Shalom bayit—Peace of the Home: Ritual and Tradition in American Jewish Families

Utilizing a sample of 30 regionally diverse families (N=75 individuals) belonging to various branches of Judaism, we qualitatively explored how Judaism enhanced and facilitated participants' general life strengths and relational strengths (i.e., marriage and parenting). Based on our findings, Jewish rituals, traditions, and observances had a positive influence on participants' personal lives and family relationships. A sense of duty and responsibility felt toward Jewish observance and to family relationships seemed to facilitate much of this influence.12 month embargo; published online: 02 Jul 2018This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Positive Youth Religious and Spiritual Development: What We Have Learned from Religious Families

In this article, we highlight the contributions of the findings from a branch of the American Families of Faith national research project that pertain to positive religious and spiritual development in youth. We present detailed findings from six previous studies on religious youth and their parents from diverse faith communities (various denominations in Christianity, three major branches of Judaism, and two major groups in Islam). We discuss what our findings suggest for positive religious/spiritual development, particularly in a family context. Finally, we suggest several ways to strengthen the literature on development in youth by exploring positive religious/spiritual development in relation to (a) social and political activism, (b) popular media and music, (c) participation in secular activities (e.g., sports, arts, gaming), (d) wrestling with BIG questions (i.e., questions involving Being, Intimacy, and God), (e) conversion and disaffiliation, (f) interfaith knowledge and experience, (g) impactful personal experiences, (h) volunteerism and service, (i) religious rituals, ceremonies, and traditions, (j) mental illness, (k) mindfulness and meditation, (l) temperament and personality, (m) agency and personal choices, (n) sexual orientation and experiences, and (o) generative devotion

How Relationship-Enhancing Transcendent Religious Experiences during Adversity Can Encourage Relational Meaning, Depth, Healing, and Action

Research on the relationship between religion, spirituality, and health suggests that religious involvement can help people deal with various kinds of adversity. Although there has been a great deal of work on the influence of religious involvement and religious and spiritual practices on physical, mental, and relational health, there exists a gap in the theoretical and empirical literature about the potential benefits of transcendent religious experiences on marriage and family relationships. We report some findings from a study of in-depth interviews with 198 religious American exemplar families from diverse religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. The religious-ethnic make-up of the sample included: African American Christian (13%), Asian Christian (12%), Catholic and Orthodox Christian (11%), White Evangelical Christian (12%), White Mainline Christian (10%), Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon), (14%), Jewish (16%), and Muslim (12%). Systematic group coding resulted in the findings that, during times of adversity, transcendent religious experiences reportedly (a) provided relational meaning, (b) increased relational depth, (c) healed relational hurt, and (d) encouraged relational action. We suggest implications for theory, research, clinical practice, and pastoral work

