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Benda, B. B. and R. F. Corwyn. 2001. “Are the Effects of Religion on Crime Mediated, Moderated, and Misrepresented by Inappropriate Measures?” Journal of Social Service Research vol. 27, pp. 57-86.
Abstract: The present study consists of random samples from two public schools in the inner-city of a large metropolitan area on the East coast, involving 360 adolescents, and random samples from three rural public high schools in a state in the South involving 477 adolescents. The purpose of the study is to test generalizations found in the literature about whether: (a) church attendance is an adequate measure of the effects of religion on delinquency, (b) religion is related to more serious offenses like crimes against property and persons, (c) church attendance or religiosity are related to crime among adolescents when the effects of major predictors are controlled, and, (d) the effects of religiosity are moderated by region of residence. The findings show that religiosity rather than church attendance is significantly related to crime, and the former remains a significant predictor even it is analyzed simultaneously with the strongest predictor observed in the literature. Finally, the effects of religiosity are not moderated by region of residence (i.e., the effects of religiosity have a significant inverse relationship to crime on the East coast as well as in the South). The implications of these findings are discussed. [Source: SC]
Dean, Kenda Creasy. 2001. “Moshing for Jesus: Adolescence as a Cultural Context for Worship.” in Opening the Table: Multicultural Approaches to Worship, edited by Brian Blount and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale. Westminster/ John Knox.
Evans, E. M. 2001. “Cognitive and Contextual Factors in the Emergence of Diverse Belief Systems: Creation Versus Evolution.” Cognitive Psychology vol. 42, pp. 217-266.
Abstract: The emergence and distribution of beliefs about the origins of species is investigated in Christian fundamentalist and nonfundamentalist school communities, with participants matched by age, educational level, and locale. Children (n = 185) and mothers (n = 92) were questioned about animate, inanimate, and artifact origins, and children were asked about their interests and natural-history knowledge. Preadolescents, like their mothers, embraced the dominant beliefs of their community, creationist or evolutionist; 8- to 10-year-olds were exclusively creationist, regardless of community of origin; 5- to 7-year-olds in fundamentalist schools endorsed creationism, whereas nonfundamentalists endorsed mixed creationist and spontaneous generationist beliefs. Children's natural-history knowledge and religious interest predicted their evolutionist and creationist beliefs, respectively, independently of parent beliefs. It is argued that this divergent developmental pattern is optimally explained with a model of constructive interactionism: Children generate intuitive beliefs about origins, both natural and intentional, while communities privilege certain beliefs and inhibit others, thus engendering diverse belief systems. [Source: ML]
Grossoehme, D. H. 2001. “Self-Reported Value of Spiritual Issues among Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients.” Journal of Pastoral Care vol. 55, pp. 139-145.
Abstract: Reports on a survey of a prospective, uncontrolled sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients on the importance of spiritual issues to them. Results indicated that the vast majority of adolescents in this sample indicated that spiritual beliefs are considered important. Notes that a majority reported that mental health professionals rarely asked them about their beliefs in the spiritual areas. Observes that nearly all the patients reported having a chaplain-led spiritual group that they perceived as a helpful part of the therapeutic milieu. [Source: ML]
Henderson, Joyce T., Dale A. Robbins, Dale Johnson, B. J. Clark, Thomas F. Eaves, and James G. Van Buren. 2001. Youth Leaving the Church? How to Revert This Trend. Los Angeles, CA: Joyce T. Henderson.
Mattis, J. S. and R. J. Jagers. 2001. “A Relational Framework for the Study of Religiosity and Spirituality in the Lives of African Americans.” Journal of Community Psychology vol. 29, pp. 519-539.
Abstract: Religiosity and spirituality are defining features of African American life. However, within psychology, research on African American religiosity and spirituality has proceeded without benefit of a conceptual framework. This paper labors toward a framework that examines the roles of religion and spirituality in the development and maintenance of social relationships. We review empirical research on the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of African Americans with an eye toward illuminating the affective, cognitive, and behavioral mechanisms through which religion and spirituality shape individual, family, and communal relationships across the developmental span. Future directions for quantitative and qualitative research on African American religious and spiritual life are suggested. [Source: SC]
Moore, Ralph. 2001. Friends: The Key to Reaching Generation X. Ventura, Calif.: Regal Books.
Rabey, Steve. 2001. In Search of Authentic Faith: How Emerging Generations Are Transforming the Church. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Waterbrook Press.
Storch, E. A. and J. B. Storch. 2001. “Organizational, Nonorganizational, and Intrinsic Religiosity and Academic Dishonesty.” Psychological Reports vol. 88, pp. 548-552.
Abstract: The present study was a preliminary examination of the relations among the Organizational, Nonorganizational, and Intrinsic dimensions of religiosity and academic dishonesty. 244 college students completed the Duke Religion Index and nine questions assessing academic dishonesty. Analysis indicated that (1) regardless of sex, High Nonorganizational and Intrinsic religiosity was associated with lower reported rates of academic dishonesty, and (2) there was an interaction between Organizational religiosity and sex, with High Organizational women;Ind men reporting similar rates of academic dishonest. Furthermore, the Frequency of academic dishonesty reported by High Organizational women was higher than the rates reported by Moderate and Minimal Organizational women. [Source: SC]
Borden, Anne L. 2000. “Beyond Accommodation: When Religion and Popular Culture Meet.” Paper presented at Southern Sociological Society (SSS).
Abstract: Sociologists of religion theorize that, in the face of modern secularized society, religious organizations have two options: they may "resist" or they may "accommodate" to the surrounding culture (eg, see Berger, Peter, 1967). Traditionally, the concept of accommodation has implied that religious groups compete with secular society & are losing in the zero-sum game. Recent scholarship (eg, Smith, Christian, 1988) asks sociologists to move beyond this notion of accommodation & to recognize that religion can be both strong & modern. Religious groups can transform aspects of the secular world & may infuse popular culture with sacred meaning. Here, results of a case study based on fieldwork at a Protestant high school youth conference provides evidence of the resacralization of secular culture. TV shows, movies, & commercials are reinterpreted & used to convey religious messages. [Source: SA]
DiGiacomo, James. 2000. “Theology for Teens.” America vol. 182, pp. 12-15.
Abstract: Discusses the formation of adolescents' values and aspirations. Status of their capacity for commitment; Increase in the number of believers among the young; Important tasks of high school religious education; Challenges posed by teenagers for the theology teacher. [Source: AS]
Elder, Glen H., Jr. and Rand D. Conger. 2000. Children of the Land: Adversity and Success in Rural America. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Abstract: (from the publicity materials) This book presents the results of a long-term study in which the authors followed the lives of more than 300 Iowa children from adolescence until after high school. The authors show how the traditional values associated with farm families--closely knit communities, churches, and schools, and productive roles for youth in both work and social settings--were crucial to the success of these children. This book offers lessons about potential routes to success for all young people at risk. [Source: PI]
Flory, Richard W. and Donald E. Miller. 2000. Genx Religion. New York: Routledge.
Fulton, John. 2000. Young Catholics at the New Millennium: The Religion and Morality of Young Adults in Western Countries. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
Johnson, B. R., D. B. Larson, and S. De Li. 2000. “Escaping from the Crime of Inner Cities: Church Attendance and Religious Salience among Disadvantaged Youth.” Justice Quarterly vol. 17, pp. 377-391.
Abstract: With the theoretical backdrop of social disorganization and "resilient youth" perspectives, we hypothesize that individual religiosity is protective in helping at-risk youths such as those living in poor inner-city areas to escape from drug use and other illegal activities. To test this hypothesis, we draw data from an interview survey of 2,358 youth black males from tracts in poverty in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, conducted in 1979 and 1980. Results from a series of multilevel analyses indicate that church attendance (the frequency of attending religious services) has significant inverse effects on nondrug illegal activities, drug use, and drug selling among disadvantaged youths. Religious salience (the perceived importance of religion in one's life), however, is not significantly linked to reductions in juvenile delinquency. we discuss the implications of our findings, focusing on individual religiosity as a potentially important protective factor for disadvantaged youths. [Source: SC]
Lytch, Carol Eichling. 2000. “Choosing Faith across Generations: A Qualitative Study of Church-Affiliated High School Seniors and Their Parents.” Ph.D. Thesis, Emory University.
Abstract: A heightened sense of personal autonomy has altered how Americans believe and practice religious faith over the last three decades. This study investigates how church-affiliated teens reared in a culture of choice live in the tension between the giveness of their authoritative religious tradition and the "heretical imperative" to choose what to believe and how to practice religious faith. This study offers narrative description of how teens in Louisville, Kentucky, experience three particular suburban/metropolitan congregations--one Catholic, one evangelical Protestant, and one Methodist--in the context of this altered religious culture. Using ethnographic methods of participant observation, interviews, and qualitative data complemented by national survey data, this study analyzes how churches attract teens in timeless ways by offering them a sense of belonging, a way to make meaning, and a challenge to develop competence, even as congregations adapt in different ways to a contemporary culture of choice. Secondly, this study explores the two themes of religious identity and religious loyalty in high school seniors. Especially at the threshold of adulthood, high school seniors seek symbols, stories, and structures to assist them as they select trajectories of vocation and affective ties for their adult lives. Finally, this dissertation weighs the significance of various influences upon teen religiosity and explores how parents, the most important influence, shape their teens' religious outlook. Faith is not just "passed on" to teens today, it is negotiated, and in that process the religious tradition itself is made vital for a new generation. [Source: DA]
Maiello, C., W. Herzog, and M. Neuenschwander. 2000. “Degrees of Belief in God (Bbbs-J): A New Scale for the Measurement of Religiosity in Adolescents.” International Journal of Psychology vol. 35, pp. 43-44.
McClendon, Clarence E. 2000. The X Blessing: Unveiling a Redemptive Strategy for a Marked Generation. Nashville: T. Nelson.
Miller, L., M. Davies, and S. Greenwald. 2000. “Religiosity and Substance Use and Abuse among Adolescents in the National Comorbidity Survey.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry vol. 39, pp. 1190-1197.
Abstract: Objective: To replicate previous findings among adults of an inverse association between religiosity and substance use among a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Method: Subjects were 676 (328 female and 348 male) adolescents in the National Comorbidity Survey who were assessed for substance use and abuse with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Religiosity was assessed through affiliation with religious denomination and through response to 7 questions concerning belief and practice. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses replicated in adolescents the 2 religiosity factors of personal devotion and personal conservatism previously identified by Kendler among adults, although the 2 factors were more highly correlated in adolescents than in adults. Personal devotion (a personal relationship with the Divine) and affiliation with more fundamentalist religious denominations were inversely associated with substance use and substance dependence or abuse across a range of substances (alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or any contraband drug). Personal conservatism (a personal commitment to teaching and living according to creed) was inversely associated with use of alcohol only. Conclusion: Low levels of religiosity may be associated with adolescent onset of substance use and abuse. [Source: SC]
Pendleton, S. M. and K. S. Ross. 2000. “Perceptions of Chronically Ill Children and Their Parents About the Role of Religion in the Physician-Patient-Parent Interaction.” Pediatric Research vol. 47, p. 2839.
Perrin, R. D. 2000. “Religiosity and Honesty: Continuing the Search for the Consequential Dimension.” Review of Religious Research vol. 41, pp. 534-544.
