Pastoral misconduct : the American Black church examined /

While Shupe (Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ. Fort Wayne) and Eliasson-Nannini (graduate student, Bowling Green State Univ.) state that their book is about black pastors and that they wish to overcome the taboo about writing on issues of race and deviance, these disclaimers are not precise enough to overcome their work's limitations. What they present is anecdotal evidence about various black pastors who acted inappropriately, without comparing them closely to those who are good role models, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They fail to demonstrate a causal correlation between "black" and "deviance" among pastors, which is essential, with so many instances of misconduct by pastors in other groups. Persons not well schooled in research methods may conclude that this book is about black leaders' deviance, and not vignettes about a few pastors who overstepped boundaries. However, vignettes always are useful as case histories, and studies on groups generally begin there. Shupe has been writing on religious groups for quite some time, so he knows the field. For those with a sound methodological background. Summing Up: Optional. Graduate students, faculty only. M. G. Meacham Valdosta State University