Thriving and Spirituality Among Youth: Research Perspectives and Future Possibilities

385 Pages·2011·2.42 MB·English

by  Amy Eva Alberts Warren

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Thriving and Spirituality
(cid:2)
Among Youth
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JWBT513-fm JWBT513-Warren August6,2011 8:26 PrinterName:CourierWestford,Westford,MA
Thriving and
Spirituality Among
Youth
Research Perspectives and
(cid:2)
Future Possibilities
Editedby
Amy Eva Alberts Warren
Richard M. Lerner
Erin Phelps
JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Thrivingandspiritualityamongyouth:researchperspectivesandfuturepossibilities/editedbyAmy
EvaAlbertsWarren,RichardM.Lerner,andErinPhelps.
p.cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN978-0-470-94830-9(pbk.)
ISBN978-1-118-09982-7(ebk)
ISBN978-1-118-09983-4(ebk)
ISBN978-1-118-09981-0(ebk)
ISBN978-1-118-09269-9(obk)
1.Youth–Religiouslife. 2.Mentalhealth–Religiousaspects. 3.Well-being–Religiousaspects.
4.Adolescentpsychology. 5.Developmentalpsychology–Religiousaspects.
I.Warren,AmyEvaAlberts.II.Lerner,RichardM.III.Phelps,Erin.
BL625.47.T472011
204.0835–dc22
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Foreword vii
Preface xi
Contributors xv
1 ResearchPerspectivesandFuturePossibilitiesintheStudy
ofThrivingandSpirituality:AViewoftheIssues 1
AmyEvaAlbertsWarren,RichardM.Lerner,andErinPhelps
PartI:BiologicalContextsofPositiveYouthDevelopment
andSpirituality
2 PrefrontalCorticalActivationDuringEmotionRegulation:
LinkingReligious/SpiritualPracticesWithWell-Being 19
HeatherL.Urry,RobertW.Roeser,SaraW.Lazar,andAlanP.Poey
3 ClosenessofAllKinds:TheRoleofOxytocinand
VasopressininthePhysiologyofSpiritualandReligious
Behavior 33
ElenaL.Grigorenko
4 PositiveYouthDevelopmentandAge-RelatedChangesin
CorticalThicknessDuringAdolescence 61
Toma´ˇsPaus,GabrielLeonard,JacquelineV.Lerner,
RichardM.Lerner,MichelPerron,G.BrucePike,LouisRicher,
RobertoToro,SuzanneVeillette,andZdenkaPausova
5 NeuralCorrelatesofPositiveYouthDevelopment 77
SaraW.Lazar
PartII:IndividualandPsychologicalContextsofPositiveYouth
DevelopmentandSpirituality
6 StrengtheningHumanPotentialforGreatLove-Compassion
ThroughElaborativeDevelopment 91
AmyEvaAlbertsWarren
v
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vi CONTENTS
7 WhenBeliefsFitandWhenTheyDon’t:Religious
Conversion,Spirituality,andPositiveYouth
Development 129
DavidHenryFeldman,MonaM.Abo-Zena,RobertW.Roeser,
andAmyEvaAlbertsWarren
8 TheSharedPathwaysofReligious/SpiritualEngagement
andPositiveYouthDevelopment 167
GabrielS.SpiewakandLonnieR.Sherrod
9 ReligiousAdolescents’ViewsofSuccessandSpirituality 183
JenniMenonMariano,RobertW.Roeser,PaulaTaylor
Greathouse,andSoniaS.IssacKoshy
10 AssessingtheRelationshipBetweenEthnicandReligious
IdentityAmongandBetweenDiverseAmericanYouth 205
AerikaS.BrittianandMargaretBealeSpencer
PartIII:SocialandCulturalContextsofPositiveYouthDevelopment
andSpirituality
11 ContributionsDespiteChallenges:ExploringPositiveYouth
DevelopmentAmongMuslimAmericanYouth 233
SelcukR.Sirin,MonaM.Abo-Zena,andHalaShehadeh
12 TheRoleofReligionandWorshipCommunitiesinthe
PositiveDevelopmentofImmigrantYouth 255
CarolaSua´rez-Orozco,SukhmaniSingh,MonaM.Abo-Zena,
DanDu,andRobertW.Roeser
13 TheInterplayofSelf-TranscendenceandPsychological
MaturityAmongIsraeliCollegeStudents 289
OfraMayselessandPninitRusso-Netzer
14 BeliefSystemsandPositiveYouthDevelopmentAmong
ChineseandAmericanYouth 309
WeiZhang,DanDu,andShuangjuZhen
Afterword 333
AuthorIndex 343
SubjectIndex 359
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Foreword
Ihavewitnessedfirsthandthediversetapestryoflifeinmorethan130countries.
I’ve seen young people from many walks of life—vastly different cultures,
faiths, traditions, and societies—who both succeed and fail. I have seen young
people from tragic environments overcome their obstacles with amazing grace
andresilience.I’vetalkedwithmanyyoungpeoplewhobeattheoddsofpoverty,
war,badschools(ornoschoolsatall),addiction,andfamilyviolence.AndIhave
seenmanywhodonot.
Overthepast35years,Ihaveworkedasasocialentrepreneurtohelpimprove
theconditionsandprospectsforyoungpeoplewheretheylive,learn,work,and
play.Theseyoungpeoplerepresentthemorethan1.7billionpeopletodaywho
arebetweentheagesof15and29.Eighty-fivepercentofthemliveindeveloping
countries.
Allofuswhohavesurvivedadolescenceknowthatitcanbeatoughtimeof
life,aperiodoftransition,development,anddiscovery.Manyyoungpeoplereport
