Both individual experiences and community characteristics influence how much people trust each other. Using individual level data drawn from US localities we find that the strongest factors associated with low trust are: (i) a recent history of traumatic experiences; (ii) belonging to a group that historically felt discriminated against, such as minorities (blacks in particular) and, to a lesse...

Religion plays a very important role in the lives of many Americans. Over two-thirds of Americans belong to a church or other religious organization, and this trend has risen substantially over time. Two-fifths of Americans attend church in a typical week, and 95% profess belief in “the existence of God or a universal spirit” (Iannaccone, 1998). In addition, charity giving to religious causes a...

A decade of work by Bergin and others is reviewed and synthesized concerning two broad issues: (a) the role of values in psychotherapy and (b) the relation of religion to mental health. Trends have changed and there is now more professional support for addressing values issues in treatment. There is also more openness to the healthy potentialities of religious involvement, and therapists themse...