Transcript Seminar Series Research in the Catholic Church: Planning

Seminar Series
Research in the Catholic Church
Planning for the Journey
The Spirit of Generation Y
Spirituality among Australian Teenagers and
Young Adults
Research Methods and Early Findings
© M. Mason 2005
Research team
• Associate Professor Ruth Webber
(Australian Catholic University)
• Dr Andrew Singleton
(Monash University)
• Dr Philip Hughes
(Christian Research Association)
• Dr Michael Mason
(Australian Catholic University)
Sponsors
• Catholic Education Commissions of
Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South
Australia
• Catholic Education Offices of CanberraGoulburn, Sydney, Parramatta, Broken Bay,
Lismore
• Salesians, Uniting Education, Lutheran
Schools Australia & Lutheran Church National
Office, Salvation Army (Southern Territory),
Seventh-day Adventist Church (Australia),
Victorian Council for Christian Education,
Council for Christian Education in Schools,
YMCA
Project Website:
http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/
research/ccls/spir/spir.htm
Aims
The intended practical outcomes of the project are:
to help young people to make sense of their lives by
developing a more critical awareness of the range
of cultural resources for interpreting their lifestories; and to help them develop a sense of
community, a social ethic and ways of
constructively participating in society;
by assisting churches, schools and other agencies
concerned with young people to develop policies
and programs informed by an enhanced
understanding of 'the spirit of Generation Y'.
The research objective of the project is to advance
the understanding of 'the spirit of Generation Y':
1) Spirituality: the 'varieties of religious and
spiritual experience' among young Australians
aged 13 to 29 years; the versions of religion and
spirituality which such experience shapes and
reflects; and the alternative, non-religious ways in
which young people are defining themselves and
interpreting their lives; the components of these
religions and forms of spirituality: the masternarratives, the worldviews, the value-complexes,
the rituals and other practices, the communal
structures and activities.
2) Influences on spirituality: the range of
cultural resources used in constructing
spirituality – including music, film and
popular media; the extent to which the
contemporary cultural milieu tends to shape
the interpretation of the life-story more as a
solitary journey than a communal one;
patterns of cultural communication of
spirituality; the social patterns of
differential access to and distribution of
forms of spirituality.
3) Consequences of spirituality: the
association between particular styles of
spirituality and the holding of particular
values and attitudes to the self, to others,
and to society; the links between people's
spirituality and their social ethic, cultural
creativity, attitudes of civility and
sociability, social and political awareness
and participation, pro-social and anti-social
behaviour, citizenship activities.
Journal article on project’s
research method
• Singleton, A, Mason, M & Webber, R
2004, ‘Spirituality in adolescence and
young adulthood: a method for a
qualitative study’, International Journal
of Children’s Spirituality, 9 (3).
Definition of spirituality
For our purposes, spirituality is defined as
a conscious way of life based on a
transcendent referent.
The definition is ‘stipulative’ – it states what
the term ‘spirituality’ shall mean in our
project.
• We now define ‘transcendence’ broadly:
any worldview qualifies as a ‘spirituality’ -even secular worldviews which themselves
may well repudiate all notions of ‘spirit’,
and ‘spiritual’.
• Spirituality is still seen as connoting a
reference to an order of reality
transcending the individual – it is by
internalisation of a worldview that humans
become Selves, transcending their
biological level of existence.
Distinctive features of our
research method
-unobtrusive measures of spirituality:
avoiding nominal issues
-emphasis on personal narratives
-use of evocative techniques
Interview sample: Age
Age Group
No.
%
12-14
20
29
15-19
41
59
20-24
4
5
25-29
6
7
Total
71
100
Worldviews
•
•
•
•
Traditional
New Age
Eclectic
Humanistic
Spirituality types
• Worldview & Ethos
• TRAD
– / HI (23 cases)
– /MED (5),
– /LO (8),
– /QST (13)
The Humanistic Worldview
affirms human experience and human
reason, rather than adopting religious
traditions or ‘spiritual’ paths.
Individualism
the infinite worth of the human individual
and the inviolability of personal freedom
and autonomy
Values in the humanistic ethos
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individualism
Relativism of truth and values
Tolerance
Sovereignty of reason
Egalitarianism
Human rights, social justice
Spontaneity
Humanistic spirituality
types
• HUM
– /HI (7),
– /MED (3),
– /LO (1)
Conclusions
Growing up religious does make a
difference.
Are young people spiritual consumers
shopping in the New Age marketplace?
Maybe later in their 20s and 30s.
‘Believing without belonging’? It’s hardly
belief in any strong sense.
Comparing Australian and
American teenagers.
Cf. Smith, Christian (with Denton, ML)
2005, Soul Searching: The Religious
and Spiritual Lives of American
Teenagers, New York, Oxford University
Press.
• Strongly individualistic and relativistic
approach to religion (USA AUS)
• Teenage religion is conventional / little
conflict with parents (USA AUS)
• Religion is seen positively, as good for
people, therapeutic (USA AUS )
• Little sense of quest, or of spirituality vs.
religion; not many New Age or Eclectic
(USA AUS)