Belief, Behavior, and Health

This book uniquely examines, across cultures, the health benefits and detriments of religious beliefs, with important implications for individual wellbeing and human survival. Belief, Behavior, and Health takes the reader through journeys of the author's research in the Middle East, Africa, and the urban United States, where she focused on the unequal health and survival of women globally and vulnerable groups in the United States. Almost every health problem, especially those experienced by the poor and disadvantaged, arose from or was made worse by the conditions in the environment in which people lived. Lane's detailed studies of beliefs about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam led to the author's deep observations on how religious belief and practice, as well as discrimination due to religious prejudice, can be a major influence on health, both positively and negatively. In this book, Lane shows how religious precepts and cultural influences on religious behavior function as social determinants of health. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of public health, anthropology, and sociology and those interested in the influence of religion on health outcomes.

Sandra D. Lane is the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Public Health and Anthropology at Syracuse University and a research professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Upstate Medical University.

1. Introduction 2. The Irish Catholics and the English Protestants: Family History and Social Determinants of Health from the European Wars of Religion 3. The Friends of Dorothy House: A Catholic Worker House for Those Dying of HIV/AIDS 4. Childbirth as a Pathway to Spiritual Transformation 5. Female Genital Cutting in Egypt and Islam 6. Vaccine Hesitancy: Hasidic Jews and Outbreaks of Measles and Polio 7. When Religion Causes Harm 8. Conclusion