Abstract: Despite the fact that it is theologically, psychologically, and sociologically sound to assume that religious commitment should make a difference in the day-to-day life of the individual, research on the behavioral consequences of religious commitment has been somewhat inconsistent This inconsistency has made questions about, for example, the honesty of Christians versus non-Christians very difficult to answer. This study examined data from 130 college students of varying degrees of religious commitment who were presented with an opportunity to be dishonest. Students who report that they attend church and other religious activities, believe in life after death, and consider themselves born again Christians were more likely to be honest. The implications of the findings, especially in light of the generally inconsistent research on the consequential dimension of religion, are discussed. [Source: SC]
Regnerus, Mark D. 2000. “Shaping Schooling Success: Religious Socialization and Educational Outcomes in Metropolitan Public Schools.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 39, pp. 363-370.
Abstract: This paper analyzes religious socialization as it relates to schooling success. I propose and test a multilevel model of involvement in church activities as providing integration and motivation toward schooling success among metropolitan U.S. public high school sophomores. Results indicate that respondents' participation in church activities is related to heightened educational expectations, and that these more intensely religious students score higher on standardized math/reading tests, even while controlling for variables that often show religious effects to be spurious. The hypothesis that church involvement's effect varies by ecological context - it being a better predictor for students in poorer neighborhoods than average or wealthy neighborhoods - was not supported. [Source: AU]
Roehlkepartain, Eugene C., Elanah Dalyah Naftali, and Laura Musegades. 2000. Growing up Generous: Engaging Youth in Giving and Serving. Bethesda, MD: The Alban Institute.
Rosengren, Karl S., Carl N. Johnson, and Paul L. Harris. 2000. Imagining the Impossible: Magical, Scientific, and Religious Thinking in Children. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Showalter, Shelley M. and Linda Mans Wagener. 2000. “Adolescents' Meaning in Life: A Replication of Devogler and Ebersole (1983).” Psychological Reports vol. 87, pp. 115-126.
Abstract: Previous studies have indicated that adolescents understand the concept of meaning in life and can apply it to their lives. In this study we examined how religious adolescents differ in their self-reports of meaning in life compared to adolescents previously studied. It is expected that adolescents in a Christian community more frequently attribute their meaning in life to beliefs than will adolescents in the non-Christian population. 81 adolescents from a religious summer camp reported commitment to a belief as their strongest personal meaning more frequently than any other category when reported in a free-response essay format, whereas no adolescents in the previous study reported belief as their strongest meaning. [Source: NS]
Sotelo, M. J. 2000. “Individual Differences in Political Tolerance among Adolescents.” Social Behavior and Personality vol. 28, pp. 185-192.
Abstract: In this study, political tolerance is defined as the willingness to extend human rights to different socio-political groups. We considered 12 rights based on Human Rights and the 13 socio-political groups most relevant to Spain. Results based on 273 Spanish adolescents suggest that rights with a higher social component are extended more willingly than those which are more political in nature. This study also attempted to find variables related to political tolerance. Statistically, differences in political tolerance were found in terms of age, political experience, self esteem, support for democratic norms, support for violent groups, and identification with a group of friends, a religious group or a soccer team. [Source: SC]
Strizenec, M. 2000. “Religion and Coping: Empirical Verification of Their Interaction.” Studia Psychologica vol. 42, pp. 71-74.
Abstract: Research to date concerning the effects of religion on coping with stressful situations has brought new specific data. In terms of theory and research, this subject area has been developed most by K.I. Pargament, who delineated three styles of religious coping: Self-directing, Deferring and Collaborative In a research project involving adolescents, we confirmed the reliability of the Slovak translation of the above author's scale and found a prevalence of the collaboration with God coping style. Similar results were found in other smaller samples of subjects. The Collaborative style is connected with intrinsic religious orientation. [Source: SC]
Vasilev, V. G., V. O. Mazein, and N. I. Martynenko. 2000. “Relationship of Adolescent Students to Religion.” Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya pp. 118-120.
Barna, George. 1999. Third Millennium Teens: Research on the Minds, Hearts and Souls of America's Teenagers. Ventura CA: Barna Research Group.
Beaudoin, Tom. 1999. “Evangelical Gen X Ministry: Take It and Leave It.” Regeneration Quarterly vol. 5, pp. 20-22.
Daley and Elizabeth Grant. 1999. “Muslim Teens Dispel Myths and Stereotypes.” New York Amsterdam News vol. 10, p. 20.
Abstract: Presents an interview with three Muslim teenagers on Islam and on stereotypes at the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, New York City. Includes a discussion on the basic principles of Islam; Kimar religious clothes; Differences in rules for men and women; Stereotyping of Muslims. [Source: AS]
Donelson, Elaine. 1999. “Psychology of Religion and Adolescents in the United States: Past to Present.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 22, pp. 187-204.
Abstract: Many of the early founders of America were concerned with religious issues, and some of their concerns continue in contemporary science. Psychology of religion has a long history in American psychology, but one marred by neglect and misguided claims about the nature of science. Psychology of religion offers a chance for an expansion of behavioral science into realms of importance to many people. For example, both development during adolescence and the implications of gender differences may be illuminated by a consideration of the role of religion in human life. Particular topics discussed include conversion and religious mobility, religious experience, images of God, identity, and mental health and coping. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. [Source: SS]
D'Onofrio, B. M., L. J. Eaves, L. Murrelle, H. H. Maes, and B. Spilka. 1999. “Understanding Biological and Social Influences on Religious Affiliation, Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Behavior Genetic Perspective.” Journal of Personality vol. 67, pp. 953-984.
Abstract: Although the transmission of religiousness has been assumed to be purely cultural, behavior genetic studies have demonstrated that genetic factors play a role in the individual differences in some religious traits. This article reviews the extant behavior genetic literature and presents new analyses from the "Virginia 30,000" on the causes of Variation in religious affiliation, attitudes, and practices, and relates these to personality as construed by Eysenck. Results indicate that religious affiliation is primarily a culturally transmitted phenomenon, whereas religious attitudes and practices are moderately influenced by genetic factors. Further, Eysenck's personality traits do not mediate genetic influences on religiousness, but significant negative genetic correlations are found between church attendance and liberal sexual attitudes. Implications and possibilities for future studies are discussed. [Source: SC]
Eccles, Jacquelynne S. and Bonnie L. Barber. 1999. “Student Council, Volunteering, Basketball, or Marching Band: What Kind of Extracurricular Involvement Matters?” Journal of Adolescent Research vol. 14, pp. 10-43.
Abstract: Examined the potential benefits and risks associated with participation in five types of activities: prosocial (church and volunteer activities), team sports, school involvement, performing arts, and academic clubs. A sample of 1,259 Ss was followed from 1983 when the Ss were in the 6th grade to 1997. First, the authors explored the link between involvement in these activities and our indicators of positive and negative development. Involvement in prosocial activities was linked to positive educational trajectories and low rates of involvement in risky behaviors. In contrast, participation in team sports was linked to positive educational trajectories and to high rates of involvement in one risky behavior: drinking alcohol. Then, the authors explored two possible mediators of these associations: peer associations and activity-based identity formation. The evidence supported the hypothesis that group differences in peer associations and activity-based identities help explain activity group differences. [Source: PI]
Gallup, George. 1999. The Spiritual Life of Young Americans: Approaching the Year 2000. Princeton NJ: The George H. Gallup International Institute.
Harrell, Daniel M. 1999. “Post-Contemporary Worship: What? Ambiguity and Antiquity? Candles and Icons? A Glimpse at What Might Be Next.” Leadership vol. 20, pp. 37-39.
Ingraham, Cynthia L. 1999. “Music as the Message: Rap, Hip Hop and R & B Stylings Draw Youth in to the Pews.” About Time vol. 26, pp. 22-25.
Abstract: Discussed is the recent trend in popular music toward gospel, for example with Kirk Franklin's enormously successful song 'Why We Sing,' which was played on pop, rhythm & blues, and contemporary radio stations. The effect that this trend is having on young people's faith and church attendance is a focus. [Source: BS]
Irwin, Darrell D. 1999. “The Straight Edge Subculture: Examining the Youths' Drug-Free Ways.” Journal of Drug Issues vol. 29, pp. 365-380.
Abstract: Examined the sociocultural attributes of a Straight Edge subculture, based on ethnographic field observation and interviews with 86 youth (average age 16.5 yrs) attending alternative music concerts in Long Island. Straight Edge subculture differs from other youth movements by supporting a drug-free lifestyle. Aspects of Straight Edge alternative identity discussed include symbols, dance, lifestyles, religion, and diet. Discussion focuses on the social norms of this drug-free subculture. Whether Straight Edge will develop into a larger movement in the future or remain a small-scale scene is discussed. [Source: PI]
Kidd, Rocky. 1999. “Four Spiritual Laws of Gen X.” Sojourners vol. 28.
Kooistra, William P. and Kenneth I. Pargament. 1999. “Religious Doubting in Parochial School Adolescents.” Journal of Psychology and Theology vol. 27, pp. 33-42.
Abstract: 267 high school juniors (aged 15-18 yrs) from Catholic and Protestant parochial schools were surveyed in regard to their doubting of core tenets of Christianity. Various indices were used to investigate the relationships between religious doubting and adverse life events, family environment, and emotional distress. Support was mixed and generally weak for the hypotheses that religious doubt would correlate positively with adverse life events, conflictual family patterns, and emotional distress. However, although no denominational differences were predicted, separate analyses for the Catholic and Protestant students revealed that the latter evidenced a pattern of consistently higher and statistically significant correlations for the predicted relationships. The authors conclude that religious doubting among adolescents may be most highly associated with adverse life events, conflictual family patterns, and emotional distress in subcultures in which religious values are well-integrated into the familial-cultural identity. [Source: PI]
Markstrom, Carol A. 1999. “Religious Involvement and Adolescent Psychosocial Development.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 22, pp. 205-221.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if religious involvement was associated with psychosocial maturity of adolescents as understood in Erikson's (1965) psychosocial theory. Three forms of religious involvement (attendance at religious services, participation in a Bible study group, and youth group involvement) were examined in relation to ego strengths, ideological and ethnic forms of identity, general self-esteem, and school self-esteem. Questionnaires were completed by 62 African-American and 63 European-American students in the 11th grade. All participants were from rural areas in West Virginia and of lower income status. Ego strengths of hope, will, purpose, fidelity, love, and care were associated with various forms of religious involvement. These associations were most apparent for European-Americans. Although ideological identity was not related to religious involvement, higher ethnic identity was associated with being African-American, especially for those more religiously involved. General self-esteem was not significant in the analyses, but school self-esteem was higher for each form of religious involvement. [Source: PI]
McKinney, J. P. 1999. “Adolescents and Religion: A View from the Millenium.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 22, p. 185.
McKinney, John Paul and Kathleen G. McKinney. 1999. “Prayer in the Lives of Late Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 22, pp. 279-290.
Abstract: Prayer is a behavior that is performed by most people at least at some time, and yet social scientists appear to have neglected this topic. 77 college students (aged 18-32 yrs) were interviewed, given the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, and asked to keep 7-day diaries about their prayer activities, whether spontaneous or formal. Correlational analyses revealed a relationship between identity status and frequency of praying, as well as between identity status and commitment to religion. A qualitative analysis of the diary data suggested that prayer may be a revealing approach to the psychosocial lives of late adolescents, including their central concerns, temporal orientation, and the social bounds of their definition of self. [Source: PI]
Oord, Thomas Jay (ed.). 1999. Generation Xers Talk About the Church of the Nazarene. Kansas City Mo: Nazarene Pub. House.
