Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love, and Marriage among African Americans and Latinos

by W. Bradford Wilcox, Nicholas H. Wolfinger

Overview

In 1994, David Hernandez, a small-time drug-dealer in Spanish Harlem, got out of the drug business and turned his life over to God. After he joined Victory Chapel-a vibrant Bronx-based Pentecostal church-he saw his life change in many ways: today he is a member of the NYPD, married, the father of three, and still an active member of his church. David Hernandez is just one of the many individuals whose stories inform Soul Mates, which draws on both national surveys and in-depth interviews to paint a detailed portrait of the largely positive influence exercised by churches on relationships and marriage among African Americans and Latinos-and whites as well. Soul Mates shines a much-needed spotlight on the lives of strong and happy minority couples. Wilcox and Wolfinger find that both married and unmarried minority couples who attend church together are significantly more likely to enjoy happy relationships than black and Latino couples who do not regularly attend. They argue that churches serving these communities promote a code of decency encompassing hard work, temperance, and personal responsibility that benefits black and Latino families. Wilcox and Wolfinger provide a compelling look at faith and family life among blacks and Latinos. The book offers a wealth of critical insight into the effect of religion on minority relationships, as well as the unique economic and cultural challenges facing African American and Latino families in twenty-first-century America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199911158
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/04/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

W. Bradford Wilcox is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. He also serves as a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Nicholas H. Wolfinger is Professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah.

Table of Contents

Preface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Steering Clear of the Street Chapter 3: Religion, Sex, and Childbearing Chapter 4: Wandering Towards the Altar Chapter 5: A Path to Wedded Bliss? Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Soul Mates helps us grapple with the complexities of Latinx and black relationships and family life and considers how religion, namely Christianity, and social policy can strengthen important relational bonds." — Nicholas Grier, Anglican Theological Review

"Breaks new ground...In explaining how religion influences (and fails to influence) black and Latino couples, Soul Mates can equip church leaders to better serve couples of all races."—Books and Culture

"The social transformation of American family life over the last half century has produced complex and varied consequences in people's lives. Soul Mates closely examines those experiences among two important minority groups, contributing particular insight on the often-neglected question of how religion interacts with family structure to shape life outcomes." —Christian Smith, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology, University of Notre Dame

"In Soul Mates, Wilcox and Wolfinger show that churches foster 'a code of decency' that has helped to modulate the impact of family breakdown for Latinos and African Americans while recognizing that religion does not fully protect churchgoers from the earthquake in the American family. Their important book should be of great interest to scholars of the family and to others concerned about family life among African Americans and Latinos." —Isabel Sawhill, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

"Soul Mates is an important and timely work. Wilcox and Wolfinger deftly synthesize data from many sources to argue that religious institutions, practices, and beliefs can strengthen marriages and families among African Americans and Latinos, thus countering the corrosive effects of racism and structural disadvantage. Rigorous and highly readable, this volume deserves careful attention from scholars, practitioners, and the wider public." —Christopher G. Ellison, Professor of Sociology and Dean's Distinguished Professor of Social Science, the University of Texas at San Antonio

"There's no question that marriage is floundering. Many people aren't sure there's still a benefit to being married. But this groundbreaking research by Bradford Wilcox and Nicholas Wolfinger shows what those of us who are regular churchgoers know: having faith can help you have a happy marriage. Nonetheless, their findings also indicate churches still have a lot to do to help reduce divorce among their members. One thing that is clear about the importance of this research: The more we know about what it takes to create healthy, happy marriages, the better our society will be."—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post Columnist

"The skillful use of large national data sets to weave a coherent narrative of two groups (Blacks and Latinos) is both compelling and easy to follow. Soul Mates never seems to downshift in rigor. The reports (whether qualitative or quantitative) have a feel of validity, accuracy, and authenticity that makes the participants come alive. This book will not only be on my shelf, it will be within reach on my academic desk, because of the wide array of useful data it contains. For scholars of family, and minority families in particular, this is a goldmine."-Loren Marks, Kathryn Norwood and Claude Fussell Alumni Professor of Child and Family Studies, Louisiana State University

"[T]he book is timely and important. The prose is lucid and accessible for a general audience, the analyses are straightforward, and the authors are careful to offer the necessary caveats about self-selection and the limits of religion s ability to redress problems that are structural in nature. Scholars who are familiar with the research on race, religion, and families will find little that is controversial about their conclusions or recommendations."—Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

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