Andrew Singleton

The “New Man” is in the House: Young Men, Social Change, and Housework:

Many scholars and journalists argue that housework is slowly being transformed in the late-modern era, with men doing more housework, women doing less, and outside help being utilized more often. Much of this optimism is held out for the younger age groups, especially members of “Generation X” (those born between 1965 and 1979). Drawing on findings from interviews with 22 middle-class Generation X men, this article examines the meaning and value of housework for these men and the extent to which it conforms to “optimistic accounts” of change (McMahon, 1999). Contrary to popular images of the “New Man” and the “New Woman,” a picture of continuity rather than change emerges overall. Generation X men are largely disinterested in the identity and housework possibilities that flow from discourses of equity and fairness, content to be domestic “helpers.” The mens comfort with their current arrangement is identified as a major impediment in achieving equality. The only area when mens practices might be changing in any meaningful way is with respect to fathering.

The spirituality of young Australians

A research project conducted in 2003–2006, the Spirit of Generation Y, using both extended interviews and a nationwide survey, revealed three main strands in the spirituality of young Australians: traditional, alternative and humanist. Their involvement in traditional religions was declining, like that of their parents, and although some adopted alternative spiritualities, the stronger trends were toward indifference or humanism. Eclecticism in worldviews and cautiously relativistic values seem to be responses to an uncertain world, in which isolated individuals have only fragile support structures for their identity.

Men Getting Real? A Study of Relationship Change in Two Men's Groups

Questions about mens capacity to change the ways they relate to one another have informed recent scholarly and popular discussions about mens relationships. One social context which consistently produces anecdotal claims about changes in mens relationships is dedicated mens groups. This article presents the findings from a qualitative study conducted with participants in two relationally centred mens groups. It discusses the type and quality of relationship change experienced by the participants in both groups and identifies the socio-cultural factors which appear to have facilitated this change. According to the informants, group involvement enabled them to transcend traditional masculine modes of relating and form intimate and trusting relationships with other participants. The interviews indicate that this change is attributable to various immediate contextual factors related to the group itself, rather than to a strident commitment to challenging traditional masculine codes of behaviour.

Your faith has made you well: The role of storytelling in the experience of miraculous healing

Instances of successful miraculous physical healing are now commonplace in contemporary Pentecostal and charismatic Christian churches throughout the world. Previous empirical studies of this phenomenon have overlooked the role the social practice of storytelling plays in relation to these experiences. Analyzing a number of oral stories which describe instances of miraculous healing, this study examines how the act of telling a story enables informants to interpret their experiences as a miracle. This preferred interpretation of events is produced through the ways the informants fashion their stories to privilege particular cultural meanings and suppress others and through the depiction of characters who appear in a miraculous healing story. The study concludes with an analysis of how the widespread circulation of miraculous healing stories sustains the practice of praying for miraculous healing whilst also creating reality for a community.

A Comparative Study of the Successful Management of Religious Diversity: Melbourne and Hong Kong

The study of the management of religious diversity has largely proceeded non-comparatively at national and organizational levels. As a result it is not yet possible to declare what promotes and what hinders the emergence of harmonious inter-religious relations in religiously diverse societies. This article compares the management of religious diversity at an urban level through a comparison of Melbourne, Australia and Hong Kong. The article first describes the demographic history of these two cities and then explores their social institutions of religion and organizations promoting inter-religious harmony in order to find explanations for the postwar emergence of societies characterized by both religious diversity and inter-religious harmony. Finally, it reflects on the policy implications of these findings.

Good advice for godly men: oppressed men in Christian men's self-help literature

This paper is a critical content analysis of the genre of Christian men’s sefl-help literature. It examines the ways in which this genre constructs and addresses men as a collective beset by their own ‘unique’ problems (including sexual addiction) and considers why the authors favor such characterizations. Men are portrayed as being just like any other disadvantaged group whose lives are characterized by oppression. It is suggested that this mediated classification of men as an ‘oppressed group’ is favored because it marginalizes competing social conversations about men’s status in society, especially feminist critiques of male privilege.

Beyond Heaven? Young People and the Afterlife

It is widely assumed that, given their age and life stage, teens and emerging adults do not spend much time thinking about their own mortality or the afterlife. However, national surveys of teens in the US, Great Britain, and Canada indicate that approximately half of all teens in these countries believe in life after death. Drawing on both national survey data and qualitative interview material, this article explores patterns and understandings of afterlife belief among Australian teens and emerging adults (13–29-year-olds). The analysis reveals that afterlife belief among Australian youth is idiosyncratic and self-directed, with few looking to an external authority for guidance in formulating belief. This is interpreted as further evidence of the increasingly eclectic approach young people take to spiritual matters.

The impact of World Youth Day on religious practice

World Youth Day, a youth‐focused Catholic celebration, is the largest recurring youth event in the world. The 10th International World Youth Day (WYD) was held from 15–20 July 2008, in Sydney, Australia and attenders participated in a week‐long series of religious events and activities. Little research in English has been conducted on WYD generally, and specifically on the impact participation has on the faith of attenders. This article investigates the impact participation at this event had on Mass attendance post‐WYD. Data are from a representative on‐line survey conducted five months after the event among registered WYD English‐speaking attenders (n = 2483). The results of multivariate analysis reveal change is most likely among those with moderately high levels of pre‐WYD religious practice, rather than those with the lowest or highest pre‐WYD levels of religious practice. In addition, those who enjoy the community solidarity and religious experiences at the event are more likely to report a post‐WYD increase in Mass attendance.

Contemporary Sociological Approaches to Spirituality

This chapter examines contemporary sociological definitions and approaches to the study of spirituality. It begins by examining how and when spirituality found its place in sociology, and then considers how sociologists have defined and studied spirituality in recent decades. A review of various definitions reveals that most sociologists understand that spirituality involves experiences of ‘transcendence’ or ‘sacredness’. This can be religious or otherwise. Next, the chapter discusses sociological explanations for popularisation of the notion that people are increasingly ‘spiritual, but not religious’. It is argued that post-1960s social changes have led to the expansion of spiritual options outside the bounds of organised religion and that a reasonable proportion of people in the west might aptly be termed ‘spiritual seekers’. The chapter concludes with a discussion of further prospects for the sociological study of spirituality, and examines the view that there can be a ‘secular spirituality’. It is argued that there has been a paucity of study of the actions, activities and motivations of non-religious people and how this aligns with current understandings of spirituality.

Seven heavens? The character and importance of afterlife belief among contemporary Australians

Abstract This article draws on in-depth qualitative interviews with 52 people to examine the meaning and character of afterlife belief among contemporary Australians. It explores the varieties of afterlife belief and considers the impact such beliefs have, particularly in relation to death and dying. The analysis reveals that afterlife belief is varied, individualistic and mainly arrived at with little to no reference to orthodox religious teaching. People variously believe in heaven, reincarnation, life on another plane or something more abstract. Those who follow faithfully a religious tradition are largely ignorant of detailed theological doctrines about life after death and like other kinds of believers, exercise their own authority and judgment over matters of belief.