Princeton Theological Seminary, Institute for Youth Ministry. 1999. Growing up Postmodern: Imitating Christ in the Age of 'Whatever'. Princeton, N.J.: Institute for Youth Ministry.
Abstract: Communities of faith for citizens of a postmodern world / Nancy T. Ammerman -- Just what is postmodernity and what difference does it make to people of faith? / Nancy T. Ammerman -- "Who is Jesus Christ for us today?": as asked by young people / Martin E. Marty -- Youth between late modernity and postmodernity / Martin E. Marty -- Faithful becoming in a complex world: new powers, perils, and possibilities / Sharon Daloz Parks -- Home and pilgrimage: deep rhythms in the adolescent soul / Sharon Daloz Parks -- Global issues facing youth in the postmodern church / Friedrich Schweitzer -- Imitating Christ in a postmodern world: young disciples today / William Willimon -- Imitating Christ in a postmodern world: making young disciples today / William Willimon. [Source: HA]
Shandler, Sara. 1999. Ophelia Speaks: Adolescent Girls Write About Their Search for Self. New York: HarperPerennial.
Abstract: Body under assault. Media-fed images; Eating disorders; Self-inflicted wounds; Intoxication; Rape and sexual abuse -- Family matters. Mothers; Fathers; Sisters and brothers; Disintegrating foundations; No safe place; Preganancy; Death in the family -- The best and worst of friends. With the support of friends; Friendship lost; When friends die -- Touched by desire. Innocent attractions; Seduced by sex; Diverse sexualities; Manipulated and controlled; Broken-hearted independence -- Overcoming obstacles and coming into our own. The academic squeeze; Depression and therapy; Race, identity, and prejudice; Questions of faith; Feminist pride. [Source: HA]
Shapiro, Susan. 1999. “Spiritual Education: An Assessment of Jewish Adolescents.” Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Abstract: The present investigation was an exploratory study designed to assess the spiritual needs of Jewish adolescents. Their spiritual beliefs, experiences, interest in developing spiritually, and factors which facilitate and interfere with spirituality were evaluated. A survey was completed by 273 Jewish teenagers in the suburban Philadelphia area who were affiliated with Reform and Conservative supplementary Hebrew high schools. Ten students, who provided a diverse range of responses on the survey, participated in a semi-structured interview. Results showed that over one half of the Jewish adolescents believe in the existence of God, that God plays a role in the creation, and that some decisions are predetermined. Gender differences showed that females are more likely to view God as having a role in the creation, and more likely to view God as having a role in determining important decisions in their lives. Over 90% of the Jewish adolescents in the present study reported having spiritual experiences although they do no occur very often. Their spiritual experiences were mainly related to prayer and religion. These experiences were associated with feelings of peace and connection. About one fifth of the adolescents reported that they do not pray or they feel emptiness or nothing when they do pray. About one half of the Jewish teenagers showed interest in developing themselves spiritually, and this interest increased with age. Over a third viewed relationships with ones' peers as the most important area in which they would like to develop themselves spiritually. Supportive behavior of parents and peers were found to facilitate teenagers' spirituality. At the same time judgmental behavior of parents or peers may interfere with teenagers' spiritual experience. Teachers were not viewed positively as facilitating the teenagers' spirituality. This investigation pointed out the need for inservice training for educators in communication skills, adolescent and spiritual development. The integration of current scientific theory, the arts and nature with religious education; as well as the need for small group exploration with supportive peers is recommended. Future research might examine the teacher-adolescent relationship, gender differences, and the uncertainty expressed by teenagers. [Source: PI]
Song, Minho. 1999. “Patterns of Religious Participation among the Second Generation Koreans in Toronto toward the Analysis and Prevention of 'the Silent Exodus'.” Ph.D. Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Tori, Christopher D. 1999. “Change on Psychological Scales Following Buddhist and Roman Catholic Retreats.” Psychological Reports vol. 84, p. 125.
Abstract: Compares the effects of theistic and nontheistic spiritual practices. Quantification of psychological change scores among teenage youths following three-day Buddhist or Roman Catholic retreats; Noninvolvement of belief in some sort of divinity construct in Buddhism; Likelihood for more change following the Buddhist retreat due to its emphasis on self-control and human existence. [Source: AS]
Trusty, Jerry and Richard E. Watts. 1999. “Relationship of High School Seniors' Religious Perceptions and Behavior to Educational, Career, and Leisure Variables.” Counseling and Values vol. 44, pp. 30-39.
Abstract: This study used data from a national sample of 12,992 US high school seniors to investigate the relationship of religious perceptions and behavior to several school, career, and leisure variables. Seniors' positive perceptions of religion and frequent attendance at religious services were related to positive parental involvement, positive school attitudes and behaviors, and infrequent problem behaviors. Parental involvement mediated the effects of religious perceptions and behavior on adolescents, academic attitudes and drug use. However, a large portion of the effects of religious perceptions and behavior was independent of parental involvement. Implications for counselors and educators are provided. [Source: PI]
Yaconelli, Mark. 1999. “Youth Ministry: A Contemplative Approach.” Christian Century vol. 116, pp. 450-454.
Youniss, James, Jeffrey A. McLellan, Yang Su, and Miranda Yates. 1999. “The Role of Community Service in Identity Development: Normative, Unconventional, and Deviant Orientations.” Journal of Adolescent Research vol. 14, pp. 248-261.
Abstract: Responses from a nationally representative sample of 13,000 high school seniors were analyzed to identify predictors of normative, unconventional, and deviant orientations among youth. Normative orientation was indexed using indicators of conventional political involvement (e.g., voting), religious attendance, and importance of religion. Unconventional orientation was indexed with unconventional political involvement (e.g., boycotting). Deviance was measured through marijuana use. Frequency of community service substantially increased predictability of these variables over and above background characteristics and part-time work involvement. Involvement in most types of school-based extracurricular activities was positively associated with doing service, as was moderate part-time work. Background characteristics of attending Catholic school, being female, having high socioeconomic status, and coming from an intact family also predicted service involvement. Results are discussed in terms of a theory of social-historical identity development, suggesting that community service affords youth a developmental opportunity to partake of traditions that transcend the material moment and existential present. [Source: PI]
Zullo, James R. 1999. God and Gen-X : Faith & the New Generation. Romeoville IL: Lewis University.
Clark, Schofield Lynn. 1998. “Identity, Discourse, and Media Audiences: A Critical Ethnography of the Role of Visual Media in Religious Identity Construction among United States Adolescents.” Thesis, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Abstract: Employing a critical/cultural studies approach, this dissertation argues that identity-construction is best understood as the nexus of public discourses and individual subjectivities. To understand the role of media in identity-construction, this work analyzes both the themes of discourse that are available in mediated texts and echoed throughout the culture, and the various social, political, economic and other contexts that frame the individual adolescent's identity narratives and practices. The discourses of religion and their relation to the religious identity-construction of individual subjects provides the focus for the current analysis. The study employed ethnographic interviews with 70 adolescents and their parents, 5 in-depth case studies of adolescents, 3 'peer-led' discussion groups (some of the adolescents involved in case studies were trained to lead focus groups without the primary researcher present), and 3 focus groups with parents of teens. The dissertation argues that there are three distinctive elements of religious identity-construction among adolescents today. First is a flattening of religious symbols. Religious symbols are not necessarily seen by adolescents as authoritative and 'fixed' due to their reference to formal religious institutions but are rather approached as somewhat autonomous and, like other commodified symbols of the postmodern condition of late capitalism, they must be made useful. Second, analyzing the interpretive strategies teens brought to the popular television program Touched by an Angel, the dissertation finds that adolescents embrace a variety of publicly-available discourses of religion which are not solely attributable to race, class, gender, and religious affiliation. Thus the dissertation affirms the rise in personal autonomy or the privatization of religion and the subsequent importance of the mediated realm (as opposed to solely the realm of religious institutions) in determining religious identities. Third, while affirming Stuart Hall's interpretive taxonomy of dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings, the dissertation demonstrates a fourth interpretive approach, a regeneration that draws upon a dominant or negotiated reading of a text and is based on a viewer's position with reference to the text, yet also subtly informs the individual's larger system of beliefs, thus resulting in a subtly changed belief system. [Source: PI]
Crawford, David Wayne. 1998. “The Relation of Religious Family Background and Ego Identity Development in Late Adolescence.” Thesis, University of Houston.
Abstract: This study was designed to extend the literature relative to adolescent ego identity development in family context, looking specifically at how significant religious family background interacts with identity development. Results of this study were based on responses to the Family Environment Scale and the Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. The study sample comprised 304 highly religious adolescents from a fundamentalist Christian college. Data analysis was accomplished in two main ways. First, the continuous scores from the religious sample were compared to norm scores provided by the test manuals for the OMEIS and the FES. Second, without reference to the norm groups, scores from the OMEIS and the FES were correlated. The groups differed significantly on both measures, and canonical correlation facilitated identification of potential relations among family characteristics and identity statuses. Overall results indicated that the religious subjects were characterized by high levels of commitment and conviction, leading very directed and purposeful lives. At times, this commitment is balanced and genuinely individual, being preceded by personal search and introspective consideration of alternative commitments. There was also evidence that the religious subjects are often characterized by unreflective commitment typical of the Foreclosure identity status. They perceived their families as highly religious and morally directed, and tending to be very structured, organized and controlled. Very little conflict is experienced, such that expressiveness is also relatively low in this family environment. The numerous significant relations that emerged from the canonical correlations indicate that the religious structure, control and organization is associated with identity low in emptiness and aimlessness (i.e. identity diffusion) and high in identity direction and commitment. However, a relatively unreflective commitment style was found in frequent association with this family environment. Importantly, when independence contributed significantly to family style, more advanced identity functioning was related. In general, it appears that supported individuality and balanced religiosity are most conducive to more advanced identity functioning while highly structure religious control which minimizes expressiveness tends to be associated with less mature identity development. [Source: PI]
Dean, Kenda Creasy and Ron Foster. 1998. The Godbearing Life : The Art of Soul-Tending for Youth Ministry. Upper Room.
Francis, Leslie J. and Carolyn Wilcox. 1998. “Religiosity and Femininity: Do Women Really Hold a More Positive Attitude toward Christianity?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 37, pp. 462-469.
Gaviria, Alejandro. 1998. “Three Essays on Social Interactions and Intergenerational Mobility.” Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, San Diego.
Abstract: This dissertation consists of three loosely connected essays in applied microeconomics with a special emphasis on social interactions. The first essay uses a sample of tenth-graders drawn from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) to test for the presence of peer-group effects on five different activities: drug use, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, church going, and dropping-out of high school. The empirical analysis reveals strong evidence of peer-group effects at the school level for all activities analyzed. These effects remain after controlling for personal and school characteristics, family background variables, and several measures of parental behavior and parental involvement in their children's daily life. Mild evidence of endogeneity bias is found for two of the five activities analyzed (drug use and alcohol drinking). The second essay studies the interplay between borrowing constraints and intergenerational relations. This essay uncovers compelling evidence showing that the inability of parents to borrow against their children's earnings depresses the earnings of poor children vis-a-vis rich children with the same ability and retards social mobility among the poor. This evidence contradicts several recent studies that argue that innate ability is the overriding determinant of educational attainment in the United States. The essay also shows that siblings inequality seems to be independent of family wealth. This finding is important because it contradicts the predictions of most economic models of resource allocation within the family. The third essay offers an explanation to the escalation of violent crime that occurred in Colombia during the 1980s. The essay considers three implicit models that isolate different types of externalities among criminals. In the first model criminals make crime more appealing to nearby residents by congesting the law enforcement system and hence lowering the probability of punishment. In the second model the interaction of career criminals and local crooks speeds up the diffusion of criminal know-how and criminal technology. In the third model the daily contact of youth with criminal adults and criminal peers results in the erosion of morals and hence in a greater predisposition toward crime. The essay shows that a myriad of empirical evidence--both statistical and anecdotal--lends support to the previous models in general and to the congestion-in-law-enforcement model in particular. [Source: DA]
Henderson, Joyce T. 1998. Why African American Youth Are Attracted to Non-Christian/Non- Traditional Religions & Sects. Bloomington: 1st Books Library.
