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	Print Page January 2008 Themes Emerge from International Youth Focus Groups Young people are quite open to the conversation about spirituality, even though they (like adults) differ about its definition. That is one key theme that emerged from grounded theory analysis of 27 focus groups conducted with 171 young people ages 12 to 19, in 13 countries. The youth focus groups were conducted as part of a larger set of focus groups involving youth, parents, and youth workers. Analysis of the youth data was the first step, with analyses of parent and youth worker focus groups slated for the first half of 2008. The focus groups ranged in size from three participants to nine, and were conducted in English or transcribed to English locally for analysis by the Center’s research team. The countries represented are Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Syria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The young people represent diverse religious and nonreligious backgrounds: Christian (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal), Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, agnostic, and atheist. They vary in levels of observance and in their familiarity with the term “spirituality.” Though few of the focus group participants had reflected on their experiences of spirituality or being spiritual beyond the doctrinal, programmatic, or linguistic frameworks provided by their religious traditions, most welcomed the opportunity to explore the subject with intention and purpose, and without any fear of being judged as wrong. Despite uncertainty about the subject of spirituality most of the participants were actively engaged in the conversations and eager to learn more. As one young woman in India put it, “I wasn’t interested in this topic before [the focus group], but now I actually am.” Another participant said: “This was the first time I talked. And I realized it’s better talking than reading.” This interest is evident, even though there was little agreement about the definition of “spirituality” and its relationship to “religion” or “religiosity” across or through the focus groups. This lack of definitional clarity contributed to confusion within the groups and seemed to limit individual confidence addressing the subject. Some young people suggested that the perceived conflation of spirituality and religion made the whole subject more complicated and intimidating, and therefore easier to dismiss all together. Other themes that emerged through the grounded theory analysis include the following: The youth participants demonstrated an authentic capacity for awareness of spirituality and engagement with their own spiritual development, even though the language they used to describe such capacity and the experiences they offered to illustrate it varied across cultural contexts. As participants described their lives and the extent of their awakeness to the domain of spirituality, it became clear that there is a distinction between the natural capacity for spirituality and being actively spiritual. The latter requires an individual to choose to activate agency. Unlike the outward practices of religious involvement that can be expected or required, becoming spiritually aware, awake, and/or engaged requires self-agency. Awakening can be encouraged by others, but it cannot be forced. Spirituality is experienced and known as protection, force, process of becoming, destination, and being connected. Throughout the focus groups, young people described their experiences of spirituality in active terms, often using metaphors and comparisons to get closer to their lived experience. For many participants spirituality is the way a person looks at life, makes right choices, and/or lives into an authentic sense of vocation. Spirituality was often credited with inspiring people to be generous, kind, positive, peaceful, hopeful, and noble. An individual’s spiritual development can be enhanced or constrained by forces and conditions in his/her everyday life. While growth is a common metaphor for increased spiritual awareness and understanding, the growth process described by focus group participants is not consistently linear, age-correlated, or necessarily easy. These and other findings are being shared and refined with the collaborators who conducted the focus groups while also being prepared for journal and other publications. Because we also have video interviews with some focus group participants, we intend to create video clips on the Web site and in presentations that illustrate the emerging themes. Together, the categories and themes found in and across the youth, parent, and youth worker focus groups will contribute substantial, international empirical data to our efforts to clarify definitions and dimensions of spiritual development; strengthen the theoretical foundations for the field; and improve practice in religious and secular youth work settings. May 2007 Center for Spiritual Development Conducts Focus Groups in 13 Countries on Six Continents In the last three months of 2006, more than 400 youth, parents, and youth workers in 13 countries on six continents have participated in more than 70 focus groups that examine their understanding and experiences of spiritual development in the first data collection effort by Search Institute’s Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence. The focus groups seek to explore people’s implicit understandings of spiritual development across multiple continents, cultures, and religious traditions (including people who are not part of religious traditions). Research partners in each country used a comprehensive focus-group guide developed by the center to conduct the groups, each of which lasted from 90 minutes to two hours. The 13 countries are Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Syria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Though most focus groups have been conducted in English, some were conducted in other languages with the transcripts translated to English for analysis. In a number of countries, the scholars also conducted videotaped interviews with a few of the participants to provide additional material for communication via the Web, workshops, and other contexts. The qualitative data will be coded, analyzed, and interpreted in 2007 and will inform efforts to advance the theory and definition of spiritual development, new measures of spiritual development, presentations, practical publications, and other communication about spiritual development.

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