Research Center for Biographical Studies in Contemporary Religion
		Moral Self-Empowerment

Homepage Introduction Research Projects Study of Deconversion Children's Drawings I Children's Drawings II Inter-religious Learning Adolescent Melancholia Turkish Immigrants Korean Immigrants Fundamentalism Right-Wing Extremism Fascination with Occult Moral Identity Internat. Partners The Bielefeld Team

Dissertation project of Martha Csöff Strategies in Narrative Construction of Moral Identity. Analysing Open-Narrative and Semi-Structured Biographical Interviews in the Context of Socio-Demographic and Psycho-Structural Context Data Advisor: Prof. Heinz Streib, Ph.D. / Emory Univ. Biographical interviews on faith processes are used to evaluate narrative identity construction covering strategies of life management. For the narrative analysis, psycho-structural as well as socio-demographic data, are used as context; in particular religious affiliation. Research material is provided by the interdisciplinary Bielefeld-based Study on Deconversion. Here qualitative interviews as well as quantitative data from Germany and USA are applied: Open, narrative interviews (according to Schütze), focussing the process of religious deconversion from a range of traditions and groups, mainstream as well as smaller, marginalised groups including NRMs. Guided interviews according to Fowler (Faith Development Interviews) were administered to deconverts and members of their former affiliation. A stock of quantitative data covering psycho-structural dispositions of the respondents, as the Psychological Well-Being scale by Ryff and Religious Fundamentalism by Altemeyer & Hunsberger. Basic questions will be: How are strategies of moral ‘Self-Empowerment’ linked to a specific context, as provided by particular religious traditions, groups, and milieus? How are those strategies linked to specific personal structures, as psycho-structural self-assessments and dispositions?

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