Religious Conversion: Regression and Progression in an Adolescent Experience

Abstract

The sudden and dramatic religious conversion experience of a male divinity student is presented and explored in terms of its role in adolescent development. Particular emphasis is placed on his perception of family relationships, and especially on how the conversion experience serves to alter a perception of the actual father as weak, ineffective, or absent by supplying instead an internal representation of a strong and principled substitute paternal figure with clear values and firm judgments. This representation of a positive and powerful paternal figure is seen as crucial in aiding the adolescent process of individuation and differentiation by countering strong longings to retain or reestablish a sense of undifferentiated union with the maternal figure.