Anchors of religious commitment in adolescents

Abstract This study explores adolescent religious commitment using qualitative data from a religiously diverse (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) sample of 80 adolescents. A new construct, anchors of religious commitment, grounded in interview data, is proposed to describe what adolescents commit to as a part of their religious identity. Seven anchors of religious commitment are discussed: (a) religious traditions, rituals, and laws; (b) God; (c) faith traditions or denominations; (d) faith community members; (e) parents; (f) scriptures or sacred texts; and (g) religious leaders. The findings broaden the conceptual understanding of commitment as a relational construct and not just a behavioral or attitudinal construct. Implications for future research on adolescent religious commitment are discussed along with practical implications for parents and religious leaders. Keywords religion, commitment, adolescence, spirituality, identity The majority of the world's youth are religious Journal of Adolescent Research 26(3) psychological disorders) for youth Importance of Religious Commitment Much research has examined links between religious commitment and various positive and negative outcomes for youth. Generally, youth who are more religious exhibit higher levels of positive outcomes and lower levels of negative outcomes than their less religious peers. For example, religious commitment is predictive of greater prosocial behavior Religious commitment is also relevant to moral development. Compelling evidence suggests that religious and moral development are interconnected for many (if not most) people Layton et al. 383 Furthermore, Religious commitment also provides a context and grounds for identity formation for many youth Finally, religious commitment can impact family relationships and dynamics. For example, Conceptualizing and Measuring Religious Commitment Although religious commitment has consistently been linked to positive and negative behaviors, moral development, identity formation, and family relationships, researchers have not yet developed a consistent, thorough way to conceptualize and measure commitment. Prior studies have generally assessed religious commitment in one or more of the following ways A few scholars have proposed schemas for organizing the various facets of religious commitment. Journal of Adolescent Research 26(3) commitment in the National Study of Youth and Religion. Those five components included the following: (a) church attendance, (b) personal prayer, (c) scripture reading, (d) importance of faith in everyday life, and (e) closeness to God. They cite these five components as "specific characteristics" that describe "common cultural understandings of specific religious types of people" (p. 259). Worthington et al. Consistent with the demonstration that religious commitment has both interpersonal and intrapersonal factors The Present Study The study of religious commitment is still in a nascent stage, particularly as it pertains to the period of adolescence. Hence, this is an ideal time to further explore religious commitment in depth using qualitative research methodology. A key strength of qualitative methods is that they are positioned to uncover the ways in which adolescents themselves experience, understand, and describe their religious commitments, and the functions and meanings these commitments have for them in their lives. Therefore, the present study will complement this developing body of literature by revealing the landscape of religious commitment by exploring (a) how adolescents talk about their religious commitments, (b) the different dimensions and expressions of these commitments, and (c) how their families and faith communities impact how they experience their religious commitments. It was hoped that this study would broaden and enrich the conceptual understanding of adolescent religious commitment and point to more adequate measurement strategies. Layton et al. 385 Method Sample The sample for this qualitative study included 80 adolescents (41 female, 39 male; age range 10-21 years; M age = 15.1) from 49 families in the northern California and New England areas of the United States. The distribution across religious affiliations is as follows: 6 Baptist, 10 Catholic, 1 Christian and Missionary Alliance, 3 Christian Scientist, 2 Congregationalist, 3 Episcopal, 2 Jehovah's Witness, 16 Jewish, 11 Latter-day Saint, 3 Lutheran, 2 Methodist, 7 Muslim, 5 Orthodox Christian, 1 Pentecostal, 3 Presbyterian, and 5 Seventh-day Adventist. The ethnic distribution for the parents, which reflects the ethnic distribution for the adolescents, was 82% White and 18% ethnic minorities (4 African American, 4 Latino, 2 Puerto Rican, 4 East Indian, 1 Asian, 1 Native American). On average, the parents were in their mid-forties and had been married 21 years. Participants were selected using a criterion-based purposive sampling strategy. Lofland, Snow, Anderson, and Lofland (2006) explain, "purposive sampling is appropriate when the population parameters are not known and/ or when you want to learn about select cases or variation across a set of cases" (p. 91). Since the phenomenon of interest is the religious and spiritual identity of adolescents, and since it is hypothesized that exposure to spiritual and religious contexts promotes spiritual identity development, the cases that will be most helpful in illuminating this phenomenon are adolescents who are involved in those religious and spiritual contexts. Thus, the criterion used to select the sample was that adolescents need to be actively involved in a faith community. This increases the likelihood that "all individuals studied represent people who have experienced the phenomenon" (Cresswell, 2007, p. 128). To recruit the participants, we contacted religious leaders of different Christian (Baptist, Catholic, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Christian Science, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, Latter-day Saint, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist); Muslim (Shiite and Sunni); and Jewish (Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Reform, and Ultra Orthodox) faith communities in New England and northern California and asked them to recommend families in their faith community who had adolescents and who they felt were representative of the activity level, beliefs, and practices of the faith tradition. These families were contacted and asked to participate in the study. Of the families that agreed to participate in the larger research project, 49 families had youth between ages 10 and 21 and were included in the sample for the present study. The adolescents were interviewed in a family group 386 Journal of Adolescent Research 26(3) setting including the parents and any adolescents in the family between ages 10 and 21 who were available and consented to be interviewed. In any given family, the number of interviewed adolescents ranged from 1 to 5, with the mean number of siblings per family group being 1.6. Interviews The adolescents were interviewed by the second author in the home, with other members of the family present, in an effort to gather the richest data possible about the adolescents' lives. While some adolescents may have felt inhibited by the presence of parents or other siblings, this setting allowed the interviewer to "triangulate or obtain various types of data on the same problem, such as combining interview with observation" (Corbin & Strauss, 2008, p. 27). Both the adolescents and the parents were given the opportunity to respond to the questions, which provided multirespondent perspectives. The adolescents interviewed often expressed views different from their parents or siblings, indicating that while some may have felt inhibited, others clearly did not. The second author used "intensive interviewing" to gather the qualitative data. According to Analysis Stage 1: Broad Coding. In the first stage of analysis, we used a process we refer to as "broad coding" to extract from the original interviews all references Layton et al. 387 that addressed issues of commitment. Given the diverse existing approaches to religious commitment, in this first stage of coding we wanted to be as inclusive as possible in identifying issues of commitment. For this purpose, commitment was broadly conceptualized based on interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, behaviors, beliefs, affective expressions, experiences, priorities, and use of discretionary time. Every interview was coded by the lead author and an undergraduate research assistant to ensure that no potentially relevant infor mation was omitted from the collection of commitment references. Stage 2: Initial Coding. For the second stage of analysis, the references coded in Stage 1 as relating to commitment (more than 560 participantquote references) were coded using "initial coding." This process involved coding all of the references line by line to identify prominent themes Journal of Adolescent Research 26(3) memos) were kept, as recommended by Stage 3: Focused Coding. For Stage 3 of the analysis, we used "focused coding" Stage 4: Repeated Focused Coding. For the fourth stage of the analysis, we took each of the seven anchors of religious commitment identified in Stage 3 and used "focused coding" again to identify the different types of expression of the commitments. The number of references for each type ranged from 1 to 23. Since the aim of this study was to describe the construct thoroughly, categories with a small number of references were still included when they were seen as conceptually distinct from other type categories. These types of expression of the anchors of commitment will be described with the results. Through all stages of the analysis, steps were taken to ensure rigor and validity. Multiple coders were used during the first stage of analysis to increase internal validity and to ensure that the phenomenon in question-commitment-was accurately identified in the original sources and that no potentially useful information was overlooked. In an effort to minimize interpretive bias, as the interview segments were coded during Stages 2, 3, and 4, NVivo 8 provided a coding context (the comments directly before and after the coded reference) so that the Layton et al. 389 references were not interpreted out of context. When necessary, we returned to the original interview for a broad context to better understand the adolescents' responses. In addition, as part of the analysis, the lead author met frequently with the interviewer to discuss the progress of the analysis and to ask him questions regarding the specific beliefs and practices of the different faith traditions. This knowledge of and respect for different faith traditions was important in informing the analysis. To address issues of reflexivity and our inclination to view religion as a positive influence on families and adolescents, we intentionally coded both positive and negative instances of the themes and dimensions being explored. These negative instances are included with the results

