The following questions define the work of the Center for Spiritual Development:
Basic Definitional Questions
1. Is there a way succinctly to define spiritual development that will resonate across cultures and traditions, and among both scholars and practitioners?
2. How is spiritual development understood in the scholarly literature and by researchers, practitioners, young people, and the public? What is its relationship to religious or faith development?
3. What are the processes, dimensions, and outcomes of spiritual development, both positive and negative? Is it possible to build a broad consensus on these core dynamics across cultures and traditions? Among scholars, practitioners, and the public?
4. How does spiritual development enrich the understanding of positive human development beyond what is already understood through other domains, such as social, emotional, and moral development? How does it interact and integrate with these other domains?
5. Is spiritual development understood primarily as process, status, or both? How might this dynamic be captured in a comprehensive theory or model?
Processes
6. How does spirituality grow and change through the first two decades of life? What are common pathways? How do these pathways vary by individual differences (gender, age, race/ethnicity, etc.), tradition, and culture?
7. How do young people’s life experiences (positive and negative) impact the trajectory of their spiritual life? How do early spiritual experiences and processes affect later development? Is there a cumulative effect across time and developmental contexts?
8. In what ways is spiritual development “natural” and inevitable? In what ways is it intentionally cultivated or nourished through belief systems, rituals and practices, and expectations? How does this intentionality impact young people’s development, both spiritually and otherwise?
Dimensions
9. How do individual, cultural, and societal perceptions of and beliefs about human nature and transcendent or spiritual realities/beings inform, shape, and give structure/language/narrative to young people’s spiritual development?
10. What spiritual and religious practices (rituals, rites of passage, disciplines, quests) do they engage in? How do they perceive these shaping or influencing their spiritual development as well as other areas of development?
11. What spiritual or transcendent experiences have young people had? At what ages? In what contexts or settings? How do they perceive these shaping or influencing their spiritual development?
12. How does the young person interact with her or his environment in regard to spiritual development? What factors within a young person and her or his environment (family, community, broader culture) enhance or thwart spiritual development? What dynamics moderate the bi-directional influence (e.g., goodness of fit, attachment, intentionality)?
Outcomes
13. What role does spiritual development play in how children and adolescents live their lives in relationship to others and the world? What factors moderate this relationship?
14. What are potential positive intermediate outcomes of spiritual development (e.g., ethical action, gratitude, purpose, discipline, sacredness of life, joy, generosity, hope)? What are the potential negative outcomes (e.g. intolerance, self-harm, prejudice, fear)? What variables predict these intermediate outcomes? Then, how are these intermediate outcomes related to traditional youth development outcomes such as decreases in risk behaviors and increases in positive behaviors?
15. Are there markers of healthy or optimal spiritual development (process and status) that resonate across cultures and traditions? How can these markers be assessed in an index of spiritual thriving?
Field Building
16. How we utilize the knowledge generated to strengthen the field and to position spiritual development appropriately in the academy as part of the study of human development?
17. In what ways can a richer theory and research base influence practice in multiple settings, including homes, schools, youth organizations, and religious institutions?
