This exploratory study examined assimilated American Jews who became more ethnically identified. The goal was to identify social and intrapsychic factors which influenced the return to Judaism. Returning Jews served as a natural laboratory for studying the process of ethnic identification and cultural change. Ten young adults, ranging in age from twenty-five to thirty-nine years old, were interviewed. A case study methodology was used and common themes which related to factors in the return process were identified. The interpretation of the case studies utilized a conceptual framework which integrated psychosocial developmental theory, family systems theory, and psychoanalytic object relations theory. Subjects were influenced by feelings of family loyalty. It was hypothesized that invisible loyalties in Jewish families may regulate self differentiation and impose upon children missions involving continuity and preservation of traditions. Returning to Judaism in the context of a highly assimilated family was found in some cases to be a form of rebellion. It was noted that this avenue for self differentiation also constituted an implicit declaration of family loyalty. Subjects observed religious rituals but did not adhere to orthodox theology. Their religiosity emphasized ritual practice over belief. Religious observance was found to be used both as transitional objects, for the purposes of self-soothing and fantasy play, and as ritualizations to facilitate adult identity formation. The findings suggested that ritual structure is both psychologically and developmentally useful. Like many neo-orthodox Jews, the returning Jews in this sample were alienated young adults with counter-cultural leanings. These subjects, however, had not made dramatic life changes and they associated their increased ethnic identity with maturation and the need to make adult commitments. This study suggested that ethnic identity may be a source of transitional objects and ritualizations in our society. It was conjectured that ethnic identity will be more likely to be used in these ways if the ethnic culture provides concrete rituals and symbols which can be incorporated into daily living. Directions for future research include investigating the return to Judaism on a larger scale and extending this study to cross-cultural research on emergent ethnicity.

Attitudinal Healing, a psycho-spiritual application of the text, A Course in Miracles, is being used throughout the world to assist people who have life threatening or chronic illnesses, as well as people who are in need of emotional or spiritual support. Attitudinal Healing may be viewed as a meta-theory that is inclusive of other psychological and spiritual thought systems. It empowers individuals to explore universal psychological and spiritual themes in nondogmatic ways. The intent of this research was to gain an understanding of how a six month study of Attitudinal Healing would affect the personal and professional lives of a group of mental health workers. A phenomenological perspective was used. In-depth unstructured interviews were conducted over the course of the study. Findings were related to each of the Twelve Principles of Attitudinal Healing. Shifts in consciousness, belief systems, and individual behaviors occurred as a result of the six month study group. These personal shifts, in turn, affected the professional lives of the mental health workers.

This study investigates the relationship between Christian women's self-esteem, spiritual well-being, and feminist/patriarchal attitudes as well as knowledge regarding selected Biblical passages and theological constructs that speak to the women's role. Participants were 78 women seminarians and 78 women parishioners from main line Protestant denominations in urban and suburban New England. Each was given four questionnaires: The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, The Christian Women's Attitude Scale, The Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and Knowledge of Biblical Passages and Theological Constructs Scale. The questionnaires were administered in groups to insure procedural standardization. Responses were anonymous; all individual responses were pooled. Statistically significant correlations show women in this study with more knowledge of feminist Biblical analysis, have more feminist attitudes regarding the measured passages and constructs and higher levels of all-over self-esteem, particularly perceived self-image, self-acceptance, personal worth, personal adequacy and self-evaluation of their personality. Also these women have a higher sense of moral worth, physical and emotional independence, openness and greater capacity for self-criticism. These women also show higher levels of belief in women and men sharing equal authority, that God's nature has both masculine and feminine attributes, that women and men share equal responsibility for sin, and that women should value their physical selves, their sexuality and their beauty. Conversely, the data demonstrates that women with higher patriarchal attitudes have lower capacity for normal, healthy openness and self-criticism and lower personal self-worth. Puzzling data shows women holding more feminist attitudes and seeing themselves equal with men as well as women higher on patriarchal attitudes and lower on physical and emotional independence both have a significantly higher sense of religious and existential spiritual well-being. Finally, comparing differences between parishioners and seminarians, parishioners have more adequacy, worth and value as family members, while seminarians have more spiritual and religious well-being, more knowledge of measured passages and constructs, and more feminist attitudes about them, particularly regarding female authority and feminine and masculine qualities of God.