Spirituality in adolescence and young adulthood: A method for a qualitative study

This paper discusses an ongoing research project on contemporary forms of youth and young adult spirituality, highlighting issues in the history and definition of spirituality and in development of appropriate qualitative methods of investigation. Previous research on the topic has been bedevilled by difficulties of definition. 'Spirit' and 'spirituality' have a long history in both philosophy and religion and surviving senses of the terms include both religious and non-religious meanings. This paper suggests that 'lexical' definitions based on usage prove unwieldy because of widely varying and conflicting contents. Only a 'stipulative' definition will serve to provide a research project with a clear focus; our definition of spirituality as 'a conscious way of life based on a transcendent referent' is explained and defended. Next, we outline the distinctive features of our methodology: no direct mention of the term spirituality, an emphasis on personal narration and the use of evocative techniques. We conclude by outlining the 10 dimensions of spirituality which we have developed from our initial investigations.     

Doing Without Representation: Coping with Dreyfus

Abstract

Hubert Dreyfus argues that the traditional and currently dominant conception of an action, as an event initiated or governed by a mental representation of a possible state of affairs that the agent is trying to realise, is inadequate. If Dreyfus is right, then we need a new conception of action. I argue, however, that the considerations that Dreyfus adduces show only that an action need not be initiated or governed by a conceptual representation, but since a representation need not be conceptually structured, do not show that we need a conception of action that does not involve representation.     

Social Status and Relational System of Elderly Suicides: A Reexamination of the Henry-Short Thesis*

ABSTRACT: The relationship between status and suicide has not been clearly established. Henry and Short suggested a direct relationship, but subsequent research has proposed an inverse association. The present study of elderly males uses information obtained from two sources: (a) a random sample of the aged population studied in Pinellas County, Florida, in 1959; and (b) persons aged 65 and over who committed suicide in that county between 1955 and 1963. The major findings are: (a) the highest suicide rate is found at the lowest class level, suggesting an inverse relationship; (b) class differential in suicide is explained by a direct relationship between class and the relational system; and (c) controlling on the relational system results in a direct association between class and suicide. Thus, both status and the relational system operate independently and jointly to affect suicide rates of these elderly males. Findings suggest that both Henry and Short and later investigators are partially correct. The relationship between status and suicide may be clarified by taking into account other factors which are class related but which perhaps are more significant than measures of class alone.     

On deriving aspectual sense

In his recent article “Verbs, Time and Modality,” M. J. Steedman (1977) proposes a recursive scheme for identifying the aspectual character of a proposition. The purpose of this squib is to point out some faults and gaps in that account that may suggest some interesting directions for future research.