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'Heaven starts at your parents' feet' : adolescent bowing to parents and associated spiritual attitudes

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Thanissaro, Phra Nicholas. (2010) 'Heaven starts at your parents' feet' : adolescent bowing to parents and associated spiritual attitudes. International Journal of Children's Spirituality, Vol.15 (No.4). pp. 295-305. ISSN 1364-436X

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Abstract

In a quantitative survey of religious attitudes and practices in a multi-religious sample of 369 school pupils aged between 13 and 15 in London, the practice of bowing to parents was found widespread in 22% of adolescents spanning several religious affiliations and ethnicities – especially Buddhists, Hindus and those of Indian, African and ‘Other Asian’ ethnicity. Whether an adolescent bowed correlated significantly with spiritual attitudes such as wanting to abstain from alcohol, hearing religious stories, being inspired by religious festivals and liking the idea of seeing God in everything. Findings suggest bowing to parents can have religious significance on all three levels of Jackson’s Interpretive Approach and therefore cannot be regarded as a ‘cultural accretion’ of religion. Study of bowing to parents could form a unifying exercise in shared values for study of religion in the plural classroom and facilitate community cohesion in certain religious membership groups.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Institute of Education
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Parent and teenager -- Great Britain -- London, Youth -- Religious life, Social values, Respect -- Religious aspects, London (Great Britain) -- Religious life and customs
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Children's Spirituality
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1364-436X
Date:	2010
Volume:	Vol.15
Number:	No.4
Page Range:	pp. 295-305
Identification Number:	10.1080/1364436X.2010.525625
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3691