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How Parents And Their Adolescent Children "Talk The Talk" In Religious Conversations, Jennifer Yorgason Thatcher

Theses and Dissertations

This study builds on previous research regarding parent-child religious conversations to explore the elements and bidirectional processes of parent-adolescent religious conversations. It employs qualitative analyses of interviews with highly religious parents and adolescents representing the major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) from New England and Northern California. Variations in content, structure, conversational processes, and bidirectional influence are summarized in a conceptual model. Findings suggest that the quality of conversations is greater for parents and adolescents when they are youth-centered than when they are parent-centered.