Jones, Karen Elaine. 1998. “A Study of the Difference between Faith Maturity Scale and Multidimensional Self Concept Scale Scores for Youth Participating in Two Denominational Ministry Projects.” Ph.D. Thesis, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dallas.
Abstract: Problem. The problem of this study was to measure the difference between pre-test and post-test scores on the Faith Maturity Scale (FMS) and the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS) for five groups of youth participating in specified ministry projects. The five groups were females, males, 7th-8th graders, 9th-10th graders, and 11th-12th graders. It was also the problem of this study to measure the difference in FMS and MSCS post-test scores between females and males, and among 7th-8th, 9th-10th, and 11th-12th graders participating in specified ministry projects. Procedures. Faith Maturity Scale and Multidimensional Self Concept Scale pre-tests and post-tests were administered to a convenience sample of youth attending one of five World Changers or World Tour ministry projects during the summer of 1997. Pre-test and post-test instruments were matched and difference scores were computed using t-tests for correlated samples, t-tests for independent samples, and ANOVAs, with significant differences analyzed with Fisher's Protected Least Significant Difference test. There were 852 sets of matched instruments used to compute differences. Findings and conclusion. Faith Maturity Scale and Multidimensional Self Concept Scale post-test scores were significantly higher at the $\alpha$ = 0.05 level for all youth. Female post-test scores on the FMS and the MSCS were significantly higher than male post-test scores. No significant differences in FMS or MSCS post-test scores were measured among the three school grade levels. Additional tests utilizing scores on the Affect, Competence, and Social subscales of the MSCS found no significant differences among the three grade levels. However, females scored significantly higher on the Social and Competence subscales than males. [Source: PI]
Kramer, Robert L. 1998. “Ethnic Identity Development in Jewish Adolescents and the Impact of an Israel Experience.” M.A. Thesis, University of Lowell, Lowell.
Abstract: Positive attitudes and a connection to Israel are seen as an important component in Jewish identity. It is widely believed throughout the Jewish community that an Israel experience (a trip to Israel with educational, experiential, and social components) during the adolescent years will enhance Jewish identity. Thirty-nine Jewish adolescents who regularly attend Jewish summer camps were interviewed. Twenty of the subjects had taken part in an Israel experience during the summer of 1997 while the other nineteen have never been to Israel. Subjects were asked open-ended questions about their most memorable Jewish cultural and life experiences, what connected them to the Jewish community, feelings about the Holocaust, whether or not they expected to marry someone Jewish, feelings about Israel, and other questions related to their Jewish identities. This paper employed quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine the impact that the Israel experience had on their Jewish identities. [Source: DA]
Markstrom, C. A., R. C. Berman, and G. Brusch. 1998. “An Exploratory Examination of Identity Formation among Jewish Adolescents According to Context.” Journal of Adolescent Research vol. 13, pp. 202-222.
Abstract: Identity formation among Jewish adolescents was examined according to a goodness-of-fit model and an exploration- based/perspective-taking model. Forty-eight high school students living in Jewish dominant neighborhoods and 54 high school students living in Jewish nondominant neighborhoods completed measures of ideological, interpersonal, and ethnic forms of identity, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. A series of 2 (Context) x 2 (Gender) x 4 (Grade) ANCOVA procedures (controlling for religious orientation and religious attendance) were performed on subscales of ideological, interpersonal, and ethnic identity. Slight support was shown for the goodness-of-fit model. Ideological identity diffusion was higher among Jewish nondominant participants, and ethnic behaviors and practices and total ethnic identity were higher among Jewish dominant adolescents. There were several significant correlations between ideological and interpersonal forms of identity and self-esteem. Limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for further research are given. [Source: SC]
Marsh, David B. 1998. “The Influence of Religion and Religious Experiences on Families and Individuals.” Ph.D. Thesis, Brigham Young University.
Abstract: This dissertation seeks to elevate the significance of religious experiences in research and analysis, to describe the religious experience of a sample of LDS (Mormon) youth and young adults, and to employ LISREL modeling and analysis to test interrelationships associated with religious experiences. Because of the persistence of reported divine influences in the lives of many individuals and families, their inclusion in scholarly endeavors is argued. Including the role of religious experience in research provides another avenue through which further understanding of individual and family behavior can be sought. LDS adolescents whose families read sacred literature together, pray together, and discuss religious teachings together are more likely to engage in those same behaviors in their personal lives. Those LDS adolescents who practice private religious behaviors are more likely to report religious experiences such as feeling the Spirit of the Lord, knowing what it feels like to repent and be forgiven, and feeling that the Holy Ghost is an important influence in their life. Those LDS adolescents who report experiencing sacred feelings are more likely to continue their private religious behaviors during later adolescence and young adulthood. Family religious behaviors influence the private religious behaviors of adolescents and young adults which, in turn, influence the reception of religious experiences. While attendance at church declines among the sample, the practice of private religious behaviors, and the report of religious experiences increase over time. As respondents age, private religious behaviors and sacred feelings occur at such a coincidental rate that if an individual is experiencing one he or she is likely experiencing the other. Three types of religious experiences are identified: Sacred Feelings, Sacred Experiences, and Sacred Blessings. The majority of the sample report receiving Sacred Feelings (know the feeling of repenting and being forgiven, felt the Spirit in Sacrament meeting; feel that the Holy Ghost is an important influence in their life). A significantly smaller portion of the sample receive Sacred Experiences (voices, visions, angels, or dreams). Most of the sample believe that their Sacred Blessing (Patriarchal Blessing) is a revelation from God to them personally, and experience comfort and guidance from it. [Source: DA]
Ploch, Donald R. and Donald W. Hastings. 1998. “Effects of Parental Church Attendance, Current Family Status, and Religious Salience on Church Attendance.” Review of Religious Research vol. 39, pp. 309-320.
Reinhold, Julie S. 1998. “Typologies of Adolescent Religious Orientation in Relation to Ego Development, God Concept, and Social Desirability.” Thesis, Pace University, New York.
Abstract: The present investigation is an exploratory study designed to establish typologies of religious orientation in a population of adolescents from religious backgrounds. Additionally, the validity of these constellations has been explored in relation to ego development, God-concept, social desirability, and religious practices. A sample of 182 students from three Parochial schools and a Yeshiva, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old, completed a series of scales measuring religious and psychological variables. A hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis of the subjects responses to the intrinsic and extrinsic scales of Age Universal Religious Orientation Scale - Revised, the consensual scale of the Religious Viewpoints Scale and the quest scale of the Religious Life Inventory resulted in a four cluster solution. These subgroups are identified as Observance, Foreclosed Intrinsic, Skeptical, and Anti-religious. These empirically derived subgroups were then compared on external validity measures including the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale, the Gorsuch Adjective Checklist, as well as measures of religious background and behaviors. Analysis of variance were performed on variables of ego development, social-desirability, God-concept, age, religious background and behavior. Chi Square Analysis was used to determine gender differences. Significant differences were found between subgroups on all criteria except gender and social desirability. Overall, the study indicates that adolescents have customary ways of integrating various dimensions of religious experience into their spiritual life in a manner that is consistent with typical adolescent psychological development. In terms of the religious orientation construct and it's measurement, the study demonstrates a more complex interaction of religious orientation dimensions than has previously been seen in the empirical literature. This finding supports the utility of a multi-dimensional approach to assessing the religious orientation construct and exposes limitations of the conventional four-fold classification system which utilizes only the intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions. [Source: PI]
Scott, Sue M. 1998. “Exploring God-Images of Children: Implications for Pastoral Counseling.” Thesis, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston.
Abstract: This project analyzes and compares the God-images of three children, each distinguished by a different parental figure: intact, blended, and single parent. Grounding the study in Sallie McFague's model of God as parent, the project employs David Heller's methodology to investigate each child's image of God in a two-hour interview, finding several common themes: sexual identity, female identity development, separation and inequality, intimacy, creation, comforter, authority, and dynamic action. A child's parental experience does inform who God gets to be. [Source: RI]
Sherkat, D. E. 1998. “Counterculture or Continuity? Competing Influences on Baby Boomers' Religious Orientations and Participation.” Social Forces vol. 76, pp. 1087-1114.
Abstract: The presumed attractiveness of countercultural orientations to young, educated, baby boomers led many scholars to proclaim the 1960s counterculture as the driving force behind declining religious participation, and a supposed growing distaste for biblical religion. In contrast, theories of religious behavior predict substantial continuity in religious orientations and commitments. Social ties and life course events influence religious beliefs and rates of participation yet these ties and transitions often support traditional religious expressions. I integrate insights from studies of baby boomer religion with more general theories of religious commitment, merging theories of the dual nature of social structures with rational choice perspectives on religious behavior. Using data from the 1965- 1982 Youth Parent Socialization Panel Study, I analyze the relative influence of three factors on baby boomers' religious orientations and participation: (1) traditional agents of socialization (denominations, parents, and schools); (2) life course factors (marriage, divorce, and childrearing); and (3) Participation in the protest movements of the 1960s and early 1970s-a widely cited countercultural protagonist of religious change. I also demonstrate how prior religious orientations directed participation in the counterculture. My analyses show that traditional socialization agents, life course factors, and countercultural participation all play a role in directing future religious orientations and commitments. However, traditional socialization factors have a dominant influence on future religious beliefs and participation. [Source: SC]
Benda, Brent B. 1997. “An Examination of a Reciprocal Relationship between Religiosity and Different Forms of Delinquency within a Theoretical Model.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency vol. 34, pp. 163-186.
Abstract: Results from a study of 1,093 adolescents (aged 13-20 yrs) do not support the argument that property crimes, crimes against persons, and use of alcohol and other drugs are behavior manifestations of an interrelated constellation or syndrome of delinquency. A factor analysis clearly shows that the various forms of delinquency studied load on three distinct factors. In addition, whereas the hypothesized theoretical model does explain considerable variation in frequency of alcohol use and of criminal behavior (22% and 24%, respectively), it does not account for much variance in drug use (6%). Whereas there are reciprocal relationships between religiosity and drug use and religiosity and crime, only the feedback effect of religiosity on alcohol use is significant. These latter findings suggest that future studies need to examine reciprocal relationships and that the relationship between alcohol use and religiosity needs to be re-examined conceptually and empirically in future studies. [Source: PI]
Benda, Brent B. and Robert Flynn Corwyn. 1997. “A Test of a Model with Reciprocal Effects between Religiosity and Various Forms of Delinquency Using 2-Stage Least Squares Regression.” Journal of Social Service Research vol. 22, pp. 27-52.
