American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers Christian Smith & Melinda Lundquist Denton (2005) New York: Oxford Smith and Denton's vivid accounts of teenage lives give readers an enlightened understanding of challenges teens face, religious experiences they have, and the significance of adolescent religiosity and spirituality in their lives "The inattention to youth religion works to our detriment" (4), the authors contend as they address the reality of adolescence as a stage when changes in religious preference are most likely until they reach 18 years of age Conceptual themes are generated that reflect lived experiences of adolescents and valuable empirical data collected by the National Survey of Youth and Religion (NSYR) (2002-2003), including Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and consideration of societal influence These themes capture the essence of adolescent religiosity and spirituality that stimulate the reader to examine the data for this population more attentively The book contains seven chapters Chapter one invites readers into the lives of "Two Baptists Girls" (9), through which they learn that teens live through a diversity of "religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, experiences, identities, and attitudes" (26) The authors provide sufficient information about the girls to paint a mental portrait of their religious diversity Chapter two presents statistical findings from the NSYR (2002-2003) which provide a general synopsis of religious and spiritual lives of adolescents in the United States Next, in chapter three the authors delve into the characteristics of adolescents who consider themselves "religious seekers", "spiritual but not religious", and "nonreligious" (72) Chapter four discusses themes which developed from the qualitative interviews conducted with the adolescents "Persistent stereotypes" common in American culture are challenged (119) Chapter five emphasizes the significance of understanding how cultural and institutional contexts shape American adolescent religion A concept commonly disregarded by parents and other adults Chapter six takes a closer look at Catholic teens and speaks to their "lower levels of religiosity" (207) Chapter seven examines adolescent religiosity and the influence on positive life outcomes This is a promising area for future research for several disciplines The authors succinctly examine NSYR findings of religious and spiritual adolescents and share important data on their religious experiences, characteristics, and background The information is pertinent for adults who work with youth One significant conclusion is that "the majority of US teenagers tend to be quite like their parents when it comes to religion" (68) This finding leads the authors to address adolescent religion in a social context In a factual and tactful manner, they note that "most American youth share much more in common with adults than they do not share" (191) The authors adroitly guide the reader in using an objective lens to consider the role of societal influences on adolescent religiosity and spirituality They challenge the statement made by those who study American religion that teens are "spiritual but not religious" (73) and consider this to be a minor percentage of teens in the United States Since the majority of teens "had no clue" what the term 'spirituality' meant when questioned(78), the authors develop arguments based on the NSYR and qualitative interviews they conducted that teenagers are unaware of religious practices and lack the ability to articulate their religious experiences …

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

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Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults

The Religious Drop-Outs: Apostasy among College Graduates

Half-Sibling and Stepsibling Relationships: A Systematic Integrative Review

Three hundred and thirty-six undergraduates from two large universities in the Southeast and Midwest completed a 31-item Internet questionnaire revealing their (mostly white and ages 18–23) reaction to the divorce of their parents. Perceived positive effects included a happier mother (57%); happier father (43%); closer relationships with mother, father, or siblings (45%, 29%, 36%, respectively); less parental conflict (35%); and greater appreciation for one’s siblings (40%). Significant differences between women and men included that females were closer with their mother (p < .05), males had a better relationship with their stepsiblings (p < .05) and females were more likely to agree that they were slow to express their feelings in a relationship (p < .05). Symbolic interaction was used as the theoretical framework to interpret the data. Implications and limitations are suggested.

Positive Effects of Parental Divorce on Undergraduates

\n Drawing on fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this study examines the ways affirmatively secular individuals construct moral frameworks, navigate hardship, and create meaningful selves. Based on an inductive, thematic analysis of the data, we show that secular individuals’ identities and interpretations of everyday experience and important life events are made meaningful through personal narratives and shared social spaces where cultural values are practiced, imbuing secular worldviews with a sense of legitimacy. Through participants’ responses to questions of “ultimate concern” including life’s purpose, and the meaning of happiness, hardship, and death, we argue that a sense of otherness, appeals to normative values, and the reframing of existential questions in secular terms plays an essential role in the lives of a segment of the growing, increasingly diverse nonreligious community. Our findings have implications for scholars of secularity, including the role of ambiguity in secular beliefs and the importance of narrative in worldview formation.

