Introduction to the British Journal of Developmental Psychology special issue on religion, culture and development

Sage Journals Journal of Psychology and Theology Volume 53, Issue 1, March 2025, pp. 85-107   On Being and Becoming Human Through Accompaniment and Telos: Ontological Convergences Between Christian Anthropology and the Science of Human Development   Abstract We discuss several points of convergence in ontological concepts within Christian anthropology and the contemporary dynamic, relational, developmental systems (RDS)-based approach within developmental science. Both approaches uphold the significance of relationality, particularly of mutually beneficial (nurturing) relationships between every individual and others, as both the means and the ends of human development and thriving. Both magisteriums build similarly on the fundamental significance…

“We are Protected”: Examining youth perceptions of safety within a faith-based positive a faith-based positive youth development program in El Salvador / Journal of Youth Development

Abstract An extensive body of research points toward spirituality and religiousness as resources for promoting human thriving. People with strong connections to the transcendent and religious meaning in life often view morals and values as central to their self-concepts. Although moral identity theory and contemporary views of virtue development emphasize the importance of narrative identity for habituated moral action, the two are often discussed in isolation of each other. In this chapter, the authors highlight how their commonality is particularly evident when examining the potential of religion to provide a transcendent self-narrative that leads to virtue formation and moral action…