Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American TeenagersIn innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole. |
Contents
Mapping the Big Picture | |
Spiritual Seekers the Disengaged and Religiously | |
On Moralistic Therapeutic | |
American Adolescent Religion in Social Context | |
On Catholic Teens | |
Adolescent Religion and Life Outcomes | |
Conclusion | |
Appendix B Survey Methodology | |
Interviews Methodology | |
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Common terms and phrases
adults Ages 13–17 Percentages American adolescents American religion American teenagers American youth Antwan asked associations attend religious services believe Bible black Protestant Buddhist Catholic teens chapter Christian Smith Christopher Ellison church commitments cultural demographic differences Disengaged experiences explain factors feel friends Hispanic households ideal types influence Jewish teens Judaism Kristen less religious mainline Protestant majority of U.S. moral order Moralistic Therapeutic Deism Mormon Muslim nonreligious teens NSYR observed one’s organizations outcomes oversample parents participation people’s percent positive pray Protestant boy Protestantism relationships religious and spiritual religious beliefs religious congregations religious faith religious involvement religious practices religious service attendance religious teens religious traditions religious youth group religiously devoted sample significant significantly simply social spiritual lives spiritual seekers statistically Steve stuff survey talk teen religiosity there’s things U.S. Adolescents U.S. Catholic U.S. teenagers U.S. teens variables