UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY ISSUES OF INTERFAITH GROUPS

• Published in: Journal of community psychology Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 160 - 177
• Main Authors: Todd, Nathan R., Houston‐Kolnik, Jaclyn D., Suffrin, Rachael L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Collaboration; Community organizations; Information sharing; Social conditions & trends; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-4392; 1520-6629
• DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21840

Community psychologists are interested in community‐based organizations that work to address community issues. To extend research in this area, we use k‐means cluster analysis with a sample of 81 interfaith groups from across the United States to understand what types of issues they work on in their local communities. We demonstrate three typologies of how groups work on explicitly religious and/or more general social issues (i.e., religious and social issues, social but not religious issues, religious but not social issues). Moreover, we show typologies differ on group characteristics such as religious and racial diversity, the degree of religious and community information sharing at meetings, and the extent groups sponsor events or organize protests. Overall, this study furthers an understanding of the different ways interfaith groups contribute to community change efforts by working on distinct sets of issues in their community. Limitations and directions for future research and collaboration are discussed.