Item Detail
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12073
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1
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0
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English
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Mormons and the Family
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University of Southern California
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Ph.D diss.
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"This study explores how a particular religious system, Mormonism, deals with the family. The first of six chapters gives an overview of the project. Religious dogma is considered in Chapter 2. It explores how LDS theology contains a powerful familism which has survived its origins largely intact, and that strong familism is an important element in Mormon culture today. In Chapter 3 Mormon ritual is explored. Several Mormon, family-centered rituals are described. The dual role of father as head of the family on the one hand, and as priesthood leader and servant of the Church on the other is explored as the central unifying theme in Mormon ritual. Chapter 4 describes how control is exerted on individuals within the LDS community in the areas of: (1) mate selection, (2) sexual practices, and (3) marital behavior. Both formal and informal mechanisms which perform important functions in controlling behavior among Mormons are examined. Chapter 5 explores some of the strains found within the Mormon sub-culture. The areas covered are: (1) strains caused within Mormonism by the American sexual revolution, (2) Mormon ambivalence toward gentiles, (3) divided loyalties, (4) the intellectual/anti-intellectual cleavage, and (5) the changing role of women. In the sixth chapter descriptive demographic data is presented in order to more clearly define the LDS community and its distinctive characteristics. Some conclusions are drawn from the information presented regarding Mormons and the family in the present, and the prospects for the future. (Copies available exclusively from Micrographics Department, Doheny Library, USC, Los Angeles, CA 90089.)" [Author's abstract]