Due to the changes in family life, sociologists have conducted many studies on the effects of religion or religious training on adolescent development. Religion is seen as a major component of identity formation. Adolescents’ identity is formed when they discover their role or purpose in society. Religion provides a way of viewing events and gives life it’s meaning. Adolescents learn through religion, morals and life goals. During adolescence many physical, emotional and psychological changes occur. They become curious about the world and wonder how they fit into society. As they explore the world, some take drugs, drink alcohol and become delinquent while other will become involved in religious activities and other positive things. (The effects of relgion on adolescent’s moral development, 2) The adolescent’s level of involvement in religion is highly related to their well being, self- worth, participation in community service, academic performance and self-esteem. It is also likely that an adolescent would use family and social support network ad a means for coping with stressful situations. It has also been found that religious adolescents are less likely to have behavior problems or to be associated with negative events. Stealing, cutting school and vandalism are not viewed as acceptable behaviors by this group. They also learn that helping others is important. In addition, African American youth view religion as a coping mechanism fro dealing with stressful situations in life, such as racism, inequality, poverty, violence, rejection and substance abuse in the home. Religious practices provide youth with a “system for understanding and explaining life events” (The effects of religion on adolescent’s moral development, 3)
“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree”, that is family influences on children are subtle and lasting. (Roof, 225) The things children are taught and are modeled before them carries over into adult life. Sociologists have found that those children whose parents were active in a church or some type of religious activity during the years that they were growing up are themselves more religiously active than those who had inactive parents. Sixty percent of those whose mothers were weekly attendees at church or synagogue back then now report attending at least once a month. Additionally, those with religiously active parents in earlier years are more likely now to join Bible study, prayer and spiritual support groups. If both parents were religiously active and in the same faith, children were less likely to have dropped out of attending church, synagogue or temple when growing up. Therefore it can be concluded that consistent religious socialization, that is, influences reinforced by both parents had a lasting impact. (Roof, 225)
In 1970,forty percent of Americans lived in nuclear families with children present under the age of eighteen. By 1990 that percentage had fallen to 26.3, almost a fourth of which are stepfamilies, which sociologists refer to as blended families. (Roof, 235) People now move in and out of families almost as much as they do in careers and different types of work. Due to this fact the implications for religion are considerable. The decline in the traditional nuclear family may predict declines in church participation. Levels of religious participation continue to be higher for such families. The family types currently growing are singles, divorced and separated. These groups show lower levels of involvement in, and support of organized religion, though by no means less personal faith or spiritual well being. If this growth in non-family households continues in the future unchanged, the link between religion, marriage and nuclear family will be even more obvious. In addition, there will be enormous consequences for childhood religious socialization and religious affiliation for a sizeable proportion of the population. (Roof, 236)
In response to the changing family situations, many churches of today target these mutations of family as opportunities for specialized ministries. The Evangelical Protestants provide programming and activities for a wide range of family types, singles which also means previously married, single parents, blended families, dual career families and other such groups. For many in these groups membership and involvement in a church or synagogue provides status, and opportunities for making contacts, establishing friendships, and building networks.
Religion is significant for a variety of reasons in many people’s lives. The social support dimension of religious practice is very important to most religious people. Participation in the worship and other activities of a church or temple can contribute to a sense of community or kinship, can provide both influential and emotional support in times of trouble and can add to a sense of personal security and self-confidence. Many churches or other religious bodies understand the need of sick people for comfort and support and make it a practice to visit them and provide material help. When someone is living alone or has no family, the church becomes their family. (Kelly, 23) Pastors, priests, rabbis and pastoral counselors can be of great assistance to individuals in need of help and provide an opportunity for social interaction that would otherwise be lacking. There is also evidence that people who pray are healthier and recover from illness better than those who do not pray. Some believe that the benefits come from enhanced coping mechanisms while others believe that prayer really works! (Kelly, 23)
Religion in a family can be seen to have many positive benefits. It provides a foundation for children on which to build their ideas, their morals and their traditions. It gives purpose to life. Religion has been shown to encourage adolescents to stay out of trouble while promoting a good sense of well-being and self-esteem. It has been shown to help individuals in times of crisis and stressful situations. As the family has changed over the last fifty years, the church has changed in response to the needs of people in society. It has created services and ministries for the new family structures, accepting each as a valuable part of their congregation. Religion in many cases has become a substitute family for children of working parents, for the elderly and other singles that live alone. In short, people should get into religion; the benefits are great.
