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Book Review and Notice: Psychology of Religion

clear delineation of chapter contents difficult to achieve, and material which would have been better kept together is scattered about. The author, however, must be givencredit for not falling into the trap of trying to make sharp distinctions between the work of psychologists and sociologistson religion. Empiricists in this domain overlap greatly and are mostoften mutually supportive, Unhappily, potentially good theoretical analyses of certain areas (e.g., religious practice, forgiveness, prayer, moral behavior, etc.) are offeredbut the research literature on these topics is frequently ignored. Weakness in the latter constitutes the major shortcomings of the book. Nowhere do we find reference to the research and writings of Elkind, Fichter, Gorsuch, Hadden, Johnson, Martz, Pope, Pruyser, Rosen, Rosenberg, Strommen, Strunk and a host of others, all of whom have dealt with issues central to Scobie's concerns. In addition, most of the significant work of persons cited such as Boisen, Glock, Greeley, Festinger and Rokeach is also absent. The most solid research on prayer, religion and prejudice, the dimensionality of religion and religion and mental disorder is also either missing or treated in an offhand way, while a few studies are repetitiously discussed to the point of distraction. One must feel ambivalent about this book. The novice can be easily misled by the fine writing; the knowledgeable reader can become terribly frustrated at the often abbreviated treatments of sophisticated topics. Nevertheless, the clergyperson can gain some good introductory information and insights, but he or she must be ready to go further in order to substantiate inferences. Scobiehas offereda very rough beginning, possibility one too elementary for either the student or the motivated practitioner.