psychological sense of com-
munity factor, 72
MacArthur Foundation Research Net-
Moen, P., 72
work on Successful Midlife Devel-
Molloy, P., 78 80
opment, 121
Monotheism, 118
MacDonald, D., 124
Moos, R. H., 103
Machiavelli, 120
Maddi, S. R., 36, 47 Moral values, schools’ role in teach-
Madsen, R., 4, 26 ing, 90
Mahayana, school of Buddhism, 60 Morgan, A. E., 19
Malinowski, Bronislaw, 39 Morisy, A., 54
Malkhut, 62 Morita therapy, 48
Mangelsdorf, S. C., 84 Moses de Leon of Granada, 62
Mann, P. A., 103 Motor vehicle accidents, 92, 93
Mann, T., 43 Motoyama, Hiroshi, 59
Mantra yoga, 59 Muhammed, the prophet, 65
Marriage, 2, 44 Muktananda, 70
Mask, as persona, 42 Murphy, H. B. M., 74
Maslow, A., 47 Murray, H. A., 1
Matese, F. J., 91 Muslims, 65, 66
Maton, K., 54, 103 Mutant Message, 38
May, R., 47 Mysteries, The, 31
Maya, 44 Mystical: experiences in religions, 68;
Mayan civilization, 117 stage of spiritual development, 55
McCann, D. P., 28, 118 Mysticism Scale, 123
148 INDEX

Mythology, 38–45, 107; personal, 31 On Aggression, 8

Myths, theories of, 39, 40; cosmologi- Operation Snowball, 104
cal function of, 39, 40; metaphysical Orestes, 18
function of, 40; psychological func- Ornish, D. M., 37
tion of, 40; recreation of, 107; socio- Ornstein, R. E., 11, 66
logical function of, 40 Orwell, George, 50
Oster, G., 95
Nadis, 58, 59 Ottens, A. J., 50
Nanotechnololgy, 52 Oxford group, 79
National Conference of Adopters Co- Oxford House, 78–81
alition for Community Living, 76
Native American(s), 24, 31, 33, 39; Paradise myth, 14
balance with nature, 57, 108; de- Pargament, K., 54
mocracy, 90 Parker, J. G., 2
Native American spirituality, 66, 67 Pascal, 17
Nature: component of Foundational Payne, I. R., 54
Values Scale, 56; control of, 117, 118; Peak experiences, 47
need to be in balance with, 12, 13, Peat, F. D., 34
117 Peck, M. S., 55, 73, 85
Naylor, K., 98 Penn, G., 35
Nazis, 9 Pennebaker, J. W., 41
Neanderthals, 10, 116 People First of Illinois, 85
Needs Foundation, 78 Perkins, D. V., 2
Neki, J. S., 57 Perls, F. S., 48
New Age: movements, 69, 70; relig- Pert, C., 35
ions, 69, 70 Phenomenological, theory of myths,
Newbrough, J. R., 32 39
New Testament, 26 Philip II, King of Spain, 120
Newtonian physics, 33 Philosophical systems, 32, 33
Nezah, 62 Physical sciences, 33–35
Nguzo Saba, 68 Physics, 33–35
Nhat Hanh, Thich, 25, 61 Piaget, J., 55
Nia, 68 Pingala, 58, 59
Niederman, J. C., 35 Plas, J. M., 83
Nielsen ratings, 94 Plater-Dyberk, 82
Nietzsche, 43 Plato, 25, 28; Plato’s cave, 25; The Re-
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), 50 public of Plato, 28
Nirodh, 60 P’nai Or, 63
Nirvana, 60 Pokorny, S. B., 97
Nonlinear dynamics, 34 Pooper-scooper intervention, 91, 92
Novick, P., 38 Pope Innocent III, 63
Nutrition intervention, 98, 99 Post-modern deconstructive model,
121
Odysseus, 43 Prana, 58, 59
Ogintez, E., 78 Pregnancy, adolescent, 2
O’Hanlon, D. J., 64 Prevention strategies, primary, 102
Old Path White Clouds, 25 Prison-Ashram Project, 82
Old Testament, 14, 15, 26 Protestant work ethic, 121
INDEX 149

