Encyclopedia Of Religous And Spiritual Development

Description:
SAGE Reference is proud to announce the 'Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development'. This Encyclopedia covers the topic of spiritual development as it occurs and is experienced within the first two decades of life. Spiritual development is an important part of human development that has links to identity development, moral development and civic engagement. Entries refer to links between spiritual and religious development and the contributions that they make to positive personal and social development in youth.The Encyclopedia presents the connections that exist between domains of human development in general and spiritual development in particular. It includes religious traditions and spiritual exemplars, spiritual texts, places and concepts and organizations with missions having to do with spirituality. A logical starting point for the interested student, it serves as a gateway to lengthier articles and more in-depth research.The key features and benefits include short entries in accessible terminology are written by specialists that include leading international theorists and thinkers from a wide range of disciplines and professions, providing broad, multidisciplinary scope. It looks at spirituality in the broadest sense and encompasses religion as just one path toward spiritual development. The Encyclopedia includes community-based programs that focus on enhancing spiritual development and on the links between spiritual development and positive personal and social development in youth. It includes reference lists for each entry that enable readers to gain further information related to the topic. The advisory board consists of academics from multiple disciplines whose work focuses on spiritual development, theologians, university librarians and leaders of organizations recognized for their work in promoting the healthy, positive development of youth.

Review:
'This is the product of an ambitious project: to bring within a single volume many different facets of religion and spirituality. These two terms are intertwined. Every religion has a spiritual dimension, but it is possible to be spiritual without being affiliated to a religion, and not all religious people are necessarily spiritual. Notwithstanding all the controversies associated with the notions and practices of religion and spirituality, they both permeate practically every sphere of human culture, from literature and music to health and scholarship. Concepts associated with them are ubiquitous in the language; religious names and symbols enrich and inspire human culture and societies.This compendium of brief essays on some of the major topics associated with religion and spirituality is informative and erudite, but by no means exhaustive in its selection of topics or complete in their treatment. Practically all the scholars included are of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The list of leading religious and spiritual figures consists only of those associated with the Abrahamic faiths and Buddha. Not all Christian denominations have an entry. On the other hand, there are articles on some major organizations, such as the Sierra Club and UNICEF; places of religious significance; and key concepts and practices, like rituals, yoga, and prayer. This book deserves a place in every library because it is a rich source of insight and information on topics of growing relevance and interest. Perhaps it may be taken as the prototype of a multivolume encyclopedia on this very vast subject.' -- V.V. Raman CHOICE 20060428 'Written to highlight current research on understanding the similarities and differences among world religions and spiritualities by editors Dowling and Scarlett, this work addresses the complexity of factors involved in religious and spiritual development... Though the work is not suppose to serve as an exhaustive catalog of its subject, it does provide a broad overview of more traditional topics as well as newer trends and themes.' -- LIBRARY JOURNAL LIBRARY JOURNAL 20060515 'While the weighty price tag of Encyclopedia of Religious & spiritual Development may limit this volume to serious spiritual collections, reference libraries- especially at the college lever- will find it absorbing. Key short entries written by leading specialists from a range of disciplines and professions examine spiritual development within communities at traditions ... A bibliography for further reading enhances each entry. A 'must' for any serious religious collection.' -- Diane Donovan 20061009

Author Biography:
W. George Scarlett is a graduate of Yale University (B.A.) and Clark University (Ph.D., Developmental Psychology). He has worked with such giants of the field as Jerome Bruner and Howard Gardner and has authored numerous articles on children's play and co-authored books on parenting, managing behavior problems, and religious-spiritual development in childhood. His past research at Harvard Project Zero, the Language and Cognitive Developmental Center and the Cambridge-Somerville Mental Health Center includes development of play assessment techniques for work with typical, at-risk, and atypical children. For over two decades he has taught courses on children's play. Currently, he is deputy chair of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. He is also co-editing the Encyclopedia of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence for Sage, scheduled to be published in 2005. Elizabeth Dowing is the Director of Research for The ImagineNations Group, where she is in charge of developing a global survey of young people focused on what they believe needs to happen in their respective countries and the world for the Millennium Development Goals to be met by the target year 2015. She works with local, national, regional, and international research partners to design and implement effective, sustainable research practices for ImagineNations. Elizabeth received her Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University, where she was a nominee for the Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and was awarded the Graduate Student Award for Academic Excellence. She has taught human development courses as an adjunct professor at Tufts University and Boston College. She was trained in the development and analysis of assessment tools and in research related to the intergration between positive youth development and the promotion of civil society. Elizabeth is author of numerous publications in leading journals and handbooks of human development.