<p> This study explored one aspect of religious life, prayer, at a dynamic time in human development, adolescence. This phenomenology examined the experience of adolescent prayer among those who subscribed to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Eighteen high school seniors from two Minnesota high schools, six from each religious group, completed a 7-day journal identifying and explaining their prayer experiences. After, each adolescent participated in a conversational interview with the researcher further exploring their individual prayer experiences. Journal and interview data were analyzed according transcendental phenomenology methods to create a synthesis of the adolescent prayer experience. Five themes of adolescent prayer were identified in the differing categories of human experience: (a) fitting prayer into adolescent life, (b) prayer's connection with the divine, (c) building identity through prayer, (d) emotional transitions from prayer, and (e) prayer as a coping method. In the end, a cyclical model of the adolescent prayer experience was created describing how prayer leads to the solidification of identity, emotional change, and a readiness to cope during everyday life.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3711542 |
| Date | 28 August 2015 |
| Creators | Ehrmantraut, Adam |
| Publisher | Saint Mary's University of Minnesota |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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