Research suggests that disaffiliation from a religious organization brings a myriad of positive and negative consequences to those who choose to disaffiliate. This is the first study to examine the specific impact of disaffiliation on how women who have disaffiliated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conceptualize womanhood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 women who voluntarily chose to disaffiliate from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenology, informed by hybrid identity theory. Findings suggest that women who disaffiliate from the church undergo an intense and painful identity reconstruction where they create a hybrid identity that includes their Mormon identity and other identities they have chosen to embody. Findings outline the limitations participants felt as women in the church, the pain and mourning experienced throughout the disaffiliation process, and the empowerment and expansion of their self-concept of womanhood felt post-disaffiliation. Limitations of this study, future research, and clinical implications are discussed. / Master of Science / People are choosing to disaffiliate from religious organizations in highly increasing numbers. Individual experiences of disaffiliation vary and often bring a combination of both positive and negative consequences. This study examines the experiences of women who were raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how their choice to step away from the church impacted their self-concept of womanhood. The results of this study confirm that the disaffiliation process prompts an intense and painful identity crisis in which participants had to reconstruct how they viewed all parts of their identities. Findings outline how women felt limited by church teachings, the intense pain and mourning they experienced as they left the church, and how their ideas of womanhood expanded and felt more empowered post-disaffiliation. It is important for therapists to create space in-session for women, at any point in the disaffiliation process, to process feelings of grief and resentment, explore their identities, and reclaim themselves in an empowering and strengths-based environment.

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Religious disaffiliation among Millennials has increased significantly in the past decade alongside rapidly changing social relationships amplified by social media applications. In the United States, many Millennials claim no religious identity with many leaving their religion for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of religiously disaffiliated Millennials regarding their psychological health and well-being. Self-determination theory fulfilled the theoretical framework for examining the lived experiences of young adults regarding their well-being after religious disaffiliation. A purposive sample of 12 male and female religiously disaffiliated Millennials was recruited for semistructured interviews. Content analysis was used to code interviews, identify themes, and explore the lived experiences of disaffiliated young adults. Six themes emerged from the data analysis that included religious disaffiliates inherited their childhood religion; contradictory experiences highlighted a need to disaffiliate; after disaffiliation, individuals stopped attending the church with no other actions; after disaffiliation, participants appeared to be able to connect with their authentic self; participants had negative connotations of religion after disaffiliating; and families accepted disaffiliation after it occurred. The implications for social change include providing better understanding of the psychological health and well-being of Millennials who have disaffiliated, as well as demonstrating a need for future research that focuses on future generational cohorts and how religious organizations and churches are accounting for disaffiliation within their congregations.

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1 Anotace / Annotation Jméno a p íjmení autora: Zden k Man Název diplomové práce: Actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica - institut církevního práva v kontextu konfesního práva a pastorace Název práce v angli tin : Actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica - Canon Law Institute in context of State Ecclesiastical Law and Pastoral Ministry Katedra: pastorálních obor a právních v d Vedoucí diplom. práce: prof. JUDr. Antonín Ignác Hrdina, DrSc., O.Praem. Rok obhajoby: 2011 Po et stran: 170 Anotace Diplomová práce se zabývá institutem tzv. formálního úkonu odpadnutí od katolické církve (actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica), který byl jako zvláštní kanonický institut vložen do Kodexu kanonického práva (CIC) 1983 (kánony 1086 §1, 1117, 1124). Institut je zkoumán v kontextu existence konfesn -právního institutu "vystoupení z církve" ve sledovaných zemích (SRN, Rakousko, Švýcarsko) a také v kontextu souvisejících pastora ních otázek. Problém odpovídající kanonicko-právní reakce na "vystoupení z církve" však institut actus formalis defectionis ab Ecclesia catholica vy ešit nepomohl, proto práce hodnotí jako pochopitelné, že byl církevním zákonodárcem s právní ú inností v roce 2010 zrušen. Annotation This thesis considers the institution of the formal act of defection from the Catholic...