Prudential Insurance Company, 93, Religious Experience Episodes Mea-

94, 98, 100 sure (REEM), 122, 123
Pseudo-community, stage of commu- Religious settings, community build-
nity building, 73 ing in, 84, 84
Psyche-soma duality, 112 Renaissance, 16, 119, 120
Psychoanalytic: theory, 8, 21, 39, 41, Renaissance Lives: Portraits of an Age,
42; theory of myths, 39 119
Psychological, function of myths, 40 The Republic of Plato, 28
Psychological sense of community, 71– Restabilization, phase of social
75, 123, 124; breakdown in, 101, change, 112
107, 122, 123. See also Sense of com- Reynolds, D. K., 48
munity Rheingold, H., 51
The Psychological Sense of Community, Rhodes, J. E., 84, 104
71 Ricks, D., 27
Psychoneuroimmunology, 35, 36 Riders of the Cosmic Circuit, 70
Psychotherapy, 46–50. See also names Ring, K., 55
of specific therapies Rinpoche, Sogyal, 101
Puccetti, M. C., 36 Rite of Passage Experience (ROPE), 30
Purification, Christian mystic’s life Rites of passage, 30, 31, 39, 107
phase of, 64 Rituals, 30, 31, 107
Purpel, D. E., 27, 28 Robbins, J., 3
Putnam, R. D., 73, 101, 117, 118 Robinson et al., 2
Rogers, C. R., 48
Roman Catholic Church, 120
Quantum Healing, 36, 37
Romer, J., 17
Quantum Healing: Exploring the Fron-
Rose, T., 92
tiers of Mind/Body Medicine, 36
Ross, J. M., 54
Quran, 65
Rubin, L., 22

Rabb, T. K., 119 Safed mystics, 63

Radin, Paul, 20 Sahtoris, E., 109
Raja yoga, 59 Saint Thomas, 44
Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shree, 70 Salina, D., 95
Rama, Swami, 69 Salmon, Michael and Lilo, 77
Rappaport, J., 103 Samadhi, 58
Read, K. A., 118 Sarason, S. B., 27, 71, 72, 103
Reciprocal responsibility, 75; psycho- Saraswati, S. S., 59
logical sense of community factor, Sartre, J. P., 18
73 Sawlski, L. M., 95
Reciprocity, norms of, 73 Schlesinger, Jr., A. M., 23
Reed, E. S., 67 Schmid, R. F., 2
REEM (Religious Experience Episodes Schnopp-Wyatt, D. L., 106
Measure), 122, 123 Schwartz, G. E., 41
Regier et al., 1 Schwartz, T., 69, 70
Reich, Wilhelm, 68 Science, the rise of, 16, 17, 112, 120,
Reichler, A., 56 121
Reischl, T. M., 32 Scientific method, 107
Religion, functions of, 54 Seaside, Florida, 82, 83
150 INDEX

