How White Christian Women Make Connections between Faith, Politics, and Service.

[摘要] This qualitative dissertation was designed to examine how undergraduate women students connect their Christian faith to political and social issues, in their beliefs and their actions.Further sub-questions of this inquiry examined the influence of women’s gender and race on how they made these various connections.A conceptual framework was developed from previous women’s spiritual, moral, political, gender and racial development research and theory.Many of the twenty-four women interviewed began by discussing how the context of the large secular university affected their expression of faith, either because they felt discriminated against or because they were exposed to great diversity.They then discussed how both church and campus organizations were influential in their faith development by connecting them into a community of other Christians through small groups and other fellowship opportunities.In addition, having Christian friends to hold them accountable to their Christian values also came through as influential for the women’s spiritual development.The results of this inquiry suggest that White Christian women make connections between their faith and their social and political beliefs and actions through relationships, the topic of same-sex attraction, classes, questioning and prioritizing their Christian beliefs and taking part in service opportunities.Few of the women interviewed expressed the influence of either their racial or gender identities on how they made connections.The few women who expressed that gender had an influence stated that it mainly affected their beliefs regarding abortion and used the process of identification to help them connect their social and religious beliefs about abortion.Many also felt the topic of abortion brought their gender identity and religious identity into conflict.The influence of race was expressed more often than that of gender and connected most directly with their political and social beliefs and actions.Those that believed their race had an effect were often struggling with their White identity and expressed that being at a large, diverse university had a positive effect on their growth by helping them realize and examine their White privilege.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Education

[关键词] College Student Faith Development;Education;Social Sciences;Education