Some of the literature concerning religious phenomena and conversion experience is reviewed.
Three cases have been described in which there are several common factors leading to religious conversion — a specific unconscious conflict, a conscious conflict with which the individual is actively struggling, adolescence, and a fundamentalist religious belief.
The cases presented are examples of each of three possible solutions to the patient's conflictual dilemma.
A central feature of the psychodynamics in these cases is the resolution of an Œdipal conflict through delayed identification with the parent of the opposite sex.
References
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CarlsonHelen (1958): Acute Confusional State in College Students, American Journal of Psych., 114: 900–909.
2.
ChodoffP. (1964): Stress, Defences and Coping Behaviour, American Journal of Psych., 120: 743–769.
3.
ChristensenC. W. (1963): Religious Conversion, Archives of General Psych., 9: 206–216.
4.
EddyMary Baker (1952): Science and Health, Boston, Christian Science Publ. Society.
5.
Frazer, Sir JamesG. (1940): The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, New York, The MacMillan Co.
6.
JayneW. A. (1962): The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations, University Books.
7.
La BarreWeston (1962): They Shall Take Up Serpents, University of Minnesota Press.
