Youth On Religion (YOR)
This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council Large Grants (Religion & Society) Scheme. It is a two-year project entitled ‘Negotiating Identity: young people’s perspectives on faith values, community norm and social cohesion’. The project is led by Brunel University, with partners at Middlesex University and Leeds Metropolitan University. The research is being carried out in the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Newham, as well as the Bradford/Keighley area in West Yorkshire.Research sites
Background
Religion is an important influence on social and community relations. Nonetheless, little is known about where young people position themselves in terms of their religious identity and adherence, or about their broader perspectives on religion and its positive and negative aspects. This study seeks to provide insight into these questions through large-scale quantitative, and more detailed qualitative, research data, and through multidisciplinary investigation that embraces psychology, sociology, criminology, history, geography and anthropology.
Research questions
The focus of the research is young people’s religious identity, its development and impact. The specific research questions are:
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What are young people’s perceptions of their own religious identity, and is religion important to them? How do they represent their religion, and how do perceptions and representations affect attitudes, behaviour, aspirations, and patterns of local association towards those with and without similar affiliations?
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How is the development of their religious identity linked with >individual (eg. age, gender, class), >social (eg. kinship networks, religious and ethnic institutions and groups, schools, out-of-school peer networks, the media) and >spatial (eg. where they live, go to school and visit, global events that may link them to their countries of origin) variations?
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What do young people see as the positive aspects of religion for their young lives? Do tensions exist between the faith values of young people’s upbringing, and the social norms and behaviour they encounter within their wider social networks? Can religion promote extremism and give rise to social unrest?
- How do young people think social cohesion can be encouraged and promoted within diverse religious groups?
Contact
Email Youth on Religion team: YORproject@brunel.ac.uk
Phone Christy Barry Research Administrator: +44 (0)1895 268783
(Monday Wednesday Friday 10am-4.45pm)