The Seat of the Soul, 89 Sociologists, 29

Seekins, T., 93 Sociopolitical development, five
Sefiroth, 62 stages of, 29
Segundo, Juan Luis, 68 Socrates, 28
Self-help approach, to build sense of Some, M. P., 67
community, 123 Spaciousness, Buddhist aspect of
Sense of coherence, Antonovsky’s health, 55, 56
concept, 121 Speicher, C. E., 35
Sense of community, 71–87; rebuild- Spiegel, D., 38
ing, 108, 123. See also Psychological Spilka, B., 54, 55
sense of community Spinoza, 63
Sense of meaning in life, Burkhardt’s Spiritual: experience, 55, 56; Index of
characteristic of spirituality, 56 Core Spiritual Experience, 123;
Separation from nature, 10–17, 112 stages of development, 55;
Sephirah, 62 traditions, 57
Sephirot, 62 Spirituality, 54, 57, 109; component of
Sexual activity, adolescent, 2 Foundational Values Scale, 56
Shadish, W. R., 102 Spiritual Well-Being Scale, 123
Shadow, 41 43, 111 Spontaneity, samadhi, 58
Shamanism, 66, 67 Spretnak, C., 12–15, 33, 53, 60, 61, 66,
Shamans, 66, 67 108
Shapiro, D., 63 States of Grace, 53
Shreeve, J., 10, 115 Statser, C., 68
Simple Living, 86
Staudinger, U. M., 53
Singer, P., 8
Stein, D., 93
Sir Galahad, 40
Stein, M. R., 20
Sisyphus, 18
Stone, M., 12, 14
Skeptic, stage of spiritual develop-
Stress-management intervention, 98
ment, 55
Structural, interpretations of myths,
Slama, J., 4
39
Smith, J., 53
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
Smith, M., 98
33
Smoking: cessation interventions, 93,
94, 99; prevention, 95–97. See also Stuart, E. N., 38
Woodridge Project Subjectivity, Berry’s pattern of the
Smoking Deserves a Smart Answer, universe, 55, 56
95 Substance abuse, 2; prevention pro-
Snarey, J., 27 grams, 97, 98, 104
Social capital, 73 Succession, ecological principle of, 124
Social change, four-phase model of, Success Over Stress, 98
112–114 Suffering, and process of healing, 113
Social competence approach, 103; lim- Sufi mission, 66
itations of, 108 Sufism, 66
Social context/framework, 111, 112, Sullivan, W. M., 4, 26
124 Sundberg, N. D., 5
Social exchange system, 11 Sushumna, 58
Social interventions, 108 Swidler, A., 4, 26
Sociological, function of myths, 40 Swindle, R. W., 32
INDEX 151

Synar Amendment, 106 Vaughan, F., 49

System-wide interventions, 104 Vedas, 58
Ventis, W. L., 54
Tait, E., 94 Vincent, T., 103
Talbot, Officer B., 105, 106 The Virtual Community, 51
Taoism, 117
The Tao of Pooh, 7 Walsh, R. N., 67
Tate, L., 79 Wandersman, A., 124
Taubes, G., 34 Warmth: aspect of health, 55; compo-
Technical assistance, approach to nent of Foundational Values Scale,
building sense of community, 123 56
Technology, 50–52 Watson, P. J., 123
Terry, J. J., 11, 13, 19 Watts, R., 29
Therapy, 46–50. See also names of spe- Webster, K., 70
cific therapies Wegela, K. K., 55, 56
Therevada, school of Buddhism, 60 Weide, T. N., 49
Thomas, L. E., 54 Weight reduction intervention, 98, 99
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Western religions, 39; ethics from,
101 108. See also names of specific relig-
Tiferet, 62 ions
Timmel, S., 27 What Really Matters: Searching for Wis-
Tipton, S. M., 4, 26 dom in America, 69
Tobacco Licensing and Enforcement Wilber, K., 10–12, 116
Law, 105 Williams, R. M., 72
Tonga Islands, 74 Williamson, G. M., 35
Topsoil, depletion of, 2, 3 Wilson, E., 18
Torah, 61, 62 Winett, R. A., 90
Tornatzky, L. G., 76 Wisdom, 53, 56, 69; as measured by
Transpersonal therapies, 49 Foundational Values Scale, 56
Trickett, E. J., 103 Wisdom-related knowledge, 122
True Value Hardware, 94, 98, 100 Wisdom traditions, 69, 101–109, 112,
Truths, Four Noble, 61 113
Tryon, W. W., 51 Wong, F. Y., 102
Wood, M., 13
Ujamaa, 68 Woodridge Project, 104–106
Ujima, 68 Workplaces, community building in,
Ummah, 65 84
Umoja, 68 Wurtele, S. K., 2
Union, Christian mystic’s life phase
of, 64 Xaverious, P., 105
Upanishads, 58, 117
Upshur, J.-H. L., 11, 13, 19, 61 Yesod, 62
Urbanization, 20 Yoga, 59; Bhakti, 59; Hatha, 59; Jnana,
59; Karma, 59; Kundalini, 59; Man-
Values: crisis of, 107; foundational, tra, 59; Raja, 59
108, 109
Van Egeren, L., 98 Zen, school of Buddhism, 60; masters,
Vanier, Jean, 77, 78 69
152 INDEX

Zigler, E., 2 Zolik, E. S., 91, 92

Zimbardo, Phillip, 10 Zoroaster, 14
Zohar, 62–63 Zukav, G., 89
Zola, M. A., 36 Zuttermeister, P. C., 121, 123
 About the Author and
Contributors

LEONARD A. JASON is a Professor of Psychology at DePaul University.

