Charles R. Figley, Ph.D. is Kurzweg Chair (distinguished professorship) in Disaster Mental Health, Professor and Co-Director for Graduate Programs in the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy, Director of the Traumatology Institute, and Senior Professor in the Tulane University Graduate School of Social Work.  He is a pioneer in the field of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As a returning veteran from Viet Nam, he saw the connections between the traumas of both rape and war and out of this, came new and more general theory. This theory and diagnostic guidelines now guide many professionals in working with people debilitated by various kinds of trauma.

Presider: Jeffry Larson

The Effects of Parental Divorce on the Spiritual Experiences of Young Adults: Do They Vary by Levels of Parental Conflict? Research has shown that parental divorce can have a lasting influence on the religious and spiritual lives of young adults. In particular, children of divorce tend to be more disengaged from institutional religion than their counterparts from two-parent families, even with controls for many potentially confounding factors. But do all types of divorces, or all types of marriages, have the same effects on religiousness and spirituality? Christopher Ellison, Ph.D, University of Texas at San Antonio.

First Comes Marriage. Data from the General Social Survey, indicate that the deep and enduring ties between religion and family have characterized much of the nation’s history continue up to the present. This study also suggests that family change has played a particularly important role in recent declines in religious attendance among specific groups in American society. W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., University of Virginia.

Discussant: Annette Mahoney
Presider: Joe Wilmoth