Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor of Aging Studies and chair of sociology, has edited and contributed chapters to “Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations: Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations” (Lexington Books, 2024).

The volume analyzes how religion is passed down through a social change lens, focusing on six European and North American nations. Using a mixed-methods approach, Silverstein and fellow writers use quantitative and interview data to examine the transmission of religious practices, while considering the historical and societal contexts of Germany, Hungary, Italy, Finland, Canada and the U.S.

The book is co-edited by Maxwell alumna Maria T. Brown ’10 Ph.D. (SSc), associate research professor at the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Silverstein contributed the introduction, as well as two chapters: Chapter 6, “Intergenerational Evolution of Religiosity and Spirituality in Sexual Minorities in an American Sample,” and Chapter 7, “Spiritual Beliefs and Practices of the Non-Religious in an American Context: A Cross-Generational Perspective.”

Silverstein is a faculty associate for the Aging Studies Institute and a research affiliate for the Center for Policy Research and the Center for Aging and Policy Studies. Silverstein serves as principal investigator for the Longitudinal Study of Generations; his work has appeared in over 150 research publications.

Silverstein also edited “Aging Families in Chinese Society” (Routledge, 2022), and co-edited several other volumes including, “New Dimensions in Spirituality, Religion, and Aging” (Routledge, 2018) and “Later-Life Social Support and Service Provision in Diverse and Vulnerable Populations” (Routledge, 2017).

From the publisher:

“Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations: Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations” brings together scholars of religious studies, secularism, and family science to examine how religion is passed down the generations in six European and North American nations. Taking a social change perspective within the context of family socialization theory, the authors treat intergenerational change and continuity in religion and spirituality as occurring under specific national and historical conditions. As such, they consider the social forces that variously reinforce or inhibit transmission of religiosity across successive generations within families. The volume provides a nuanced view of the role that societal context plays in religious transitions and transformations. Chapters consider the strong influence of the Roman Catholic church in Italy, Communist suppression of religion in Hungary, aversion to religious discussions in Finland, the East-West/Catholic-Protestant divide in Germany, and rapid religious deculturation in Canada and the U.S. Further, each chapter takes a mixed-methods approach, using quantitative survey data to describe the strength and pattern of intergenerational transmission and interview data to clarify family dynamics by which parents, and ofttimes grandparents, influence the religious beliefs and practices of younger generations—taking care to consider how the absence of religion is also conveyed to the next generation.