The Child's Attitude Towards Religion: A Review of Research

Abstract

Rosen (1965) argues that the study of the child's attitude towards religion is ‘possibly one of the least researched areas in contemporary American life’. The more recent studies by Bealer and Willetts (1967), Friend (1971) and Hepburn (1971), as well as the comprehensive review assembled by Strommen (1971), confirm that this remains the case. In England some interesting research findings have been produced in this area, but these findings have tended to remain scattered. The present paper proposes to organize the scattered research into two sections. The first section is concerned with the place that religious education holds in the child's estimation in comparison with other school subjects. The second section is concerned with the wider issue of the factors associated with the child's attitude towards religion.