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The present study examines the experiences of 50 immigrant mothers and fathers from Eastern European countries raising children in the United States. Qualitative analysis of in-depth personal interviews resulted in three themes related to: (1) issues of discipline and decline of parental authority; (2) opportunities to build a child's selfesteem and confidence; and (3) a need to balance and integrate two cultures. This study illustrates the process of negotiation between two cultures that immigrant parents engage in and provides support for integration as an acculturation strategy. Narratives of immigrant parents demonstrate that they are changing their childrearing practices to give their children more choices and allow children more power in the family, while, at the same time, trying to maintain their authority and discipline. As a result of exposure to the host culture, these immigrant parents also report placing greater value on developing their children's self-esteem and assertiveness as important qualities for successful adaptation to the new context. While selectively adopting new childrearing values and strategies, these parents report retaining some attitudes and practices from their original cultures in order to keep their children grounded in reality. Participants' quotes provide rich descriptions of their experience of parenting in immigration and contribute to our understanding of the cultural factors guiding their childrearing decisions. This study may be useful to researchers and practitioners working with immigrants.

Evidence suggests that religion can both help and harm families. We posit that a central reason for these divergent outcomes is a system of dualities at the nexus of religion and family. We propose a conceptual framework of a dynamic system of religious and relational dualities. We propose eight dualities: (a) transcendent and mundane spiritual experiences may affect families, (b) families may experience God as a close confidant and an authority figure, (c) religion in families may involve accepting and refusing actions, (d) religion in families may include religious expectations and relational compensators, (e) religion in families may generate and address relational struggles, (f) religion in families may be relationally divisive and unifying, (g) religion in families may bring perplexing mysteries and profound meanings, and (h) religion in families may be a transforming and a maintaining influence. We discuss how these dualities lead to outcomes that help and harm families.

Employing qualitative interviews with a diverse national sample of 184 religious families (N = 445 individuals), we present an in‐depth look at how participants (a) view and frame their faith‐based financial giving, (b) how they contribute to and receive from their faith communities, and (c) how the blending of faith and finances influences their marital and parental relationships.

ObjectiveThis study seeks to explore ways that members of religious families (of Abrahamic faiths) struggle with and address the relational processes of sacrifice and self‐care.BackgroundSacrifice and self‐care influence human relationships, and as such, every human has to learn how to engage in them. Families are one of the many communities in which one must address sacrifice and self‐care.MethodThis study provides a qualitative exploration of sacrifice and self‐care among a sample of 198 highly religious (Abrahamic faiths) families. In‐depth analyses explored motivations, types, and related family processes among family relationships.ResultsA conceptual model illustrates sacrifice and self‐care in family life using an interdependence theory approach. Five themes from the data about how families perceived and addressed these relational processes are discussed: (a) tensions between sacrifice and self‐care, (b) motivations for sacrifice and self‐care, (c) types of sacrifice, (d) types of self‐care, and (e) processes in faith and family relationships.DiscussionReligious beliefs may shape how sacrifice and self‐care processes are perceived and potential tensions are addressed through either positive or negative ways. We suggest that engaging in sacrifice and self‐care with equal quality, not quantity, might be a positive way to address the emergent tensions between these processes.ImplicationsThrough an increased understanding of the connections and tensions between sacrifice and self‐care, researchers and practitioners will be able to better recognize how families positively address these tensions and collaboratively build resources to help family members harmonize engagement in sacrifice and self‐care to benefit relationships.

Generative devotion is a middle‐range theory grounded in analyses of interviews with religious and nonreligious families that illuminates ways religion can facilitate strong family relations within and across generations. Generative devotion is a way of approaching religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and communities that attends to the long‐term well‐being of family members, is essentially other‐oriented, responds to abiding needs of persons, respects the agency of others, and is consciously relational in nature. This article discusses various influences that have informed the development of the theoretical framework of generative devotion; the major terms of the framework and how generative devotion differs from other forms of religious devotion; 10 pathways to generative devotion; a metaprocess (generative family conversations) to better realize generative devotion; and assumptions about devotion in general, shared devotion, and generative devotion. Concepts are illustrated with quotes from in‐depth interviews.

ObjectiveTo explore personal and interpersonal processes that encourage relational reconciliation in nonclinical religious families.BackgroundFew studies have addressed what reconciliation is and when it is beneficial. Although intergroup reconciliation has been well documented, little research has addressed relational reconciliation in families. We focus on relational reconciliation pertaining to more normative and typical relational hurts and offenses that nearly all families experience, rather than severe offenses that might be best addressed in a clinical setting.MethodUsing systematic qualitative methods, in‐depth interviews from a nonclinical, exemplar sample of 198 religiously, ethnically, and geographically diverse mothers, fathers, and adolescents were coded and analyzed. Research questions focused on what circumstances led to a need for reconciliation, what motivated families to reconcile, how families reconciled, and what benefits families received from reconciling.ResultsFamilies were reportedly motivated to reconcile (a) because of their religious beliefs, (b) because they could see a "bigger picture" beyond the immediate conflict, and (c) because they felt that they had been recipients of God's love and forgiveness. The process of reconciliation involved (a) praying to God for help (spiritual processes), (b) admitting mistakes and taking responsibility (personal processes), (c) forgiving and being forgiven (relational processes), and (d) working to fix problems and make amends (practical processes).ConclusionConsistent with previous research, these processes reportedly fostered self‐healing following relational distance and led to positive relational outcomes.ImplicationsWhen self‐healing does not occur, clinicians, pastoral counselors, and family life educators may play an important role in helping individuals and families develop and incorporate the transformative processes of reconciliation identified in our data.

Most studies of marriage among African Americans have adhered to a problem-oriented perspective. Consequently, relatively little is known about enduring African American marriages. As marriage confers numerous psychosocial and economic benefits, there is merit in studying the characteristics of African American marriages that stand the test of time. Seventy-one married African American couples (mean length of marriage = 32 years) provided information regarding their religious practices, perceived reasons for their marital longevity, challenges encountered, marital happiness, and common areas of disagreement. Participant couples reported being happily married, attending church frequently, praying frequently, and believing that their faith has played a large role in their marital longevity. Responses also indicated that these couples have faced and overcome challenges and disagreements to remain married.

Leading scholars of marital processes strongly recommend supplementing the current focus on marital conflict to include research on transformative processes. This qualitative study examines the connection between religion and the transformative processes of commitment and coping in marriage. The sample for this study includes 184 married couples (N = 368 individuals), making it far larger than most in‐depth, qualitative interview‐based studies. Participants included Christians, Jews, and Muslims with an over sampling of minorities and immigrant families living in all eight regions of the United States. For several decades studies have shown a largely positive correlation between (a) religiosity and marital commitment and (b) religiosity and (generally) positive coping, but with little explanation regarding how and why. Findings of this study indicate that there are specific religious beliefs and practices related to how these couples approach their marriages—including several that relate to the two transformative processes of commitment and coping.