A study of the influence of parent-child dynamics on children's internalization of religious and spiritual beliefs and values.

摘要

Family has been regarded in the literature as an important force that shapes spiritual and religious development in children. However, there is very limited research available related to how these values are transferred between parents and children. In addition, most of the research has used retrospective studies, interviewed either the parent or the child but not both, and focused mostly on Christian religions, while also neglecting families who identify as spiritual. Due to the lack of research in this topic, this Researcher proposed a preliminary study exploring the transmission process between parents and children with the goal of exploring how different parent-child dynamics, such as relationship factors and parent-child communication, influence children's internalization of religious and spiritual beliefs and values. These areas were investigated through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The parents and the children were interviewed separately.;Seven families participated in the current study. The children in the study were ages 10 to 12. Participants identified as Catholic, spiritual not religious, Born Again Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. Interviews were analyzed using the Constant Comparative method, which involved the searching for units of meaning in the interviews. These were then compared across all the participants to identify common themes. The themes fell into four categories: (1) Importance of religion and spirituality in family life, (2) Parent and child roles in the instilling of religious and spiritual values, (3) Child religious and spiritual development, and (4) Parent-child relationship.;The last two chapters provide a more thorough discussion of the themes and results. The final chapter also presents clinical implications for therapists working with families who consider themselves to be religious or spiritual, as well as limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research.