Abstract
Interest in adolescent religious and spiritual development has gained momentum in the last decade. This trend is likely because of a combination of scientific, political, and societal factors. The interdisciplinary field of positive youth development (Benson & Pittman, 2002) has recently identified religious engagement as a developmental resource that lessens risk behavior or enhances positive outcomes (Bridges & Moore, 2002; National Research Council, 2002; National Research Council, 2002; Scales & Leffert, 2004). This, in turn, has led to renewed interest in the study of religion in the fields of public health, social work, education, developmental psychology, and prevention. At the same time, new global con- flicts have heightened interest in the role of religious ideology in creating or exacerbating intertribal and international animosity.
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Benson, P.L., King, P.E. (2006). Adolescence. In: Ebaugh, H.R. (eds) Handbook of Religion and Social Institutions. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23789-5_6
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