Abstract: This was a study of 1,093 9th-12th graders from 6 different public high schools, where the same integrated theoretical model of control and social learning theories fit the data on alcohol use, heavy alcohol consumption, use of marijuana, criminal behavior, sexual exploration, and suicidal thoughts. It was observed that the model explained significantly more variance in some of these forms of delinquency than in others, indicating only equivocal support for the deviance syndrome argument in the literature. This study also found that religiosity was a significant influence only on criminal behavior, whereas the feedback effect of delinquency on religiosity was significant for all forms of delinquent behavior studied. [Source: PI]
Benson, Peter L., Kevin S. Masters, and Larson. David B. 1997. “Religious Influences on Child and Adolescent Development.” in Handbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 4, Varieties of Development, edited by Joseph D. Noshpitz and Norman E. Alessi. New York: Wiley.
Bourdeau, Marie L. and Darren M. George. 1997. “Changes across Age Groups on Measures of Knowledge, Faith, and Belief of God's Personal Concern.” Psychological Reports vol. 80, pp. 1359-1362.
Abstract: 100 Protestant, church-going children were surveyed concerning knowledge about the Bible, faith in God, and belief of God's personal concern. Statistically significant increases were found over five age groups (3-5 yrs, 6-8 yrs, 9-12 yrs, 13-15 yrs, 16-18 yrs) for the three variables: strong increases for knowledge and moderate increases for faith and belief of God's concern. These and other results are discussed. [Source: PI]
Burton, Linda M. 1997. “Ethnography and the Meaning of Adolescence in High-Risk Neighborhoods.” Ethos vol. 25, pp. 208-217.
Abstract: Draws on field data & interviews from 186 African American teenagers in nine high-risk neighborhoods in the urban Northeast to illustrate how ethnography can discover elusive, but highly significant, issues concerning adolescent development in context. Data collection was supplemented by analyses of newspapers & interviews with religious, municipal, & community leaders. Findings uncovered three influences that indicated that adolescence had become an ambiguous & illusionary stage of life development in these neighborhoods: (1) an accelerated life course prompted by an anticipated short life expectancy; (2) diffuse age hierarchies that reduced respect for elders; & (3) inconsistent role expectations in family & social organization. [Source: SA]
Charmé, Stuart Z. 1997. “Children's Gendered Responses to the Story of Adam and Eve.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion vol. 13, pp. 27-44.
De Haan, Laura G. and John Schulenberg. 1997. “The Covariation of Religion and Politics During the Transition to Young Adulthood: Challenging Global Identity Assumptions.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 20, pp. 537-552.
Abstract: Draws on survey data from 209 students at a large midwestern university to investigate the relationship between religious & political beliefs & their combined influence during transition to young adulthood. Findings showed that the most religious individuals had experienced some belief exploration before making a commitment. Those who had not engaged in exploration & had no firm commitment were the least religious. Faith in government proved unrelated to identity development, but high political interest did correlate with high identity achievement scores. No relationship between religious & political identity was apparent, suggesting that components of ideological identity should be considered separately. [Source: SA]
Dickie, Jane R. and Amy K. Eshleman. 1997. “Parent-Child Relationships and Children's Images of God.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 36, pp. 25-43.
Dunlop, Amelia Frances. 1997. “Generation Quest: The Religion of the X Generation.” Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Harvard University.
Fosarelli, Patricia. 1997. “Children in Our Midst: Listening to Children Talk About God.” Thesis, Wesley Theological Seminary.
Abstract: This project examines ways that children, ages six to 11, "speak" about God artistically, orally, and in written responses to a questionnaire. Children "speak" about God in different ways at different ages, and their experiences and responses should shape the ways that adults teach and elicit responses. [Source: RI]
Froehle, Bryan. 1997. Survey of Catholic Youth and Parents Connected with Parish Programs : Findings and Implications for Vocations: A Study Conducted for the N.C.C.B Committee on Vocations with the Support of Serra International Foundation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
King, Valarie, Glen H. Elder, Jr., and Les B. Whitbeck. 1997. “Religious Involvement among Rural Youth: An Ecological and Life-Course Perspective.” Journal of Research on Adolescence vol. 7, pp. 431-456.
Abstract: Developmental expressions of religion in the lives of youth extend from formal church attendance and ritual involvement to religious beliefs and knowledge, self-identity, and participation in youth groups. Using multiple dimensions of religious development (church attendance, involvement in church activities, felt religiosity, and religious identity), this study investigated data based on 365 adolescents of 2-parent White, rural families from the Iowa Youth and Families Project. Ss were followed from grade 7-10 to explore the developmental pathways across the years of early adolescence, giving particular attention to changing influences among farm and nonfarm rural youth. Adolescents who have grown up on a farm have stronger ties to religious institutions than nonfarm youth, and they express stronger commitments to religious values. The correlates of religious change and continuity indicate that social identities and qualities of the parent-child relationship are important influences. [Source: PI]
Lee, Jerry W., Gail T. Rice, and V. Bailey Gillespie. 1997. “Family Worship Patterns and Their Correlation with Adolescent Behavior and Beliefs.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 36, pp. 372-381.
Abstract: Examined behaviors involved in family worship, how these behaviors cluster together into specific patterns of family worship, and how these patterns of family worship relate to the behaviors and beliefs of adolescents attending Seventh-day Adventist schools. Seven patterns of family worship were detected by cluster analysis of questionnaires completed by 7,658 Seventh-day Adventist youth, grades 6-12. Worship patterns that actively involved youth in reading, praying, and sharing their religious experience were rated as more meaningful and interesting and were associated with higher levels of Active Faith (a factor score). Youth in families with worship patterns that did not actively involve the youth were even lower on Active Faith than youth whose families had no worship. However, No Worship youth were highest on Materialism/Legalism and Alcohol/Drug Use. With one exception, worship patterns with high youth involvement were associated with lower Alcohol/Drug Use and lower Materialism/Legalism. Youth in the Shared Worship group, in which every family member participated in every phase of worship every day, were high on Active Faith but also relatively high on Materialism/Legalism, and Alcohol/Drug use suggesting a pattern of compulsive behavior. [Source: PI]
McNamara, Raymond Timothy. 1997. “Uses of Popular Music by Old Order Amish Youth in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.” Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University.
Abstract: This dissertation defines the general dimensions of popular music use and avoidance by Old Order Amish youth in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Information was primarily obtained through in depth interviews with a variety of respondents including Old Order Amish youth, adults, parents, and persons who were raised Amish but left the church later in life. Several experts in Anabaptist culture were also interviewed. The study found that popular music use by Old Order Amish youth is quite widespread and appears, to varying degrees, in approximately three fourths of the 17 youth groups in the settlement. While music use is prohibited by "The Ordnung", or Amish behavioral code, extensive use of recorded popular music, primarily country and country rock, dancing, and live music by Amish performers has been a staple at many youth group activities, particularly those of the more liberal youth groups, for several decades. While Amish youth report using music primarily as a background to gatherings with friends, much as it is used by mainstream youth, some researchers believe that its use is tolerated by the Amish community because of several cultural "loopholes." The Old Order Amish, as Anabaptists, believe that members must accept the faith as adults in a conscious, mature choice. Experimentation with the "world," though not condoned, is expected as a part of this choice process. Amish adults also realize that the survival of their culture requires the successful baptism of their children. They understand that harsh control and sanctioning of youth could drive them away. Thirdly, Old Order Amish arguments against popular music use by youth are ineffective because traditionally many parents and even ministers used music or played in bands as youth. In short, popular music use by Old Order Amish youth in the Lancaster settlement has become a sort of liminal "rite of passage." Amish youth use popular music in much the same ways as mainstream youth do even though their culture technically prohibits such use because certain basic principles, traditions, and necessities of the Old Order Amish way of life afford them a window of opportunity to do so. [Source: DA]
Mercer, Joyce Ann. 1997. “Gender, Violence, and Faith: Adolescent Girls and a Theological Anthropology of Difference.” Ph.D. Thesis, Emory University.
Abstract: This dissertation explores gender and faith identities among a group of adolescent girls. Drawing from interview research I bring girls' discourses on gender, violence, and faith into dialogue with feminist theologians. A gap exists between the situations of these adolescent girls and the ability of feminist theologies to speak to their situations because of problems created by overly immanental theologies that cannot deal adequately with difference from a non-essentialist framework. To function in critical and visionary ways in relation to the subject positions of girls in the study group, feminist theologies need a nuanced theory of gender, an alternative perspective on Divine transcendence, a notion of community that protects difference, and a critical utopia. The central question guiding this project concerns how to configure the interplay of sameness and difference in theologically informed perspectives on gendered subjectivity without resulting in either the erasure of difference on the one hand or of relationality on the other. After surveying theories of adolescence, I propose alternative background theories from the works of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Drucilla Cornell, and themes from feminist theologians as alternative perspectives on human personhood highlighting the productive power of discourse and social practices in constructing subjectivities. I develop a feminist qualitative research methodology, asserting the educational and pastoral functions of interview research. A sub-theme of the dissertation concerns the role that education plays in the construction of subjectivity. As a discursive social practice embodying cultural norms and values, education like religion can function negatively, contributing to the production of problematic subject positions for women. Both religion and education also have the potential to function as emancipatory discourses in relation to women's subjectivity. In interviews, girls explored their experiences of the educational roles of parents, schools, and religious communities in relation to becoming a female self. The work concludes with a constructive theological account of human personhood based upon the interviews with girls and their dialogue with feminist theologies, as well as the alternative background theories proposed for construing subjectivity. [Source: DA]
Resch, Barbara J. 1997. “Teens and Church Music.” Reformed Worship vol. 44, pp. 4-6.
Santiago, Juan de. 1997. “Recovering the Signifier: New Jack Mormons.” Dialogue vol. 30, pp. 47-50.
Toman, James Anthony. 1997. “Dual Identity: Being Catholic and Being Gay.” Ph.D. Thesis, Cleveland State University, Cleveland.
Abstract: The aim of this research was to utilize survey methods to investigate the relationship between two important personal identity markers, one's religiosity and one's sexual orientation, and to examine these variables at two points in the life span, retrospectively during youth and concurrently in adulthood. Specifically, the study involved adult males raised in the Catholic tradition and the process of their homosexual identity formation. This research sought to determine if significant relationships exist between: (1) the strength of youthful religious conviction and difficulty experienced during the adolescent coming-out process; (2) formative religious conviction and later ability to achieve an adult gay-affirmative life style; (3) religious conviction in the formative and adult years; (4) the difficulty of coming-out and subsequent adult religious conviction; (5) the difficulty of coming-out and adult capacity to experience a gay-affirmative life style; and (6) adult religious conviction and capacity for a gay-affirmative life style. The 70 respondents in the study were voluntary and their survey responses anonymous. They were recruited either by contact from professionals who work with individuals in the gay community or through advertisements in the gay community and in the gay-oriented media. Analysis of responses utilized quantitative procedures, but respondents also provided narrative answers which added explanatory detail and enriched and clarified the findings and conclusions. The findings from this study suggest that: (a) a significant statistical relationship exists between adolescent religiosity and difficulties encountered in the adolescent coming-out process, and also between adolescent and adult religiosity; and (b) no statistically significant relationship exists between adolescent religiosity and difficulties experienced in achieving a affirmative adult gay life style, between adolescent and adult sexual identity processes, nor between the adolescent coming-out process and adult religiosity. This study further suggests that the interplay of religious and sexual identity factors is a complex one. The data it offers may serve to illuminate for those who work with the gay population some of the important issues through which gay clients must navigate, and to suggest to researchers in the field of religious and sexual orientation identity formation useful directions which further research might take. [Source: PI]
Trenton, Thomas Norman. 1997. “Generation X and Political Correctness: Ideological and Religious Transformation among Students.” Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie vol. 22, pp. 417-436.
