Abstract
We present findings from our 25-year national qualitative study centered on how exemplary Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents center spiritual and religious meanings in their religious and spiritual socialization efforts. We highlight several “best practices” found in dozens of studies based in in-depth interviews with 300 American families, more than half of which come from various racial and ethnic minorities. Findings pertain (a) the ways that parents and youth talk with each other about religious and spiritual matters and how this dialogue influences positive religious/spiritual development, (b) the kinds of religious sacrifices that youth are asked to make and the reasons they are willing (or unwilling) to make such sacrifices and how these sacrifices influence positive religious/spiritual development, (c) the anchors of religious and spiritual commitment present in the lives of religious youth and how those anchors influence positive religious/spiritual development, (d) the catalysts of religious exploration in the lives of religious youth, the strategies they use in religious exploration, and how those relate to positive religious/spiritual development, (e) what religious parents believe are the most important things they can do to support and facilitate their adolescent children’s positive religious/spiritual development, and (f) how religious parents can balance religious firmness with religious flexibility in ways that are more likely to promote positive religious/spiritual development in their adolescent children. These findings suggest that positive religious/spiritual development involves a set of complex and dynamic processes that deserve careful study by scholars. Findings are illustrated with first-person quotes from parents and youth.
Presenters
David DollahiteProfessor and Co-Director of the American Families of Faith Project, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Utah, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Fragile Meanings: Vulnerability in the Study of Religions and Spirituality
KEYWORDS
Family, Religion, Youth, Spiritual, Socialization, Christian, Jewish, Muslim
