Prayer as Transgression? The Social Relations of Prayer in Healthcare Settings

"The authors' ethnographic fieldwork provides a strong framework for their findings. Their use of a qualitative and ethnographic approach, which has so rarely been used in the examination of prayer, is exciting. Prayer as Transgression? is a study of prayer-in-action, of prayer 'in the thick of it' - this book makes a major contribution to the way in which prayer can be understood." Peter J. Collins, University of Durham "This is an important, well-conceived book that should be required reading for anyone interested in social scientific approaches to prayer, to the daily work of healthcare organizations, and to the multiple meanings embedded therein. The authors raise as many themes and questions as they address and speak to one another in carefully framed and connected chapters. I learned a great deal from this volume -- it is an excellent example of how to do interdisciplinary research across national contexts in thoughtful analytic ways." Social Forces