Abstract: Draws on 1983-1994 questionnaire data from 2,070 first-year sociology students ("Generation X" & "Bust Generation" members) at the U of Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown) to assess changes in students' values & attitudes. Analyses revealed two dimensions - liberalism & puritanism - that were negatively correlated every year; their cross-tabulation produced a four-fold typology labeled leftism, political correctness, traditionalism, & fundamentalism. Political correctness represented a unique blend of a liberalism that supports disadvantaged minorities while upholding institutional moral controls. The dominant ideology shifted from a religiously oriented fundamentalism to a secularly oriented political correctness. Traditionalism all but disappeared, while the secular new leftism remained constant. Political correctness, seen as a dialectic between liberalism & puritanism, is discussed in terms of the larger social context. [Source: SA]
Turner, Reginald A. 1997. “An Examination of the Adolescent African American Male's Attitude Towards the Church and Pastoral Response.” Thesis, Andover Newton Theological School.
Abstract: This project recognizes the distinctive religious tendencies of African Americans, manifest in the African American church as the community's longest surviving and most significant social institution. It is therefore useful to determine what contribution the church has made in shaping perceptions of the church among African American youth today and for tomorrow. The project investigates responses of churches and clergy to the growing number of single-parent families and the tensions between adolescent males and the church in the inner city. [Source: RI]
Bradley, Nancy Anne. 1996. “Network Associations and Missionary Service Decisions of Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” M.A. Thesis, Texas Woman's University.
Abstract: This study elaborates on conclusions and implications of the Marie Cornwall research (1985) entitled "Survey of Religion and Life" by attempting to further examine the study with the use of focused qualitative research techniques. Research questions considered network associates' levels of religious involvement as defined by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint participation (membership, temple service, and missionary service) and the subjects' choice to serve a full-time mission controlling for gender. Thirteen males and fourteen females were interviewed. Findings included a relationship between missionary and non-missionary adult males in regard to their associates' LDS Church membership and temple attendance. Female teens who would serve missions tended to be more religiously active than non-missionaries. Missionaries' religious activities increased from teen to adult years and surpassed those of non-missionaries. While the number of LDS friendships were similar for mission-bound and non-mission-bound teens, such friendships increased for adult missionaries. It was concluded that network association did not play a role in missionary service decisions, but rather missionary service affected network association and religious behavior. [Source: DA]
Dudley, R. L. and H. P. Muthersbaugh. 1996. “Social Attachment to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church among Young Adults.” Review of Religious Research vol. 38, pp. 38-50.
Abstract: As part of a ten-year longitudinal study on youth retention in the church, 755 young adults with Seventh-day Adventist backgrounds were surveyed to explore factors that relate to social attachment to the religious community. The sample was distributed throughout the United States and Canada. A reliable Social Attachment Scale was constructed from six items measuring commitment to Jesus, religious faith, the local congregation, and the denomination as well as frequency of attendance at worship services. Attachment was found to be predicted by perceptions of the religious education program in the church, personal involvement in congregational activity, lack of conflict in church areas, and remembrances of childhood experiences with local church lenders. The first two areas proved to be the most important as demonstrated by multiple regression analysis. [Source: SC]
Dunkin, James C. 1996. “The Perspective of Object Relations Theory for Listening to the Image of God in Young Adults.” Thesis, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin.
Abstract: Object relations theory focuses on "relationship" as the matrix within which the "self" is formed. The most significant object in becoming a person is the image (object) of God. This project seeks to examine young adults' processes of their "image of God" formation. It offers an overview of object relations theory; a theological reflection on language used to describe "images of God"; an exploration of faith development in young adult years; a discussion of benefits of object relations theory in pastoral counseling; and a discussion on listening to young adults reflect on their "images of God". [Source: RI]
Frangoulis, Sandra, Netta Jordan, and Richard Lansdown. 1996. “Children's Concepts of an Afterlife.” British Journal of Religious Education vol. 18, pp. 114-123.
Frank, Naava Leah. 1996. “Adolescent Constructions of Jewishness: The Nesiya 1988 Summer-Trip to Israel.” Ed.D. Thesis, Harvard University.
Abstract: This thesis portrays adolescent conceptions of Jewishness and the impact of a summer trip to Israel on these conceptions. The sample consists of twenty North American Jewish adolescents attending the 1988 Nesiya trip to Israel for Jewish students in the arts. In-depth interviewing and qualitative methods of analysis were used. Uncertainty, doubt, confusion and searching abound in the data, and indicate the starting point of identity development. Some statements reflect adolescents coming to know themselves more deeply, and are termed "identity statements." Vygotsky's theory of language and thought is used to explain the internalization of such statements from their source in the social world. The potential importance of these "identity statements" is that they seem to provide early signs of the direction students will take upon concluding their adolescent search. A "trajectory," is observable for some students: a slow and evolving course of growth in a particular direction--either towards or away from Jewishness--that takes place over many years and is not easily re-routed. Three phases are defined based on students' descriptions of their Jewish growth over time. During the first phase, "Learning the Judaism of One's Parents," (based on retrospective questions), students are embedded in the value systems of their parents. This phase culminates some time around Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The second phase, "Separating from Early Patterns," begins with the breaking apart of early Jewish conceptions. The student separates from the family's customs and synagogue, struggles with the multiplicity of religious truths, explores ultimate questions, and may feel a discomfort at being Jewish. A variety of previously unexplored Jewish options are examined at this time. During the questioning of the second phase, the family traditions serve as an anchor to stabilize the search. The third phase, "Finding a Jewish Self," is the beginning of finding and feeling comfortable with a chosen Jewish self. Three in-depth cases are presented (one involving an adolescent from a mixed Jewish-non-Jewish marriage). The 1988 Nesiya trip was an important identity intervention experience in that it intensified the process of self-clarification of the students' Jewish identity. [Source: DA]
Glover, Rebecca J. 1996. “Religiosity in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Implications for Identity Formation.” Psychological Reports vol. 78, pp. 427-431.
Abstract: Examined religiosity in adolescence and young adulthood as a function of age and its implications for identity formation. 70 males and 77 females (aged 14-17 yrs, 18-25 yrs, and 26-30 yrs) were categorized into 3 religious groups: Fundamental, moderate, and liberal. Ss completed the Scale of Religiosity (S. T. Gladding et al, 1981) during church or fellowship functions. Results reveal that the younger Ss had significantly lower scores for religiosity than did the older groups. Ss whose religious group was categorized as fundamental had significantly higher scores for religiosity than those in the other groups. No gender differences were observed. Findings suggest relationships between religiosity and identity formation during adolescence. [Source: PI]
Jeggle Merz, Birgit and John Bowden. 1996. “Children in the Liturgy: Initiation and Participation.” Pp. 111-119 in Little Children Suffer, edited by M. Junker-Kenny and Norbert Mette. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
Kafkafi, Eyal. 1996. “Changes in Ideology During Two Generations of a Zionist Youth Movement.” Journal of Israeli History vol. 17, pp. 283-299.
Kay, William K. and Leslie J. Francis. 1996. Drift from the Churches: Attitude toward Christianity During Childhood and Adolescence. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
King, Brian C. 1996. “Lutheran Young People's Societies to 1895.” Currents in Theology and Mission vol. 23, pp. 347-355.
LaHurd, Carol Schersten. 1996. “Public and Private Realities: Women, Youth, and Family Traditions.” Word & World vol. 16, pp. 143-150.
Markowitz, F. 1996. “''Shopping'' for the Future: Culture Change, Border Crossings, and Identity Options of Jewish Teenagers from the Cis.” Ethos vol. 24, pp. 350-373.
Markstrom Adams, Carol and Melanie Smith. 1996. “Identity Formation and Religious Orientation among High School Students from the United States and Canada.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 19, pp. 247-261.
Abstract: Two studies were conducted to examine the relations between Marcia's four identity statuses and Allport and Ross' four religious orientations. Study 1 was conducted among 38 Mormon and 47 non-Mormon high school students living in a predominantly Mormon Utah community. Study 2 was conducted among 102 Jewish high school students living in Ontario, Canada. It was revealed through the use of MANCOVA procedures that, in both studies, identity diffusion was associated with the extrinsic religious orientation. The indiscriminate proreligious scored significantly higher on foreclosure than the intrinsic and nonreligious groups, and the extrinsic scored significantly higher on moratorium than the intrinsic and nonreligious groups in Study 1. The indiscriminate proreligious scored significantly higher on identity achievement than those classified as extrinsic or nonreligious in Study 2. The indiscriminate proreligious and intrinsic religious orientations were associated with higher scores in three subscales of ethnic identity for the Jewish adolescents. Potential moderating influences of religious orthodoxy, religious attendance, grade, and gender were found to not operate between identity and religious orientation. [Source: PI]
Miller, Craig Kennet. 1996. Postmoderns: The Beliefs, Hopes & Fears of Young Americans (1965-1981). Nashville, Tenn.: Discipleship Resources.
Montgomery, Alice and Leslie J. Francis. 1996. “Relationship between Personal Prayer and School-Related Attitudes among 11-16-Year-Old Girls.” Psychological Reports vol. 78, pp. 787-793.
Abstract: Investigated the relationship between personal prayer and school- related attitudes with 392 girls (aged 11-16 yrs) attending a single-sex Catholic secondary school. Ss completed 6 semantic differential scales of attitudes toward school and toward lessons concerned with English, music, religion, mathematics, and sports, together with information about paternal employment and their personal practice of prayer. The relationship between personal prayer and attitude toward school after controlling for age and social class was positive. [Source: PI]
Smith, D. Linnet. 1996. “Private Prayer, Public Worship and Personality among 11-15-Year-Old Adolescents.” Personality and Individual Differences vol. 21, pp. 1063-1065.
Abstract: A sample of 191 11-15-year-old adolescents completed the short form of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with indices of private prayer and public worship habits. The data confirm the view that psychoticism is the dimension of personality fundamental to individual religiosity. [Source: PI]
Tamm, Maare. 1996. “The Meaning of God for Children and Adolescents--a Phenomenographic Study of Drawings.” British Journal of Religious Education vol. 19, pp. 33-44.
Wortman, Julie A. 1996. “Holding to the Faith: Young Muslim Women.” Witness vol. 79.
Barna, George. 1995. Generation Next: What You Need to Know About Today's Youth. Ventura, Calif., U.S.A.: Regal Books.
