The experience of victimisation among Muslim adolescents in the UK : the effect of psychological and religious factors

This study set out to explore the levels of victimisation experienced by Muslim adolescents in the UK, the extent to which victimisation is conceptualised in religious terms, and the extent to which individual differences in the experience of victimisation is related to personal factors, psychological factors and religious factors. Data provided by 335 13- to 15-year-old Muslim students from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales demonstrated that one in four Muslim students (25%) reported being bullied because of their religion. These students saw their religious identity as being a more important cause of their victimisation than their ethnicity, their colour, or their name. Male and female Muslim students were equally vulnerable to victimisation. Psychological and religious variables predicted individual differences in vulnerability to victimisation among Muslim students

Children’s dialogue in the context of international research

In recent years, the study of religious diversity has become a significant educational issue in Europe and on the wider international scene. This is partly due to a recognition of the significance of religion as a factor in relation to issues of ethnic, national and cultural identity (Baumann, 1999), and as a factor in social divisiveness or social cohesion, for example as an indicator of what Modood calls ‘cultural racism’ (Modood, 1997).1 This development also reflects specific events such as the riots in some towns and cities in the north of England in 2001 (Home Office, 2001) and in Paris in 2005, and those of September 11, 2001 in the United States of America as well as their complex and ongoing consequences internationally (e.g. Beauchamp, 2002; Leganger-Krogstad, 2003). Such debates are especially relevant within states where migrants from a range of religious and cultural backgrounds have settled. The global and more local situations are related in a variety of ways, through the transnational identities of many families (Jackson and Nesbitt, 1993; Østberg, 2003) and the direct effects of international conflicts on community relations within particular states

Assessing attitude toward religious diversity among Muslim adolescents in the UK : the effect of religious and theological factors

Understanding variations in public attitudes toward religious diversity is a matter of concern within both the social scientific study of religion (concerned with religious factors) and empirical theology (concerned with theological factors). Drawing on data provided by 335 13- to 15-year-old Muslim students from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, this study tests the power of religious factors and theological factors to explain variance within the Muslim Attitude toward Religious Diversity Index (MARDI). Regression analyses demonstrate that theological factors account for much more variance than religious factors in explaining individual differences in Muslim students’ attitudes toward religious diversity. In this regard understanding Muslim students’ theological identity is more important than understanding their religious practice

The religious and social correlates of Muslim identity : an empirical enquiry into religification among male adolescents in the UK

For the first time in 2001 the Census for England and Wales included a question on religious identity. The assumption was that religious identity predicts distinctiveness of social and public significance. This paper tests that thesis among male adolescents (13- to 15- years of age) who participated in a survey conducted across the four nations of the United Kingdom. From the 11,870 participants in the survey the present analyses compares the responses of 158 male students who self-identified as Muslim with the responses of 1,932 male students who self-identified as religiously unaffiliated. Comparisons are drawn across two domains defined as religiosity and as social values. The data demonstrated that for these male adolescents self-identification as Muslim encased a distinctive profile in terms both of religiosity and social values

A survey on mentoring, first incumbency, and the role of retired clergy : listening to bishops

This study set out to explore current attitudes and practice of bishops and dioceses of the Church of England concerning the role of retired clergy, with special reference to the role of mentor to clergy serving in their first incumbency. Replies were received from 30 of the 43 diocesan bishops (or those responding on their behalf). The data demonstrated that of the 30 participating dioceses, 26 had experience of using retired clergy as mentors to clergy in their first incumbency, and 25 considered this to be a good idea in principle. The other most frequently named roles for retired clergy within these 30 dioceses were as mentors more generally, as interim ministers in vacant parishes, as rural deans, and as ministry or work consultants. Other roles identified were as reflective practitioner, as worship leader, and as an assistant archdeacon. These summary statistics are illuminated and enriched by qualitative data

Personal prayer, worship attendance and spiritual wellbeing : a study among fourth, fifth and sixth class students attending Church of Ireland schools in the Republic of Ireland

This study examines the associations between frequency of personal prayer, frequency of worship attendance and spiritual wellbeing among 468 students attending fourth, fifth and sixth classes within 18 Church of Ireland schools located in one diocese in the Republic of Ireland. Spiritual wellbeing is measured by a modified form of the Fisher 16-item instrument Feeling Good, Living Life (assessing quality of relationships across four domains: self, family, nature, and God). The data demonstrate that frequency of personal prayer is a much stronger predictor than frequency of worship attendance in respect of spiritual wellbeing. This finding is consistent with the view that personal prayer is a key factor in the formation of individual spirituality

Women’s socio-economic rights and religion among Christian, Islamic and non-religiously affiliated students in England and Wales

This study explores the association between self-assigned religious affiliation (Christian, Muslim, and unaffiliated) and attitudes toward women’s rights among a sample of 1,058 students between the ages of 14 and 18 years in England and Wales, after taking into account personal factors, home environment factors, psychological factors, and religious factors. While religious saliency and interreligious openness both predicted a more positive attitude toward women’s rights, after taking these attitudinal factors into account self-assigned religious affiliation (both Christian and Muslim) predicted a less positive attitude toward women’s rights. This finding highlights the fallacy of discussing self-assigned religious affiliation independently of distinguishing the religious saliency of such affiliation

The Purpose-in-Life Scale (PILS) : internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity and construct validity among Catholic priests in Italy

The Purpose in Life Scale was designed to provide a 12-item unidimensional measure of purpose in life employing a five-point Likert rating for each item. The present study supports the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of this instrument among 155 Catholic priests (mean age = 46 years, SD = 12.16). Internal consistency reliability generated an alpha coefficient of .90. The first factor generated by principal component analysis accounted for 49.5% of variance. Concurrent validity against the Purpose in Life Test was supported by a correlation of .63. Construct validity was supported by a correlation of .54 with the Satisfaction in Ministry Scale and by a correlation of -.51 with the Scale of Emotional Exhaustion in Ministry. These properties commend the scale for future use among Catholic priests