Pargament, Kenneth I. 1950-

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Pargament, Kenneth I. 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born 1950. Education: University of Maryland, Ph.D., 1977.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Toledo, OH. Office—Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0001. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Educator. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, professor of psychology.

MEMBER:

American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Virginia Staudt Sexton Mentoring Award, American Psychological Association, 2000.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Kenneth I. Maton and Robert E. Hess) Religion and Prevention in Mental Health: Research, Vision, and Action, Haworth Press (New York, NY), 1992.

The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice, Guilford Press (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor, with Michael E. McCullough and Carl E. Thoresen) Forgiveness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Guilford Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Contributor to books, including Coping and Copers: Adaptive Process and People, edited by C.R. Snyder, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001; Handbook of Positive Psychology, edited by C.R. Snyder and S.J. Lopez, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2002; and Spirituality, Health, and Wholeness, edited by S. Sorajjakool and H. Lamberton, Haworth Press (New York, NY), 2004. Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of Community Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Journal, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, American Psychologist, Review of Religious Research, Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Family Psychology, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and Mental Health, Religion, and Culture.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kenneth I. Pargament is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University, where he has taught for several decades. His primary research covers the crossings of psychology with spirituality and religion. Other research projects have covered topics as varied as sanctity in marriage and stress and coping issues. In these areas, Pargament has published many articles in academic journals and chapters in several books.

Pargament's first book, Religion and Prevention in Mental Health: Research, Vision, and Action, introduces the concept that religion, as a main component in the lives of many Americans, should be used as a means to help prevent mental illness. J. Elizabeth Norrell, reviewing the book in Family Relations, stated: "This book would be of greatest value to therapists and social science researchers who need an introduction to the variety of issues involved in the relation between mental health and religion." Pargament next published The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. The Psychology of Religion and Coping, taking a proreligious stance, centers primarily on the role religion plays in coping with life events. Armando R. Favazza, reviewing the book in the American Journal of Psychiatry, described the book as "massive, scholarly, even-handed, level-headed," and "meticulous." Favazza further noted that the work "sets a new standard for excellence for works on religion and psychology."