Keeping (or Losing) the Faith: Reflections on Spiritual Struggles and Their Resolution by College Seniors.

Abstract

In this qualitative study, researchers examined how college seniors experienced and resolved spiritual struggles in college. Results indicated that academic activities provided opportunities to question, learn, and grow spiritually. Although a variety of external factors influenced students' explorations of their spirituality, participants looked inward to resolve their struggles in deeply personal ways. Spiritual struggle was often manifested as a reexamination of students' pre-college values, an ongoing process for many students. Researchers identified four ways of describing students' state of resolution: (1) recommitting to an existing faith, (2) slightly readjusting their spiritual or religious values, (3) blending spiritual traditions, or (4) losing their faith. The religious and spiritual life of college students has been a concern of higher education in the United States since its very foundation (Thelin, 2004), but the amount and scope of available research on students' spiritual development does not suggest a centuries-old interest. Although recent literature reflects heightened interest in the spiritual dimensions of students' lives, research remains limited and disjointed, especially in comparison to the body of literature that exists on other aspects of identity development (Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito, 1998; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The present phenomenological study builds on the existing literature on spiritual development and seeks to add depth to the conversation by qualitatively exploring how college students experience their own spiritual development. The research team specifically wanted to understand how a group of college students perceived and experienced spiritual struggles. Researchers also sought to understand the degree to which these students resolved their spiritual struggles during their college years. Researchers chose to focus on seniors in order to capture a reflective view of students' entire college experience. Review of the Literature Spirituality and Identity Development The results of several studies by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) make it clear that spirituality and spiritual development are issues that educators need to be prepared to address with college students (Bryant, 2006; Bryant & Astin, 2008; Bryant, Choi, & Yasuno, 2003; HERI, 2005). Among 112,000 students surveyed by HERI (2005), 80% reported having an interest in spirituality; approximately three fourths agreed they are searching for meaning/purpose in life; and three fourths also reported having discussions about the meaning of life with friends. Almost half claimed to seek out opportunities for spiritual growth. In the 2000-2001 academic year, the percentage of first-year students who said it was essential or very important to integrate spirituality into their lives jumped from 46% in the fall to 56% in the spring (Bryant et al.). Much of the existing literature regarding spiritual development is theoretical in nature. Fowler's (1981) text on the stages of faith development and the structuring of meaning serves as a foundation for much of today's scholarship on spiritual development among young adults. Subsequent research has explored the relationships between student development theory and spiritual development (Jablonski, 2001; Love, 2001; Love, 2002; Love & Guthrie, 1999; Parks, 2000). Parks identified three essential aspects of faith development: forms of knowing, forms of dependence, and forms of community. Forms of knowing involve cognitive aspects, through which the college student recognizes the need to shape the future and to construct faith and meaning in a contextual world. Forms of dependence involve feelings; during college, students generally discover an emerging sense of innerdependence and self-authority. Forms of community involve social aspects of faith development, including interpersonal, social, and cultural facets. …