The Evaluation of the Models of Communication with Parent-Child Religious Beliefs

This study examines the psychological models of communication in the parent-child religious beliefs. The basic question in this study is what models have been made in explaining and describing the communication with the parent-child religious beliefs in religious psychological studies and what the strengths and weaknesses of these models are. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical method. The findings of the study show the Fowler’s four models: correspondence, independence, sharing, and contract. The correspondence model shows the similarity of the child’s belief and the social context. Independence model focuses on the role of child in his religious beliefs, and the sharing model searches for causality not only in child’s belief or the social context but also on the quality of the verbal exchange between the child and social context. The contract model suggests a triangular communication to show how children's beliefs are formed. In evaluating the models, the Fowler’s contract model seems to be more explanatory than his other models.