Youth on Religion : The Development, Negotiation and Impact of Faith and Non-Faith Identity

Globalisation has led to increasing cultural and religious diversity in cities around the world. What are the implications for young people growing up in these settings? How do they develop their religious identities, and what roles do families, friends and peers, teachers, religious leaders and wider cultural influences play in the process? Furthermore, how do members of similar and different cultural and faith backgrounds get on together, and what can young people tell us about reducing conflict and promoting social solidarity amid diversity?

Youth On Religion outlines the findings from a unique large-scale project investigating the meaning of religion to young people in three multi-faith locations. Drawing on survey data from over 10,000 young people with a range of faith positions, as well as a series of fascinating interviews, discussion groups and diary reports involving 160 adolescents, this book examines myriad aspects of their daily lives. It provides the most comprehensive account yet of the role of religion for young people growing up in contemporary, multicultural urban contexts.

Youth On Religion is a rigorous and engaging account of developing religiosity in a changing society. It presents young people’s own perspectives on their attitudes and experiences and how they negotiate their identities. The book will be an instructive and valuable resource for psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, educationalists and anthropologists, as well as youth workers, social workers and anyone working with young people today. It will also provide essential understanding for policy makers tackling issues of multiculturalism in advanced societies.

Nicola Madge is Professor of Child Psychology in the Centre for Child and Youth Research at Brunel University, London. She is the author of a wide range of publications on children and young people’s issues that include religion, ethnicity, disability, disadvantage and self-harm. She is the Principal Investigator for the Youth On Religion study on which this book is based.

Peter J. Hemming is a lecturer at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences, where he teaches sociology of education and childhood studies. Peter’s research interests include children and young people, schools, power and identity, faith-based education, citizenship studies and sociology of religion. He is also a former primary school teacher.

Kevin Stenson is Honorary Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent and Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and London Metropolitan University. His research interests include crime, policing, community safety, ethnicity, culture and religion.