Buster G. Smith

Structured Voluntary Youth Activities and Positive Outcomes in Adulthood: An Exploratory Study of Involvement in Scouting and Subjective Well-Being

This study explores whether youth involvement in Scouting has positive consequences later in life. We examine whether the number of years of participation in Scouting is positively associated with human and social capital and recreational lifestyles in adulthood, and whether these are linked to subjective well-being: relational, emotional, and physical health. To explore this potential relationship, we estimated a structural equation model, analyzing data from a national sample of adult males. We found that youth involvement in Scouting is positively related to subjective well-being indirectly via the positive adult outcomes.

Religious Affiliation, College Degree Attainment, and Religious Switching

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the connection between religious affiliation and educational attainment and how this connection has changed over time. Methodology/Approach – We utilize the cumulative 1972–2008 General Social Surveys to examine the relationships between childhood religious affiliation, college degree attainment, and religious switching across three birth cohorts. Findings – We find in early cohorts that traditions such as Conservative Protestantism and Catholicism are negatively associated with college degree attainment. However, switching out of those traditions is positively associated with obtaining a college degree. In later cohorts, these effects disappear. Social implications – The finding that the relationships between religious affiliation and educational attainment are dramatically changing over time means that scholars, educators, and religious groups might need to revise their current thinking concerning the topic of religion and education. Originality/Value of chapter – This research helps us better understand the complexities involved when thinking about the role of religion in education and vice versa. By explicitly considering the different causal and temporal factors involved, this analysis provides a more nuanced understanding of the connection between religious affiliation and educational attainment.

Theism, Sexuality, and Social Policy: The Case of the American States

Does theism matter for public policy? Both theists and nontheists think so, the former for obvious reasons and the latter because they would otherwise not expend so much effort arguing against and countering theistic claims. Moreover, a wide-ranging body of social scientific research shows theism can be personally, communally, and politically consequential.1 In this sense, claiming that theism does not matter would mean denying empirical and historical realities. At the same time, systematic studies of social policy rarely account for theism in any substantial or empirical way, making questions of how theism matters less clear.2