Benson, Peter L. 1995. Congregations at Crossroads: A National Study of Adults and Youth in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Currie, David Malcolm. 1995. “Adolescent Spirituality: Relationships among Spiritual Growth Factors, Spiritual Well-Being and Authenticity.” Ed.D. Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Abstract: Enhancing the spiritual growth of teenagers has always been a concern among church youth leaders. Specifically, what factors, designed or assumed to assist in adolescent spiritual development, are the most effective as reported by those persons converted as adolescents? This study sought to determine what relationships exist among the frequency of involvement and the power of influence of twenty factors of spiritual growth and the Paloutzian-Ellison Spiritual Well-being Scale (1982) and the Bassett et al. Shepherd Scale (1981), two instruments designed to measure aspects of spiritual growth; spiritual well-being and spiritual authenticity respectively. Precedent adolescent spirituality literature, current follow-up and discipleship material, a survey of youth professionals, ten Christian life interviews, and a panel of experts served to guide the development of the Spiritual Growth Factor Survey, an updated Likert scale revision of two previous works by Zuck and Getz (1968) and Lamport (1989). One hundred and seventy-three subjects from three denominational groups in British Columbia, Canada, participated in the study who were converted during their teen years (thirteen to nineteen inclusive) and currently twenty-nine years or younger. The survey was analyzed using comparison of means and the Pearson correlation coefficient procedures. The results indicate low, positive correlation for seven of the twenty factors when correlated with scores of the Spiritual Well-Being and Shepherd Scales (in rank order: church services, personal Bible reading, personal time with God in prayer, serving in the church, personally sharing faith, the influence of Christian music, the influence of spiritual growth books). Clear gender differences surface regarding factors of greatest spiritual influence. Multiple cross-tabulations yielded a variety of other correlations that enhance the understanding of the effectiveness of the twenty spiritual growth factors on those converted as adolescents. Numerous implications for adolescent spiritual development are given. [Source: DA]
Dudley, Carl S. 1995a. “Young-Adult Power in Afro-American Congregation.” Christian Ministry vol. 26.
Dudley, Roger L. 1995b. “Grace, Relevancy, and Confidence in the Future: Why Adventist Young Adults Commit to the Church.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity vol. 14, pp. 215-227.
Ford, Kevin Graham and James D. Denney. 1995. Jesus for a New Generation: Putting the Gospel in the Language of Xers. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
Giesbrecht, Norman. 1995. “Parenting Style and Adolescent Religious Commitment.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity vol. 14, pp. 228-238.
Abstract: Explored the relationship of parental religious commitment, parenting styles and spousal agreement in parenting style to adolescent religious commitment. 132 adolescents and their parents completed the Intrinsic-Extrinsic (Revised) Scale, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Cornell Parent Behavior Description. It was found that parental religious commitment was not significantly related to adolescents' religious commitment. A permissive parenting style was significantly related to extrinsic social commitment, mainly among male Ss. Cluster analysis revealed 4 distinct adolescent religious profiles. It was concluded that an authoritative and supportive parenting style and spousal agreement in parenting style appeared to be instrumental in fostering intrinsic religious commitment among adolescents. [Source: PI]
Helwig, Charles C. 1995. “Adolescents' and Young Adults' Conceptions of Civil Liberties: Freedom of Speech and Religion.” Child Development vol. 66, pp. 152-166.
Abstract: To examine conceptions of freedom of speech & religion, 48 adolescents & young adults in 3 grade levels were administered a structured interview containing assessments of civil liberties in general, in straightforward (unconflicted) applications, & in conflict with other social & moral concerns, including law, physical & psychological harm, & equality of opportunity. Findings show that freedom of speech & religion were conceptualized as universal rights & applied to social events in unconflicted contexts; a diverse array of rationales, differentiated according to type of freedom, were used to ground conceptions of universal freedoms. Judgments of civil liberties in conflicts exhibited several sources of variation, including developmental differences, situational or contextual variation determined by the particular types of issues in conflict, & individual differences. Results are consistent with the proposition that judgments of civil liberties reflect age-related patterns of coordination of delimited social & moral concepts rather than general orientations. [Source: SA]
Kidd, Timothy W. 1995. “Psychosocial Development through Service-Learning: Enhanced Spiritual Consciousness in Workcamp Experience.” Ed.D. Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Abstract: The problem examined in this research was the identification and description of the distinctive components associated with the Christian youth workcamp experience found to promote the psychosocial development of church youth participants and the linkages to enhanced spiritual consciousness. The unit of analysis for this multi-case study was the Christian youth workcamp. The criteria used for selection of the three cases examined were: (1) location within the Appalachian region; (2) philosophy and practice consistent with service-learning principles; (3) emphasis upon facilitating spiritual development; and (4) logistical concerns. Thirty-four subjects were selected from three church youth groups, each attending one of the three workcamps. Data was gathered through the following methods: (1) a time sequenced series of four semi-structured interviews conducted individually with each of the thirty-four subjects; (2) participant-observation during the total experience at each of the three workcamps, including church based experience conducted before and after; and (3) collection and analysis of relevant documents. The descriptions of the experience drawn from the research offered valuable insights into the subjects's perceptions of their participation in the workcamp. The small size and nature of the sample preclude statistical generalizations to the larger population. Nevertheless, the following conclusions have been advanced for further research: (1) Participation in a Christian youth workcamp experience can promote psychosocial maturity by contributing to increased self-reliance and self-esteem, a greater ability to empathize with others, a stronger appreciation for community, greater concern for the needs of others, and a greater commitment to serving others. (2) The increased ability to empathize with others is correlated with an enhanced spiritual consciousness. (3) The particular aspect of spiritual perception (i.e., cognitive, affective, or volitional) [Source: PI]
Levitt, Mairi. 1995. “Sexual Identity and Religious Socialization.” British Journal of Sociology vol. 46, pp. 529-536.
Abstract: Examined the effect of religious socialization on gender differences in beliefs, attitudes, and practice with 38 children followed from age 10 to 17 yrs old and their families. Christian beliefs and practices were not usually seen by mothers as relevant to everyday life, even if they were churchgoers, but were desirable for young children. Church schools providing aspects of Christianity mothers want for their children are popular, but more specific Christian teaching can lead to fears of indoctrination. Girls had more positive attitudes toward religion and higher levels of belief than did boys, just as Ss' mothers were more interested in religion than their fathers and more likely to attend a church. Mothers' central values of individualism, autonomy, and freedom mitigate against commitment to any Christian denomination and lead them to abhor any attempt to influence their own or their children's religiosity above the normal level. [Source: PI]
Lewis, Christopher Alan. 1995. “Teenage Religion and Values.” Irish Journal of Psychology vol. 16, pp. 192-193.
Lewis, David, Carley Dodd, and Darryl Tippens. 1995. The Gospel According to Generation X--the Culture of Adolescent Faith. Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press.
Logan, John. 1995. “Insider-Outsider: Sacramental Theology through the Eyes of Children and Young People.” Pp. 160-168 in The Candles Are Still Burning : Directions in Sacrament and Spirituality, edited by M. Grey, Andrée Heaton, and Danny Sullivan. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press.
Lybeck, Jennette and Cynthia J. Neal. 1995. “Do Religious Institutions Resist or Support Women's "Lost Voices?".” Youth and Society vol. 27, pp. 4-28.
Abstract: Examined how the concept of the "lost voice" functions in religious circles. 30 female Ss were divided into 3 age groups (ages 8-20, 12-24 and 20-30 yrs) and equally distributed between a conservative evangelical church that promotes traditional women's roles and a mainline evangelical church that professes egalitarian views of women's roles. Ss were individually interviewed. Results show that the younger Ss from both churches reported sacrificing themselves and their opinions in order to maintain relationships. Further, adult women from the egalitarian church evidenced a regaining of their voices and perceived this as a newly found strength. Adult women from the conservative church also evidenced a regaining of their voices and yet perceived this as a weakness. [Source: PI]
Marshall, Sheila K. and Carol Markstrom Adams. 1995. “Attitudes on Interfaith Dating among Jewish Adolescents: Contextual and Developmental Considerations.” Journal of Family Issues vol. 16, pp. 787-811.
Abstract: Examined Jewish adolescents' attitudes toward inter-faith dating (ID), and the contextual and developmental variables influencing them. 106 Ss (aged 14-28 yrs) were interviewed using the Religious Experience Survey, to investigate issues related to their being a religious minority, social relations, perceptions of prejudice and attitudes toward religion. Ss also completed the Imaginary Audience Scale and Perspective Taking Scale as measures of social-cognitive development. Results show that the Jewish majority and minority context was a crucial factor in adolescent ID relationships. Religious orientation, religious participation, and gender were also salient factors. Developmental factors were not found to play strong predictive roles in respect to attitudes toward ID. Findings suggest that adolescents formed attitudes about ID that facilitated the filtering and selection of desirable partners. [Source: PI]
Murphy, Carolyn Hanna. 1995. “Circling the Wagons: Conceptions of Science and Religion Held by Middle Adolescents and Implications for Critical Thinking.” Ed.D. Thesis, University of South Carolina.
Abstract: The American educational climate of the 1990's is affected, and perhaps determined, by a "culture war," presently waged within the society around such issues as the nature of science and religion and how each is defined and taught in the schools. This study correlated American students' current low levels of science literacy and their lack of adequate application of critical thinking skills with inadequate teaching of science and religion. This is thought to threaten the survival of needed democratic values and skills, abilities needed by the rising generation of American youth. The purposes of this study were to ascertain the conceptions of science and religion held by middle adolescent youth, to determine the sources of their conceptions, to determine whether there were major anomalies between science and religion in the minds of the students, and to see how these concepts of science and religion fostered or hindered the use of critical thinking skills. The ethnographic study focused on eight evangelical Christian students who attended a Christian school and a public school. The study included content analysis of interviews, documents, observations, and a questionnaire of students. Also interviewed were parents, ministers, teachers and a school administrator. The data were analyzed using feminist critical theory from the perspective of a Baha'i earth science teacher. Feminist critical theory proposes that at the center of religious literalism lies patriarchy, which is ultimately harmful to both sexes. Patriarchy was seen as preventing the acceptance of diverse voices by limiting language, by narrowly defining religious meanings and by discounting metaphorical understandings and biblical hermeneutics, all of which hinder both the unity of men and women and the harmonization of science and religion. The data showed that the conceptions held by the students were largely determined by their overriding belief in a literal interpretation of the Bible which acted to hinder their ability to critically assess scientific and religious claims to truth. The public school was also found to hinder the teaching of evolution and the use of critical thinking through fear of arousing criticism from conservative Christian cultures. [Source: DA]
Muthersbaugh, H. Phillip. 1995. “Attachment and the Church: Toward an Understanding of Bonding for Youth as Applied to Their Relationship to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.” Thesis, Seventh Day Adventist Theological Seminary.
Abstract: The present study explores the factors that relate to attachment of bonding to the religious community. Two questionnaires were used in a quantitative analysis: Parental Bonding Instrument (modified), and the Valuegenesis survey. The findings revealed that bonding factors for Adventist young people can be determined. A reliable bonding scale was constructed from six items measuring commitment to Jesus, religious faith, the local congregation, and the denomination as well as frequency of attendance at worship services. The scale had a reliability alpha of .81 with item scale correlations ranging from .45 to .72. All but one correlation were significant at the p .001 level. [Source: RI]
Paloutzian, Raymond F. and Lee A. Kirkpatrick. 1995. “Introduction: The Scope of Religious Influences on Personal and Societal Well-Being.” Journal of Social Issues vol. 51, pp. 1-11.
Abstract: Introductory essay for a special journal issue focusing on religious influences. Religious belief & behavior have farreaching influences on personal & social life, in both beneficial & deleterious ways. Religious influences on a variety of aspects of well-being, broadly defined to include both personal & societal levels of analysis, are examined. Religion & well-being are both multifaceted constructs, & the empirical relationships between them are highly complex. A diverse sampling of conceptualizations of well-being (coping, mental health, physical health, & substance abuse & recovery), social issues & problems (religion-related & ritualistic child abuse, prejudice & right-wing authoritarianism, & human immunodeficiency virus infection), & special populations (adolescents & the elderly) are presented. [Source: SA]
Penner, James Allan. 1995. “Adolescent Religious Disposition in Canada: An Exploratory Sociological Analysis.” M.A. Thesis, University of Lethbridge (Canada), Lethbridge.
