A Faith of Their Own

Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America's Adolescents

Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton

A response to the seminal National Study of Youth and Religion
Data based on a nationally representative sample
Sociological study with real life examples in the the testimony of youth from across the country

A Faith of Their Own

Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America's Adolescents

Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton

Description

Adding to the contributions made by Soul Searching and Souls in Transition--two books which revolutionized our understanding of the religious lives of young Americans--Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton here offer a new portrait of teenage faith.

Drawing on the massive National Study of Youth and Religion's telephone surveys and in-depth interviews with more than 120 youth at two points in time, the authors chart the spiritual trajectory of American adolescents and young adults over a period of three years. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the authors find that religion is an important force in the lives of most--though their involvement with religion changes over time, just as teenagers themselves do. Pearce and Denton weave in fascinating portraits of actual youth to give depth to mere numerical rankings of religiosity, which tend to prevail in large studies. One teenager might rarely attend a service, yet count herself profoundly religious; another might be deeply involved in a church's social world, yet claim to be "not, like, deep into the faith." They provide a new set of qualitative categories--Abiders, Assenters, Adapters, Avoiders, and Atheists--quoting from interviews to illuminate the shading between them. And, with their three-year study, they offer a rich understanding of the dynamic nature of faith in young people's lives during a period of rapid change in biology, personality, and social interaction. Not only do degrees of religiosity change, but so does its nature, whether expressed in institutional practices or personal belief.

By presenting a new model of religious development and change, illustrated with compelling personal accounts of real teenagers, Pearce and Denton offer parents, scholars, and religious leaders a new guide for understanding religious development in teens.

A Faith of Their Own

Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America's Adolescents

Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton

Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: (Re)conceptualizing Religiosity and Spirituality
Chapter Three: Religious Profiles in Adolescence
Chapter Four: Correlates and Outcomes of Class Membership
Chapter Five: Religious Change over Time
Chapter Six: Understanding Religious Change
Chapter Seven: Conclusion

A Faith of Their Own

Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America's Adolescents

Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton

Author Information

Lisa D. Pearce is Associate Professor of Sociology and Fellow at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the co-author, with William G. Axinn, of Mixed Method Data Collection Strategies.

Melinda Lundquist Denton is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clemson University. She is the co-author, with Christian Smith, of Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

A Faith of Their Own

Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America's Adolescents

Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton

Reviews and Awards

"A Faith of Their Own is a terrific and succinct introduction to the NSYR. Its analysis is clear, its exposition is clean, and its interpretative typology merits wide adoption." --Sociology of Religion

"A Faith of Their Own moves the conversation on adolescent spirituality significantly forward by examining, not a static snapshot of teenagers' religious lives, but the ways in which these lives change during adolescence; the authors' conclusions will surprise and challenge you. Pearce and Denton write with the confidence of people who know, and love, their subjects, making A Faith of Their Own a dynamic, accessible, and often unexpected map of adolescents' spiritual terrain. If you know and love a teenager, you're going to need this book." --Kenda Creasy Dean, author of Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church

"This nuanced, comprehensive book will become the standard reference for anyone seeking a sensitive and rigorous analysis of the religious lives of American adolescents. Dispensing with the hand-wringing that accompanies many accounts, the authors take a multidimensional approach to religiosity, emphasize stability and normal development processes, and explore the effects of religious consistency on well-being as teenagers transition into young adulthood--a smart take on American religiosity and American youth." -- Penny Edgell, author of Religion and Family in a Changing Society

"Pearce and Denton bring the content, conduct and centrality of religion to life for youth today. They successfully integrate rich person-centered accounts of the meaning and practice of religion among teens using in-depth conversations with youth themselves, combined with variable-centered analyses of a national survey study of youth and religion. A Faith of Their Own thus makes an important contribution to the use of mixed methods, in addition to its path-breaking findings regarding the religious life of American youth." --Thomas S. Weisner, Professor of Anthropology, Departments of Psychiatry & Anthropology, UCLA

"The book is filled to the brim with fascinating new data as well as helpful categories for both reframing scholarly understanding and evaluating adolescent religiosity." --Publishers Weekly

"...the book will prove rewarding to all--whether parents, youth leaders, students or academics--who have an interest in teen religious behavior." --Library Journal

"...AFOTO is simultaneously sophisticated yet simple for readers to grasp."--Jenny Trinitapoli, Pennsylvania State University