Theory Critique of Dr. James W. Fowler

1. Theory Critique of Dr. James W. Fowler Marian A. Ford EDHE 6520 Dr. Baier – Spring 2009

2. Biography of Fowler 1940- • Developmental psychologist • Director of the Center for Faith Development and Center for Ethics at Emory University • Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University • United Methodist minister • Published author • Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development • Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian • Faith Development and Pastoral care • Faithful Change • To See the Kingdom

3. Why Did He Develop His Theory? • Believes faith more than religion or belief is most fundamental category of human quest for relation to transcendence. • Believes that faith is the primary motivation for individual’s life • Believes faith is a holistic orientation and is concerned with individual’s ability to relate to what is universal • Goal was to chart faith development throughout individual lifespan in order to characterize common faith stages and transitions that separate them

4. Stages of Faith • Faith is the universal human activity of making meaning and giving shape to how humans infer and relate to themselves and the world around them. • Modeled after Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg’s theories • Developmental path of person's way of making sense of and relating to “ultimate” environment • Used to influence pastoral care, development psychology and religious education

5. Theory Used to Evaluate How Students Change in College • Cognitive-structural model • Describes spiritual development and cognitive process • Concerned with process where student comes to subscribe to particular beliefs held by them • Relational nature of beliefs and meaning involves students’ interactions with others and commitment to higher being as origin which gives students meaning and purpose • Implications of faith stages can be related to perceptions of members of out groups and attitudes towards those similar and dissimilar from them

6. Seven Stages of Faith • Pre-stage or primal stage • Stage One: Intuitive or Projected Faith • Stage Two: Mythic or Literal Faith • Stage Three: Synthetic or Conventional Faith • Stage Four : Individuate or Reflective Faith • Stage Five: Conjunctive Faith • Stage Six: Universalizing

7. Pre-stage • Occurs during preverbal year • Mutual Interaction between infant and primary caregiver • Provides foundation of faith

8. Intuitive (Stage 1)vs. Mythic (Stage 2) Projective Faith (1) Literal Faith (2) • Usually children aged 3-7 • Fantasy filled imitative phase • Children can be influenced by examples, moods and actions and stories of related adults. • First awareness of death and sex, ability to grasp experiences • Transition occurs when there is concrete operational thinking and resolution and distinction between reality and non-reality. • Usually school-aged children • Person tells stories, has beliefs and makes observations. • Moral rules, attitudes and literal interpretations • Impacted by symbolic and dramatic materials • Transition occurs when implicit clash between stories which makes child reflect.

9. Synthetic (Stage 3) vs. Individuate (Stage 4) Conventional Faith (3) Reflective Faith (4) • Usually arises in adolescence but could remain permanent stage in adults • Experience of world extends beyond family, school, work and media; ego is dominant • Transition occurs when contradiction between valued authority exists, encounters experience to lead to reflection of values ( i.e.. Leaving home) • Usually occurs in adolescence or early adult • Burden of responsibility for own lifestyle, attitudes and beliefs • Shift from dependence on others’ spiritual beliefs to development of own • Restless with outlook and self-image; existential anxiety sets • Transition occurs when critical reflection on identity and hears inner voices

10. Conjunctive (Stage 5) vs. Universalizing (Stage 6) Conjunctive (5) Universalizing (6) • Usually occurs in mid-life, if at all • Integration into self and outlook of what was suppressed and unrecognized in previous stage • Strives to unify opposites in mind and experience • Rise of ironic imagination and appreciates other’s rituals because own view is so deep • Usually occurs in older adults if at all • Very rare • Search for universal values, unconditional love and justice • Often referred to as enlightenment • Examples include Gandhi and Mother Theresa

11. Faith Development Interview (FDI) • Semi- clinical interview developed by Fowler’s research • Focuses on significant life experiences and meanings to person • Optional autobiographical questionnaire (Life Tapestry Exercise) can be filled out prior to interview (established 1986) • Sensitivity used by interviewer; lasts 2-3 hours

12. FDI Measurement Areas Four broad areas • General life review • Review of life-shaping experiences and relationships • Description of present values and commitments • Specific questions about religion ( i.e.. Relationship of religion to morality) • Certain questions may be in order and form, but structure of interview and flow based on how previous questions are being answered

13. FDI Scoring Measurements • Scoring made by comparing answers to formal stage descriptions; specific stage level guidelines for seven stages • Benchmarks used and Manual for Faith Development Research • Add scores for each response under each location and divide by number of response • Arithmetic average, combined and averaged to yield overall score • .39 or less round down, .70 or higher round up, between represents subject in stage transition

14. Limitations of FDI • Great amount of time needed to administer interview • Dependent on clinical sensitivity and training with administrators and scorers of test • Uncovers cognitive dimensions of faith rather than affective or relational • Heavy focus on scoring guide on structural elements of faith in stage determination • Computing arithmetic average flattens out score • Hard to determine if personality of person plays a role in evaluating faith development measures and theory

15. Strengths of FDI • Best validated instrument designed to measure stages • Encompasses all structural elements Flower proposes • Includes cognitive and relational affective dimensions of faith • Could prove that some college students reach stage five prior to middle age

16. Theory Has Been Used to Show Affects of College Students • Individuals’ perceptions of group membership and individuality • Primary orientation to social activity and peer-group • Can use to predict how people in stages view others who are similar and dissimilar • Can be important to understand; measure impact upon aspect of one’s behavior • Stages help evaluate how students might relate to others most like them

17. Positive Aspects of Theory • Helps evaluate members of in-groups and out groups • Those in same stages could react differently in some ways from others in later faith stages • One’s faith stage can have important impact upon aspects of student’s behavior

18. Limitations of Theory • How does one measure the stages of faith as opposed to different types of faith? • How does one determine if students are just attracted to sentiments in particular stage when not actually living by the ideals?

19. Questions for future studies • What is the student’s primary orientation to future family role? • What is the student’s primary orientation to future professional role? • How can students seeking their identity help manage their personal problems, ideology and values?

20. Other Measurements Used Faith Styles Scale • Questionnaire for only adults • Non open-ended questions • Not given by trained administrators Faith Development Scale • Questionnaire with forced choices • Paired item scale usually used with only adults

21. References • Conn, Joann (1986).Stages of Faith. Women's Spirituality: Resources for Christian Development. 226-232. • Fowler, James W. (1981). Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. New York, New York: Harper & Row. • Green, Charles (1989).Stages of Faith and Perceptions of Similar and Dissimilar Others. Review of Religious Research. 30(3), 246-254. • Parker, Stephen (2006).Measuring Faith Development. Journal of Psychology and Theology. 34(4), 337-348.

22. References cont. • Streib, Heinz (2005).Faith Development Research Revisited: Accounting for Diversity in Structure, Content, and Narrativity of Faith. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 15(2), 99-121. • Streib, Heinz (2004).Extending Our Vision of Developmental Growth and Engaging in Empirical Scrutiny: Proposals for the Future of Faith Developmental Theory. The Religions Education Association. 99(4), 427-434.