índice da tese (proposto)

Part 1: Theoretical approach

1. Status quaestionis
1.1 Research done in Portugal
1.2 Conceptual representations of God
1.3 Factors related to or predictive of God representations
1.4 Development of God representations
1.5 Dechristianization theories
1.6 Individualization theories

2. Social representations theory
2.1 Anthropological and epistemological options of social representations theory
2.2 Sociocognitive processes and formation of social representations
2.3 Internal structure of social representations
2.4 Methodologies

3. Theological dimensions
3.1 Faith in God: biblical perspective
3.2 Relation and nexus between fides qua and fides quae
3.3 Trinitarian and ecclesiological structure of faith act
3.4 Faith in God and orthopraxis

Part 2: Believing in God: empirical perspective

4. Research design
4.1 Design issues and options
4.2 Description of instruments
4.3 The option for multilevel triangulation

5. Results of empirical research and empirical-theological data analysis
5.1 Description of the research population
5.2 Identification of the different social representations
5.3 Internal structure of the social representations
5.4 Anchorage processes
5.5 Objectivation processes
5.6 Correlations between biographic variables and social representations
5.7 Explanation of the social representations
5.8 Explanation of cognitive polyphasia
5.9 Explanation of mute zone of social representation

Part 3: Believing in God: Theological perspective

6. Discussion of the research findings
6.1 Theological interpretation
6.2 Theological reflection

7. Pastoral and research challenges
7.1 Pastoral challenges posed by the research results
7.2 Open questions in need of further research

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Esquema versão 2 (6)

6. Method and articulation of the thesis
This research will have three main moments. On the first part (Theoretical approach) I will critically review the precedent research, will present the social representation theory and its merits to this research project and the theological criteria that will configure the research problem. The second part (Believing in God. Empirical perspective) will report the empirical procedures. The third part (Believing in God. Theological perspective) will read, interpret and evaluate the empirical data found on second part. It will also identify pastoral challenges and new research questions brought up by this research.
6.1 Part 1: Theoretical approach
6.1.1 Chapter 1: Status Quaestionis
This research will start with a systematic analysis and evaluation on the researches done so far in regard with the topic “God and adolescents”. I will search to present and evaluate the relevant literature focused on the conceptual representation of God, the factors related to or predictive of these representations, the development of God representations. This analysis won’t limit itself to report and compare the previous researches but also to discuss them epistemological and theoretically.
6.1.2 Chapter 2: The Social Representations Theory
In this chapter i will present the social representations theory, its rationale, epistemologic legitimation and methodologies. I will also highlight its merits and heuristic relevance in today’s socio-cultural complexity.
6.1.3 Chapter 3: Theological dimensions
In this chapter i will also try an overview of the most relevant theological literature pertinent to this theme.
6.2 Part 2: Believing in God. Empirical perspective
6.2.1 Chapter 4: Research design
This chapter describes the research design.
The suggestions Bauer and Gaskell make on the choice of a multi-method approach seam specially relevant to this research: “… calls for a multi-method approach, simultaneously observing the different representational modes as well as mediums, and their consequences. In research this implies some combination of field observations for behavioural habits, questionnaires, free associations or interviews to explore individual cognitions; group interviews for informal communication; and documents or mass media contents for formal communication. Triangulation of these different data sources across modes and mediums is a central objective; not merely to achieve the parallax of different perspectives (…) but to determine core and peripheral elements of a representation, to map contradictions and consistencies, and to explore the functions of the representations across the different modes and mediums” .
In this research project it is not possible to be as systematic as proposed by Bauer and Gaskell so I will use mainly a quantitative approach to describe the social representations. Complementary to this, in order to clarify what the quantitative data and analysis procedures can not, I will use a qualitative approach. Through focus group and personal interviews I will collect data to be studied according the findings of the quantitative moment.