feelingisolatedanddisconnected duringtheseyears,whentheyareundergoing
majorphysical,social,anddevelopmentalchanges.Althoughmanypeoplesimply
survivetheiradolescence,othersfallintonegativebehaviorsastheyquestionwho
theyareandtheirplaceintheworld.
Itisalsotruethatthegreatchangesandidentitysearchduringadolescencelead
manyyoungpeopletoseekwaystocontributetosomethingbeyondthemselves.
Some of these young people were born into tragic circumstances, but now they
serveasmentorsandrolemodelsorasyouthrepresentativesonlocal,national,
andglobalboards;ortheyworkassocialinnovatorstoimprovetheircountriesand
communities;ortheyaresuccessfulyoungentrepreneurscreatingnewenterprise.
Manygirlsandyoungwomen,justbythenatureofbeingbornfemale,haveto
struggleandfightfortheiropportunitiesandhumanrightsintheircountriesand
communities.Someoftheseincredible,braveyoungwomenarenowfurthering
their education, becoming successful entrepreneurs, and challenging laws, cus-
toms,andstereotypesbyservingasawholenewgenerationofrolemodelsintheir
communitiesandnearbytownsandvillages.
The reason or reasons why these young people are able to make positive
differences despite their circumstances are multiple and varied. Some young
peopleareabletoconnectwithapositivementororrolemodelwhohelpschange
thedirectionoftheirlives.Someyoungpeopleareabletoaccessprogramsand
servicesthatprovidethemwiththeskillsandexperiences theyneedtoacquire
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viii FOREWORD
improvedopportunities.Someyoungpeoplemakeitontheirown,withoutany
obvious outside supports from family or community. Often their own religious
faith, conviction, determination, and/or sense of greater purpose propels them
forward. These young people, and the millions like them around the world,
inspiremywork.IknowtheyalsoinspireandinformtheworkofRichardLerner,
AmyWarren,ErinPhelps,andmanyoftheircolleagues.
I first met Richard Lerner in the early 1990s, when he was a newly arrived
professoratMichiganStateUniversity,andIhadrecentlybeenawardedagrant
bytheW.K.KelloggFoundation(WKKF)tocreateandlaunchtheInternational
YouthFoundation (IYF).TheWKKFhad institutedateamoffiveexperts who
would serve as strategic consultants in advising on the evolution of IYF’s work.
RichardLernerwasoneofthosefiveamazingpeople.Theteamwaschargedwith
joining me and other IYF leaders as we traveled around the world to visit part-
ner foundations (in places like Thailand, Japan, the United Kingdom, Poland,
Ecuador, the Philippines, and Germany, among others) and assess IYF’s effec-
tivenessandimpact.TheycollaboratedwithIYFinconstantlyreflectingonand
improvingourwork.
WhatcamethroughintheirreportstoWKKFwasthatthetheoreticalfounda-
tionuponwhichIhadbuiltIYFwas,atthetime,bothinnovativeandeffective.
Thetheoreticalfoundationwasbasedonyearsofmyownexperience,research,
and conversations with young people and youth development experts in many
countries. It rejected the widely accepted deficit model of youth development
(prevention)andwasbuiltinsteadonthenotionofpromotion(i.e.,thatweshould
focus on the skills, attributes, behaviors, and attitudes we want to promote in
youngpeople).
In those early days, I identified the key characteristics of positive youth de-
velopmentasbeingrepresentedbyfourCs—competence,confidence,character,
andconnection—withdetailedexplanationofthemeaningofeachandtheim-
portanceoftheirinterrelationships.However,Ihadnotscientificallytestedthese
constructs, and I had no reliable evidence to prove that these constructs were
well-aligned empirically with positive development. These characteristics were
simplyevidentinsomanyoftheyoungpeopleImetinmanydiversecultures,and
Iobservedtheywerebeingpromoted,bothintentionallyandunintentionally,in
somanyofthemoresuccessfulyouthprogramsIvisited.
IhadnoideaatthetimehowwellthosefourCs—theconceptofpositiveyouth
development and the theoretical program framework for IYF—would resonate
with the research community, practitioners, and policymakers. Nor did I know
how, with Richard Lerner’s great leadership and genius, we would continue to
build on these notions (e.g., with the addition of the constructs of caring and
contribution) and eventually then be able to scientifically validate and provide
evidenceoftheexistenceofthesixCsthattodaydefinepositiveyouthdevelopment.
Since our early days traveling the globe together with IYF, Richard Lerner has
continued, at an almost inhuman pace, to provide practitioners, scholars, and