Abstract: Taking as a given the general decline of organized religion in Canada, this thesis attempts to document the present lack of commitment towards organized religion among adolescents. Four questions are explored: (1) how committed are Canada's adolescents towards organized religion relative to other social options? (2) to what degree has religious commitment among Canadian adolescents shifted over time? (3) in what ways does adolescent religious commitment vary according to religious group? and (4) do adolescent religiosities patterns follow those of adults? The major findings of this study, based on national Project Teen Canada and Project Canada data, is that organized religion is seldom experienced or valued by the vast majority of Canadian youth. Furthermore, adolescent religious commitment decreased from 1984 to 1992. Conservative Protestants reported higher religious commitment than did other youth and adolescent religiosity generally reflected adult levels. Lastly, tentative evidence suggests that Canada may experience future social consequences if adolescent religious disinterest continues. Despite being tentative and exploratory in nature, it is believed that the thesis gives social scientists their first national, in depth, sociological analysis of Canadian youth and organized religion. As such the findings provide a solid launching pad for further research. The thesis concludes with a plea for innovative study of Canadian adolescent religiosity and offers a list of potential projects. [Source: DA]
Pulcini, Theodore. 1995. “Values Conflict among American Muslim Youth.” Pp. 178-203 in Muslim Minorities in the West, edited by Syed Abedin and Ziauddin Sardar. London: Grey Seal.
Ryan, Maurice and William J. Foster. 1995. “Mass Attendance and Faith Development in Catholic Adolescents: Exploring Connections.” Journal of Christian Education vol. 38, pp. 47-57.
Stolzenberg, R. M., M. Blairloy, and L. J. Waite. 1995. “Religious Participation in Early Adulthood: Age and Family- Life Cycle Effects on Church Membership.” American Sociological Review vol. 60, pp. 84-103.
Abstract: We attempt to integrate, elaborate, and test competing theories of why religious participation increases with age during young adulthood. We reconceptualize age and family formation as interacting causes of religious participation rather than competing explanations of it. We expand the concept of family formation to include divorce, cohabitation, and dissolution of cohabitational relationships. We distinguish attitudes toward the family from family formation behavior We analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, which traces church membership to age 32. Our results show that the effect of children on church membership varies with the combination of the children's and parent's ages. We find separate effects of family formation behavior and attitudes toward the family. Cohabitation, divorce, and dissolution of cohabitational unions all affect membership probability, but these effects vary with age and are often different for men and women. [Source: SC]
Subkoviak, Michael J., Robert D. Enright, Ching Ru Wu, and Elizabeth A. Gassin. 1995. “Measuring Interpersonal Forgiveness in Late Adolescence and Middle Adulthood.” Journal of Adolescence vol. 18, pp. 641-655.
Abstract: The construct of interpersonal forgiveness was operationalized and tested with 197 late-adolescent college students and 197 of their same-gender parents in the Midwestern US. Ss completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), a background information scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, measures of religiosity and social desirability, and a 1-item forgiveness question. The EFI showed strong internal consistency reliability. The EFI correlated significantly and negatively with anxiety, particularly when a S was experiencing deep hurt in a developmentally relevant area. Age differences also were observed. College students were less forgiving and had more anxiety than their same-gender parents, particularly when the hurt concerned a developmentally relevant area. [Source: PI]
Sullivan, Danny. 1995. “"to Such as These the Kingdom of Heaven Belongs": Children's Spirituality and Our Contemporary World.” Pp. 137-146 in The Candles Are Still Burning, edited by M. Grey, Andrée Heaton, and Danny Sullivan. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press.
Beck, Gary L. 1994. “Discipleship Principles Applied to Confirmation Ministry.” Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield.
Abstract: Confirmation ministry is most effective when discipling confirmands than merely teaching them the content of the Christian faith. Biblical principles of discipleship are presented from two main sources: The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman, and Jesus Christ Disciple Maker by Bill Hull. The historical background and theological rationale for confirmation is presented, as well as an analysis of the physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and faith development of thirteen- and fourteen-year olds. Interviews were conducted with representatives of five Lutheran churches with unique confirmation programs. Discipling confirmands stimulates growth in their relationship with the Lord. [Source: RI]
Chia, Edmund K. F. and Chwan Shyang Jih. 1994. “The Effects of Stereotyping on Impression Formation: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Viewing Religious Persons.” Journal of Psychology vol. 128, pp. 559-565.
Abstract: Examined the effects of stereotyping on impression formation when encountering people dressed to represent a religious faith. Stimulus photographs portrayed 8 male and female models dressed casually and 1 male and 1 female model in religious attire. From each set of photos, Ss (82 students from a US Catholic high school, 68 from a US public high school, and 84 from a Malaysian Muslim secondary school) selected a photo of the person with whom they would associate the positive personality traits suggested by stimulus questions. All Ss attributed more positive traits to photos of the models who were religiously attired than to the control photos, but Ss from the US schools attributed more positive traits to the photos of religiously dressed models than did Ss from the Malaysian school. [Source: PI]
Díaz Stevens, Ana María. 1994. “Latino Youth and the Church.” Pp. 278-307 in Hispanic Catholic Culture in the Us, edited by J. Dolan and Allan Figueroa Deck. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Janssen, Jacques, Joep De Hart, and Marcel Gerardts. 1994. “Images of God in Adolescence.” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion pp. 105-121.
Johnson, Carolyn. 1994. “God in the Inner City.” Religious Education vol. 89, pp. 502-514.
Abstract: Part of a special issue on religious education and child abuse. A study examined the responses of five inner-city adolescents to a revised set of questions taken from David Heller's book The Children's God. At the time of the study, the adolescents were preparing for the sacrament of Christian Initiation. The questions explored the adolescents' images of, belief in, and feelings toward a deity they firmly believe in. The adolescents expressed their views through taped interviews, note writing, and drawing. The responses were analyzed, and the results demonstrated a spirituality reflective of the inner-city environment where the adolescents were born and raised. The adolescents represented their deity as a powerful male God who serves as protector and guide, one who bestows them with love and security, challenges them, and has faith in them as no one else does. The writer expresses the hope that these responses represent the views of the multitudes of inner-city youth whose opinions often go unheard. [Source: EA]
Markstrom Adams, Carol, Greta Hofstra, and Kirk Dougher. 1994. “The Ego-Virtue of Fidelity: A Case for the Study of Religion and Identity Formation in Adolescence.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence vol. 23, pp. 453-469.
Abstract: Investigated the relationship between 2 variables of religiosity (religious minority status and church attendance), identity status, and fidelity among 36 Mormon adolescents and 47 Catholic and Protestant adolescents in Grades 9-22. Ss provided information about church attendance and completed the Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status (EOM-EIS), which measured both interpersonal and ideological forms of identity. Among Mormon Ss, fidelity (observed through heightened commitment illustrated in foreclosure) obtained greater expression. Weekly church attenders also scored higher in interpersonal foreclosure, but scored lower in ideological diffusion. For Mormon Ss, church attendance was related to higher identity achievement, while for non-Mormons, less frequent church attendance was related to higher identity achievement. [Source: PI]
Ortiz Torres, Blanca. 1994. “The Ecology of Empowerment for at-Risk Youth.” Ph.D. Thesis, New York University.
Abstract: The study examined: (1) the measurement of empowerment, in terms of psychological and behavioral dimensions; (2) the relationship of reported participation in microsystems and empowerment; and (3) how the effects of participation differ by race/ethnicity and gender in a sample of poor, urban, and culturally diverse youth. The psychological dimension of empowerment was indexed by academic and social efficacy expectations and self- esteem. Behavioral empowerment was assessed by examining adolescents' negotiation strategies with important aspects of their social environment. Transactions with microsystems was measured by the frequency of involvement/participation with five critical microsystems: family, peers, school, church and neighborhood. Data were drawn from a longitudinal investigation of the pathways to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes of adolescents from at-risk schools in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York (N = 1333). The sample was 58% female. The ethnic composition was 27% Black, 23% White, 38% Latino, 3% Black/Latino, 6% Asian, and 3% other. Results showed that empowerment was composed of psychological and behavioral dimensions. Males reported higher psychological empowerment than females. Females were more effective in their interpersonal negotiation skills; that is showed higher levels of behavioral empowerment. Blacks and Whites adolescents did not significantly differ in psychological empowerment levels; it was Blacks and Latinos who differed in this outcome. Latinos reported the lowest levels of psychological empowerment. Involvement and participation in activities with peers was the most important predictor of behavioral empowerment across groups. This relationship was always negative: the more involvement with peers, the less behaviorally empowered. For Blacks and Whites involvement/participation in none of the microsystems seemed to facilitate psychological empowerment. For Latinos, family involvement is positively related to psychological empowerment for both males and females. Family was an important predictor of behavioral empowerment only for White females. For Black females, involvement with the neighborhood was positively associated with behavioral empowerment. Within the Latino female group, church involvement was negatively related to behavioral empowerment. [Source: DA]
Tamminen, Kalevi. 1994. “Religious Experiences in Childhood and Adolescence: A Viewpoint of Religious Development between the Ages of 7 and 20.” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion pp. 61-85.
Vanderbeek, Herbert Anthony. 1994. “Religious Identity Formation and Adolescent Friendships in a Tight-Knit Social Group.” M.A. Thesis, The University of Manitoba (Canada).
Abstract: Erikson argued that identity formation represents the central developmental task for adolescents. Two processes, i.e., exploration (E) and commitment (C), contribute to identity formation. The high versus low levels of exploration and commitment determines the nature of an adolescent's identity status: (a) Identity Achievement (high E, high C); (b) Foreclosure (low E, high C); (c) Moratorium (high E, low C); (d) Identity Diffusion (low E, low C). The adolescent's social environment encourages/discourages exploration and commitment. Erikson felt that tight-knit social groups would favour Foreclosure by discouraging exploration and by encouraging commitment. Following Erikson's theoretical framework, the thesis examines the relationship between identity formation, adolescent friendship patterns and religious commitment in two samples: (a) students attending an ethnically (Dutch) and religiously (Christian Reformed) homogeneous college characterized by tight-social networks; (b) an unselected sample of Manitoba university students. [Source: DA]
Belopopsky, Alexander. 1993. “Youth as Part of the People of God.” Ecumenical Review vol. 45, pp. 421-425.
Brisben, David Edward. 1993. “Adolescent Spirituality: Relationships among Adolescent Self-Esteem, Parent-Adolescent Communication, and Adolescent Spiritual Well-Being.” Ed.D. Thesis, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Abstract: Purpose. This research investigated the relationships among the factors of self-esteem, parent-adolescent communication, and spiritual well-being for older adolescents in the evangelical community. Two other factors in the family environment were identified in the research literature as important to a person's spiritual well-being. These factors, parent's marital status and parent's religious orientation, were also examined as to their interaction effect on the three previously mentioned interval variables. This study, unlike previous studies, has statistically analyzed the relationship between the level of constructive communication perceived by the adolescent in the parent-adolescent relationship and the sense of spiritual well-being experienced by the adolescent. Secondly, this study has statistically examined the interaction effect of parent's marital status and parent's religious orientation on the adolescent's spiritual well-being. Procedure. This correlational research focused on certain indicators of the spiritual well-being of older adolescents (16-20 years) within the evangel |