Making Meaning without a Maker: Secular Consciousness through Narrative and Cultural Practice

One of the more remarkable trends of the past 30 years is the dramatic rise of individuals who do not identify with any religious tradition. While this trend has been well documented, some of the u...

The rise of the nones and the changing relationships between identity, belief, and behavior

Many law enforcement agencies and religious communities are trying to bolster the security measures taken by places of worship. While research has examined the effectiveness or consequences of organizational security, little research has attempted to understand variation in the adoption of security measures. This study derives hypotheses from the criminological and organizational literatures to understand why places of worship vary in their security. The study then assesses those hypotheses using data generated from a survey of places of worship located in the United States. The analysis shows that a place of worship’s perception of future victimization risk significantly increases the odds of security measures being present. Organizational variables, such as size, resources, and role specialization, however, also have significant effects on the odds of a place of worship having security measures. These findings show the importance of considering both organizational and criminological dynamics when examining security and crime in organizational populations.

Explaining the adoption of security measures by places of worship: perceived risk of victimization and organizational structure

A 42 item Internet questionnaire was completed by 259 undergraduates at a large southeastern university designed to assess the degree to which individuals involved in abusive relationships would report that technology in the form of text messages, email, and Facebook would impair their ability to terminate the relationship. Almost sixty percent respondents (regardless of their demographic background or whether they were in an abusive relationship) reported frequent use of technology. However, respondents needing to leave an abusive relationship more frequently identified with those areas that would be perceived as a barrier (e.g. receiving text messages that called the respondent names). And, those who were "abuse prone" were more likely to stay in abusive relationships even though parents and friends disapproved. Implications and limitations are identified. ********** Undergraduates begin, develop, and end relationships using text messages. This study examined the degree to which technology (texting, Facebooking, and email) resulted in romantic partners being technologically embedded in each others' lives and how, at breakup, extricating oneself from the relationship was made difficult by technology. While stopping or ignoring text messages is an obvious solution to removing a previous partner from one's life, the compulsion to check ones text messages and respond (characteristic of the abuse prone) may inhibit one's ability to withdraw. Background With the introduction and increased use of technology, previous research has included the impact of technology on relationships. Some of the studies have focused on the different stages of leaving a relationship, but have failed to address the emotional and verbal abuse through the use of technology after the relationship has been terminated (Edwards et al. 2012; Bergdall et al. 2012). Researchers have also recognized social networking (e.g. Facebook) as a problem in relationships but only to the extent of intensifying feelings of jealousy, possession, and insecurity (Gershon, 2011; Bowe, 2010). College students not only use Facebook for stalking their ex-partners, but also to make the previous partner jealous by posting photos of ones new romantic relationships (Lyndon et al. 2011). Finally, previous research has shown that battered women have difficultly moving on and that individuals in romantic relationships use cell phones to express affection, but research has failed to connect the use of technology and extricating oneself from a romantic relationship (Coyne et al. 2011; Anderson, 2003). Hence there is a gap in previous research in regard to how technology may be a barrier to breaking free from an abusive partner. Through technology the abuser continues to stay in contact with the victim through social networking and cell phones (e.g. text messages) so that the victim feels trapped. This research sought to reveal the degree to which such use of technology is a problem. Previous research on why women are slow to leave abusive relationships has focused on women not acknowledging that they were abused, minimization and normalization of abuse (Edwards et al. 2012), high levels of perceived risks (Amanor-Baodu, et al. 2012), social/cultural influences (Baly, 2012), minimal use of self talk to keep in motion (Patzel, 2012), and being married/having more adults in the household (Lacey et al. 2012). No previous research has focused on how technology in the form of receiving text messages/emails/Facebook postings from an abusive partner slows the process of leaving an abusive partner. Questionnaire and Sample A 42 item questionnaire on "Technology as a Barrier to Leaving an Abusive Relationship" was approved by the Institutional Review Board at a large southeastern university and posted on the Interact. Students in five lower division sociology classes were emailed the link and asked to complete the survey. …

Caitlin Halligan

Papers

Positive Effects of Parental Divorce on Undergraduates

Making Meaning without a Maker: Secular Consciousness through Narrative and Cultural Practice

The rise of the nones and the changing relationships between identity, belief, and behavior

Explaining the adoption of security measures by places of worship: perceived risk of victimization and organizational structure

Trapped: Technology as a Barrier to Leaving an Abusive Relationship