Safety and Closeness in Religious Socialization: A Mixed Methods Study of Finnish Families

Abstract

In this study, we analyze how do safety and closeness, or the lack of them, affect religious socialization in Finnish families. Our empirical data consist of family interviews and a large survey data. As a result, three key dimensions were found: 1) the atmosphere in families, 2) the atmosphere related to religious communities, and 3) the atmosphere related to one’s own spirituality. Our study suggests several implications both for practice in religious and other communities of existential meaning and for the study of those communities and empirical theologies. The study is part of the international research project “The transmission of religion across generations: a comparative international study of continuities and discontinuities in family socialization”, funded by Templeton Foundation.