The Hidden Power of “Thank You”: Exploring Aspects, Expressions, and the Influence of Gratitude in Religious Families

Gratitude has been extensively studied over the past two decades. Among several predictors, aspects of religiosity and spirituality have been consistent predictors of gratitude. To explore the religious motivations and processes that foster the practice of gratitude, we undertook a systematic thematic analysis using interview data from a national qualitative project of 198 highly religious families. Participants (n = 476) included mothers, fathers, and children from various socioeconomic backgrounds and from diverse religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds in the United States of America. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participants’ homes. Data for this study were analyzed using a team-based approach to qualitative analysis. The findings were organized thematically, including: (a) aspects of gratitude, (b) expressions of gratitude, and (c) the influence of gratitude. Two aspects of gratitude were identified: functional—what people were grateful for—and directional—to whom they were grateful. Expressions of gratitude involved participation in regular, gratitude-focused prayers and mutual day-to-day appreciation. The relational context and implications and context of gratitude in religious families were further examined and reported with sub-themes: (a) gratitude prompted positive re-evaluation of relationships and (b) gratitude reinforced religious faith. Implications, strengths, limitations, and future directions are discussed

Beyond Religious Rigidities: Religious Firmness and Religious Flexibility as Complementary Loyalties in Faith Transmission

Research has found that intergenerational transmission of religiosity results in higher family functioning and improved family relationships. Yet the Pew Research Center found that 44% of Americans reported that they had left the religious affiliation of their childhood. And 78% of the expanding group of those who identify as religiously unaffiliated (“Nones„) reported that they were raised in “highly religious families.„ We suggest that this may be, in part, associated with religious parents exercising excessive firmness with inadequate flexibility (rigidity). We used a multiphase, systematic, team-based process to code 8000+ pages of in-depth interviews from 198 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families from 17 states in all 8 major religio-cultural regions of the United States. We framed firmness as mainly about loyalty to God and God’s purposes, and flexibility as mainly about loyalty to family members and their needs and circumstances. The reported findings provided a range of examples illustrating (a) religious firmness, (b) religious flexibility, as well as (c) efforts to balance and combine firmness and flexibility. We discuss conceptual and practical implications of treating firmness and flexibility as complementary loyalties in intergenerational faith transmission

Change In Financial Stress and Relational Wellbeing During COVID-19: Exacerbating and Alleviating Influences

Guided by the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model and using a panel survey of 1510 adults in the US administered during the summer of 2020 and a mixed methods approach, we explored associations between changes in financial stress related to COVID-19 and relational wellbeing. Regression analyses showed that, compared to those who maintained their levels of financial stress, those who reported increased financial stress reported increased conflict and those who reported decreased financial stress reported decreased conflict. However, decreased financial stress was also associated with decreases in emotional closeness and relationship happiness, suggesting that changes in financial stress can lead to both maladaptation and bonadaptation in families. Qualitative findings provide insights into factors that may exacerbate or help alleviate financial stress related to COVID-19

A Qualitative Study of Ramadan: A Month of Fasting, Family, and Faith

Islam is a major world religion and the Muslim population is one of the fastest growing religious populations in the Western world, including in the United States. However, few research studies have examined the lived religious experience of U.S. Muslim families. Much of the attention on Islam among researchers and the media tends to be on controversial aspects of the religion. The purpose of this paper is to examine the unique religious practice of the month-long fast of Ramadan, especially its perceived role on marital and familial relationships from an insider’s perspective. Content analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews of twenty diverse Shia and Sunni Muslim families living in the United States (N = 47 individuals) yielded several emergent themes. This study presents and explores data on the focal theme: “fasting brings us closer together.„ These data suggest that Ramadan serves a sacred, unifying, and integrating purpose for many of the 47 practicing Muslim mothers, fathers, and youth in this study. Meanings and processes involved in Ramadan and family relationships are explored and explained. Implications and applications of the research findings are discussed and some potential directions for future research are outlined