The portrayal of religious development in young adult literature: An analysis of contemporary works (Fritz Oser, Paul Gmunder)

Qualitative content analysis was used with fifteen acclaimed contemporary young adult novels to describe the portrayal of religious development as experienced by protagonists. The stage-development theory of religious judgment as proposed by Fritz Oser and Paul Gmünder was applied to the protagonists and guided the analysis. Two full stages and two adjacent stage transitions from the developmental theory were the focus of the investigation. Key descriptors from each stage were identified in the novels, similarities among the novels were analyzed, and the efficacy of the theory to describe the novels was evaluated.; Key descriptors were evident in the four stages analyzed. Protagonists in Stage 2 often spent time in expectant interaction with the “Ultimate,” the term used by Oser and Gmünder for highest spiritual being. Protagonists also were conscious of molding their actions so that their good behavior would bring about benefits from the Ultimate and poor behavior would bring about the Ultimate's wrath. Protagonists in Stage Transition 2–3 were found to be exerting their own responsibility for events in their lives and often questioned whether the Ultimate acted in a consistent manner. Protagonists in Stage 3 attempted to define the separation of their domain from that of the Ultimate's. Protagonists in Stage 4 portrayed a mediated relationship with the Ultimate, in which they identified a balance in their influence on events against that of the Ultimate.; Similarities were also identified in the sixteen protagonists studied. The average age of protagonists, 16.7 years, was consistent with the theory's projections. Protagonists began the action of their novels in a stage of religious judgment that provided for realistic progression. The progression of change was non-linear, consistent with developmental theory. A correlation was found between the age of the protagonists and their Religious Maturity Score. The catalysts for initiating the protagonists' disequilibrium in the religious judgment had similarities that matched the suppositions of the theory as well.; The study found that the portrayal of the protagonists matched the developmental theory of religious judgment in its essential characteristics. The descriptors that identify the thoughts and actions of individuals were congruent with those of the protagonists.