He received his Ph.D. in clinical and community psychology from the
University of Rochester. Dr. Jason is a former president of the Division
of Community Psychology of the American Psychological Association
and a past editor of The Community Psychologist. He has published more
than 275 articles and chapters on preventive school-based interventions;
the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse; media inter-
ventions; and program evaluation. Dr. Jason has been on the editorial
boards of seven psychological journals, and he has edited or written ten
other books. He has served on review committees of the National Insti-
tute of Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health and has
received more than $6 million in federal grants to support his research.
Dr. Jason has received three media awards from the American Psycho-
logical Association, and he is frequently asked to comment on policy
issues for numerous media outlets.

MARA B. ADELMAN (Ph.D., University of Washington) is an Assistant

Professor in the Department of Communication at Seattle University. Her
primary research is on social support networks and community integra-
tion that spans both intimate and nonintimate relationships. She studies
these processes in specific contexts, including dating services and resi-
dential facilities. She is coauthor of Communicating Social Support (1997)
and The Fragile Community: Living Together With AIDS (1997) and co-
154 ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS

produced an ethnographic documentary video about Bonaventure

House, entitled The Pilgrim Must Embark: Living in Community. She
strongly believes that we need to take superficial relationships seriously
in reclaiming our sense of community.

PATRICIA A. FENNELL, CSW-R, founder and director of Albany Health

Management Associates, Inc. (AHMA) in Albany, New York, is nation-
ally recognized as an author and the developer of an innovative, inte-
grated psycho-social approach for the treatment of physical illness and
trauma. She is an expert on recovery and has an extensive background
in the treatment of chronic and terminal illness, sexual abuse, trauma
syndromes, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Ms. Fennell has served as
consultant, lecturer, and keynote speaker to numerous national and re-
gional mental and physical health organizations, HMOs, task forces, ac-
ademic institutions, court systems, and pastoral care institutions.
Together with her clinical team, she has provided ongoing treatment for
hundreds of patients with chronic illness. In 1990 Ms. Fennell affiliated
with the Capital Region Sleep Disorders Center of Albany Medical Cen-
ter and St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, New York, for which she is cur-
rently a senior clinical consultant. Presently, she is a principal
investigator of a joint Sleep Center and AHMA project examining sleep
quality and the impact of the illness experience in patients with Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome.

LAWRENCE R. FREY (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is a Professor in the

Communication Department at Loyola University in Chicago. His re-
search is designed to help revitalize the study of small group commu-
nications by demonstrating the applied value of research to real-life
groups and encouraging the use of naturalistic research methods. Author
or editor of six books (including The Fragile Community: Living Together
with AIDS, with Mara B. Adelman) and 35 chapters and journal articles,
his edited text Group Communication in Context: Studies of Natural Groups
(1994), received both the 1995 Gerald R. Miller Award for outstanding
scholarship and the 1994 Applied Communication Distinguished Book
Award from the Speech Communication Association. He is the lead au-
thor of two quantitative methods textbooks adopted at 135 universities
and a forthcoming textbook on qualitative methods. Dr. Frey serves as
an associate editor on seven editorial boards and as a consulting reviewer
for numerous journals. In 1983, he received the Outstanding Young
Teacher Award from the Central States Communication Association; he
is the current President-Elect of that association.

JOHN MORITSUGU is a Professor of Psychology at Pacific Lutheran

University in Tacoma, Washington. He has been active in community
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS 155

psychology for many years, serving the American Psychological Asso-

ciation as National Coordinator of Regions, Chair of the Committee on
Ethnic Minority Issues, and Representative to the APA Council for Di-
vision 27 (APA Society for Community Research and Action). He has
also served as Co-President for Division 45 (APA Society for the Psy-
chological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) and as a member of the APA
Board of Educational Affairs. He is presently Vice-President of the Asian-
American Psychological Association. He was coeditor of the texts Pre-
ventive Psychology and Prevention: Toward a Multidisciplinary Approach.