An attachment theory approach to narrating the faith journey of children of parental divorce

This study explores the effects of parental divorce on a child’s faith. Drawing from attachment theory, Granqvist and Kirkpatrick proposed two probable developmental pathways to religion. For those with secure attachment, whose cumulative experiences of sensitive, religious caregivers enhance the de...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kiesling, Chris (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2011
In: International journal of children's spirituality
Year: 2011, Volume: 16, Issue: 4, Pages: 301-313
Further subjects:B Divorce
B Spirituality
B internal working model
B Attachment
B Children
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This study explores the effects of parental divorce on a child’s faith. Drawing from attachment theory, Granqvist and Kirkpatrick proposed two probable developmental pathways to religion. For those with secure attachment, whose cumulative experiences of sensitive, religious caregivers enhance the development of a God image as loving; belief emerges from a gradual process of socialisation (correspondence hypothesis). By contrast, for children with insecure attachment, turning to God is more typically precipitated by significant emotional turmoil; the discovery of new truth is indistinguishable from the discovery of a new relationship; and God serves as a substitute attachment figure (compensation hypothesis). Qualitative interviews with 12 seminary students who are adult children of their parents’ divorce illustrate the viability of using attachment theory as a heuristic for narrating, enhancing understanding of, and distinguishing the developmental faith journey of children who experience the divorce of their parents.
ISSN:1469-8455
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/1364436X.2011.639746