Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations

Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations

Merril Silverstein, Christel Gärtner, Maria T. Brown

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9798216260547
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations: Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations brings together scholars of religious studies, secularism, and family science to examine how religion is passed down the generations in six European and North American nations. Taking a social change perspective within the context of family socialization theory, the authors treat intergenerational change and continuity in religion and spirituality as occurring under specific national and historical conditions. As such, they consider the social forces that variously reinforce or inhibit transmission of religiosity across successive generations within families. The volume provides a nuanced view of the role that societal context plays in religious transitions and transformations. Chapters consider the strong influence of the Roman Catholic church in Italy, Communist suppression of religion in Hungary, aversion to religious discussions in Finland, the East-West/Catholic-Protestant divide in Germany, and rapid religious deculturation in Canada and the U.S. Further, each chapter takes a mixed-methods approach, using quantitative survey data to describe the strength and pattern of intergenerational transmission and interview data to clarify family dynamics by which parents, and ofttimes grandparents, influence the religious beliefs and practices of younger generations—taking care to consider how the absence of religion is also conveyed to the next generation.

Table of contents

• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Transmission of (Non-)Religion: West and East Germany Compared
• Chapter 2: Historical Changes in Childhood Religious Practice in Hungary: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Data Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
• Chapter 3: Investigating Italian Religious Socialization Paths: Findings and Lessons From a Mixed-Methods Exercise
• Chapter 4: The Complexity of Religious Change Across Generations in Finland from the Perspectives of Gender and Religious Biog aphies
• Chapter 5: Transmission, Transformation, and Reversal in the Context of Intergenerational Decline of Religiosity in Canada
• Chapter 6: Intergenerational Evolution of Religiosity and Spirituality in Sexual Minorities in an American Sample
• Chapter 7: Spiritual Beliefs and Practices of the Nonreligious in an American Context: A Cross-Generational Perspective
• Index
• About the Contributors