Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Adolescent Research
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
0743558409343463v1
24/6/691    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dollahite, D. C.
Right arrow Articles by Thatcher, J. Y.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Giving Up Something Good for Something Better

Sacred Sacrifices Made by Religious Youth

David C. Dollahite

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, david_dollahite{at}byu.edu

Emily Layton

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Howard M. Bahr

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Anthony B. Walker

University of Texas at Austin

Jennifer Y. Thatcher

Salt Lake City, Utah

The concept of sacrifice was formerly a key variable in theorizing about religion and society. Secularization theory and conceptual models equating sacrifice with cost have reduced its usage and apparent relevance, although it continues to be of interest in anthropology and religious studies. Research on sacrifice has been neglected in the social sciences, especially in studies of religiosity and families. Seventy-seven religious adolescents in 55 religious Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Mormon families in New England and northern California were interviewed about whether they felt they had been asked to make sacrifices for their faith as they were growing up. This article discusses how contemporary religious youth view the sacrifices they make for religious reasons. Adolescents reported sacrifices in five domains: societal expectations, popular culture, comforts and pleasures, time and activities, and peer relations. Youth gave the following reasons for being willing to make sacrifices: connecting to a higher meaning or purpose, connecting to God, connecting to the faith tradition or community, fulfilling expectations, feeling affective benefits, and avoiding problems.

Key Words: religiosity • spirituality • adolescence • youth • families • sacrifice

This version was published on November 1, 2009

Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 24, No. 6, 691-725 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0743558409343463
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?