Religion in the lives of American adolescents

The purpose of the project is to research the shape and influence of religion and spirituality in the lives of U.S. adolescents; to identify effective practices in the religious, moral, and social formation of the lives of youth; to describe the extent to which youth participate in and benefit from the programs and opportunities that religious communities are offering to their youth; and to foster an informed national discussion about the influence of religion in youth's lives, in order to encourage sustained reflection about and rethinking of our cultural and institutional practices with regard to youth and religion.Summary of research findings on the influence of religion on the lives of U.S. adolescents.The National Study of Youth and Religion, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and under the direction of Dr. Christian Smith, professor in the Department of Sociology, is based at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This four-year research project began in August 2001 and will continue until August 2006

Bare Market: Campus Sex Ratios, Romantic Relationships, and Sexual Behavior

Using a nationally-representative sample of college women, we evaluate the effect of campus sex ratios on women’s relationship attitudes and behaviors. Our results suggest that women on campuses where they comprise a higher proportion of the student body give more negative appraisals of campus men and relationships, go on fewer traditional dates, are less likely to have had a college boyfriend, and are more likely to be sexually active. These effects appear to stem both from decreased dyadic power among women on campuses where they are more numerous and from their increased difficulty locating a partner on such campuses

Understanding How the Social Scientific Study of Same-Sex Parenting Works

Zrozumieć badania społeczne dotyczące rodzicielstwa osób tej samej płci Badania w obszarze nauk społecznych dotyczące gospodarstw domowych osób tej samej płci z dziećmi przeszły długą drogę w ciągu 10 lat. Współcześnie dostrzega się większe możliwości gromadzenia danych. Nie ma jednak gwarancji, że konsekwentne i sensowne analizy oraz rozsądne wnioskowanie jest oczywiste. Występuje bowiem ścisła konstrukcja społeczna oparta na strzeżonej „zgodzie”, że dzieci z gospodarstw domowych tej samej płci nie różnią się od dzieci z gospodarstw domowych przeciwnej płci – w szczególności z rodzin małżeńskich. Konsensus ten jest wynikiem decyzji dotyczących doboru próby, porównań analitycznych i interpretacji wyników. Często wskazują one na różnice wyjściowe przed statystycznymi kontrolami niestabilności gospodarstwa domowego, po których zwykle zanikają. Zwłaszcza zmienna – rozpad związku – pozostaje wyraźnie różna między związkami osób tej samej i przeciwnej płci, nawet w najbardziej tolerancyjnych społeczeństwach. Celem artykułu nie jest promowanie bądź kwestionowanie wniosków z badań dotyczących wpływu rodziców na wyniki dzieci. Starano się raczej wyjaśnić, w jaki sposób powstał konsensus dotyczący „braku różnic” i jak jest wzmacniany, pomimo dowodów na to, że był i pozostaje przedwczesny.The social scientific study of same-sex households with children has come a long way in 10 years. Better quality data collection is now available. However, this is no guarantee that consistently sensible analyses and reasonable conclusions are imminent, because the “consensus” that children from same-sex households fare no differently than children from opposite-sex households—in particular, married families—is a carefully guarded social construction. The consensus is the result of sampling decisions, analytic comparisons, and interpretations of results that often indicate baseline differences prior to statistical controls for household instability, after which they commonly disappear. It is this variable—relationship dissolution—that remains demonstrably different between same-sex and opposite-sex relationships, even in the most tolerant of societies. The point of this article is neither to trumpet nor dispute any particular study’s conclusion in the domain of parental influence on children’s outcomes. Rather, I seek to explain how the consensus around “no differences” came to be, and how it is reinforced, despite evidence that it was, and remains, premature

Forbidden Fruit: sex and religion in the lives of American Teenagers

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Pentecostalism and premarital sexual initiation in Brazil

Pentecostal denominations in Brazil are recognized for their promotion of conservative norms and punitive sanctions related to the sexual behavior of their young members. Moreover, they have created unique space for their followers to actively participate in a religious environment. Using data from the PNDS-2006 (National Survey on the Demography and Health of Children and Women, Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde da Criança e da Mulher de 2006), we examine the associations, in Brazil between religion, as measured by religious affiliation and attendance at religious services, and premarital adolescent sexual initiation. Our main results confirm a strong association between delay in sexual initiation and Pentecostalism in Brazil and suggest that this association be related to frequent attendance at religious services. These findings are intriguing, especially because Pentecostalism has emerged and concentrated among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, including the least-educated women, with lower income, and residents of urban areas. We conclude by suggesting that religion may be taking the place of family and school in communication on adolescent sexual behavior in Brazil. This hypothesis should be carefully investigated, since the religious teachings may sometimes be in favor of what families and the state see as beneficial for adolescents and youth in general, but sometimes in disaccord