Literature Analysis
In order to build on previous research and definitional efforts, center researchers have conducted key-word analyses of major books, articles, and reports on spiritual development to identify key concepts and terms that are relevant to theory, definition, and measurement. Key recent resources for this analysis have included the following:
- Roehlkepartain, E. C., King, P. E., Wagener, L., & Benson, P. L. (Eds.) (2006). The handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Dowling, E. M., & Scarlett, W. G. (Eds.) (2006). Encyclopedia of religious and spiritual development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Yust, K. M., Johnson, A. N., Sasso, S. E., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2006). Nurturing child and adolescent spirituality: Perspectives from the world’s religious traditions. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
- Oser, F. K., Scarlett, W. G., & Bucher, A. (2006). Religious and spiritual development throughout the life span. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner, Eds., Handbook of child psychology, 6th ed., vol 1: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 942-998). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
In addition, an initial bibliography of more than 800 other articles, chapters, and books on childhood and adolescent spiritual development has been generated, and a number of seminal sources were reviewed to catalog extant understandings of the definitions, dimensions, correlates, stages, processes/mechanisms, practices, and indicators of spiritual development. This information is informing the center’s current definitional, theory-building, and measurement efforts.
Focus Groups
The first new, international data collection by the center is a series of focus groups that will explore how young people (ages 12–18), parents/guardians, and adults who work with youth understand spiritual development, its impact, and factors that contribute to or inhibit the process. Particular attention will be paid to similarities and differences across cultures, contexts, and traditions. Research collaborators on six continents are being engaged to conduct the focus groups, along with videotaped interviews of selected participants. Qualitative data from the focus groups will inform our efforts to clarify definitions and dimensions of spiritual development, develop quantitative measures of spiritual development, strengthen theoretical foundations for the field, and strengthen practice. Preliminary findings will be released in 2007.
Read an update on this project
Exemplar Interviews
A particular contribution of the center will be the conceptualization and measurement of “spiritual thriving,” which we tentatively describe as the degree to which a person is on a healthy developmental trajectory in the spiritual domain. We think of spiritual thriving as an active process of discovery, engagement, and integration. This work will build on Search Institute’s broad research agenda on the nature and processes of thriving during adolescence, which explores the process of growth involving each person’s developmental contexts and individual strengths, and the relationships among them.
Initial feedback suggests that the concept of spiritual thriving generates high interest among scholars and practitioners in youth development, developmental psychology, religious development, and related fields. As we begin to explore the elements of spiritual thriving, the center will conduct in-depth interviews with youth who are nominated to be “exemplars” of spiritual thriving (on the basis of criteria derived from the theoretical base and in dialogue with advisors and other informants). This sample will be international, with representatives from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Data collection began in August 2007.
Read an update on this project
Secondary Data Analysis
Search Institute researchers are analyzing national and international datasets of adolescents and young adults that include items and scales related to spiritual development. These analyses will contribute to the overall process of defining and naming the dimensions of spiritual development and will be posted on the Web site as they become available. Initial analyses are being conducted on the World Values Survey data to explore in more depth whether and how measures of religious or spiritual practices hold constant and/or vary across continents, religious traditions, and other variables.