Quantitative questionnaire:
The variables under research will be operationalised in different ways.
Gender is a nominal variable; age and the number of years the subjects followed the catechetical curriculum are interval ones.
The subjects religious practice will be determined through ordinal scale questions regarding frequency of mass assistance, confession and personal prayer.
To detect the orthopraxic dimension of faith there will be an open ended question about behavioural consequences of believing in God.
There will be also two other open ended questions regarding personal experiences and people that have influenced the subjects believing in God experience.
To operationalize the social representation of faith in God, I will use free association questions. The subjects will be asked to produce associations from an inductor expression. The inductors will be “God”, “Jesus”, “Holy Spirit”, “my relation with God”. The intervention of the researcher is limited to the instructions. The task is therefore relatively unstructured: the subject is not required to state his position in relation to a pre-existing frame of reference, as is the case of a multiple choice opinion question or for closed questions in general. The open nature of the questioning allows the subject not to think that the researcher is investigating his competence, thus avoiding social desirability effects. This method of data collection is standardized and facilitates a collection procedure which is identical for all the subjects of the investigation.
Another variable is the catechist social representation of God. This is found in the catechist questionnaire. Each adolescent questionnaire is connected to a catechist questionnaire.
The quality of the relation between the adolescent and his catechist is determined with a likert-scale.
The analysis units will be defined at a double level. On the first level they are the individual adolescents. On the second level they are the catechetical groups to whom they belong (or belonged). This is important to correlate the subjects to a specific catechetical group and to a specific catechist.
I propose to follow a stratified sampling strategy, according to gender, age and ecclesial belonging factors.
The administration process will follow this steps:
1. Identify and invite catechist usually working with adolescents;
2. Use the pair catechist-group as a second level unit of analysis
3. Apply the research instrument to the adolescents actually belonging to the group
4. Ask the catechist for help to get in touch with adolescents that used to belong to the group.

Qualitative procedures:
The focus group and the personal interviews will explore the following topics: Images of the Trinitarian God, description of the relation towards God, personal consequences of faith in God, influential experiences and people to the present day image of God.
6.2.2 Chapter 5: Results of empirical research and data analysis
This chapter will describe the analytical procedures and the results. Also at this level validity will be increased through analytic triangulation. The redundant use of factor analysis, cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling will prevent interpretative bias.
6.3 Part 3: Believing in God. Theological perspective
In this third part, the results of the empirical study are related back to theinitial questions and aims.
6.3.1 Chapter 6: Theological evaluation and meaning of the empirical results
The empirical results found in part 2 do not provide a direct answer to the theological questions. They need to be theologically interpreted through a dialogue between the theological concepts and theories previously identified and the results of the empirical analysis.
Then I will try a theological reflection on the meaning and relevance of the results of the theological interpretation and the adequacy of the structure and execution of the empirical-theological study.
6.3.2 Chapter 7: Pastoral and research challenges
On this final chapter I will try to identify the pastoral challenges posed by this research. This research deals with a essential dimension of Christian existence and studied it in the referents perspective. What relevant teachings and questions are there to the other ecclesial agents and processes?
Probably, the chosen research design had to leave out many relevant questions and methodological approaches. It is important to identify them.

Esquema versão 2 (5)

5. Research questions
Given the fact that the previous research done in Portugal is so small and that specifically with this population (adolescents that follow the catechetical programs) in null and also that is null the research done under this theoretical perspective (social representations theory) an explorative approach is recommended . And clearly explorative-explanatory because there are some major lacunae about the research object and other factors.
About the practical relevance this research if fundamental-oriented, its purpose is to obtain empirically validated knowledge.
About the scientific researchability of the believing on God praxis it can be achieved with the use of the social representation construct. The practical researchability is assured by the adequate time frame I have and availability and quality of similar observation instruments and analysis procedures.
Under this options and constrictions I propose the following research questions:
1 – What are the social representations of God made by the Portuguese adolescents involved on the catechetical process?
2 – What are the processes involved in the SR elaboration (Anchorage, objectivation)?
3 – What are the contents of the SR and how are they structured?
4 – What correlations to the following variables and concepts: gender, age, religious personal practice, catechetical curriculum, SR of God of the catechist?
5 – Are there manifestations of cognitive poliphasia? How can they be explained?
6 – Can the “mute zone of SR” explain the apophatic tendency?
7 – What theological interpretation can we do about the adolescents social representations on God?

Esquema versão 2 (4)

4. In search of theoretical frames
Following an empirical-theological method it is mandatory to clarify the theological and the human sciences theoretical guidelines that will structure this research.
4.1 Theological theory
To be able to understand the problem of faith in God we have to overcome the disciplinary fragmentation still present in many theology schools curricula between Mystery of God, Evangelization and De Fides.
The Scripture and the best ecclesial Tradition always defended the existence of a strong nexus between a certain kind of relation with God and the acceptance of a determined image of God.
In the Old Testament, to believe is to trust in God, as in a solid rock. Believe in God is not an optional to the subject; it is a central and structuring experience.
In the New Testament, faith retains all the characteristics found in the Old Testament but now specified by the connection to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, His person, acts, words, death and resurrection, are presented as the highest point of God self-revelation. Because of that, the faith act turns around the person of Jesus and His soteriologic potential.
In the ecclesial Tradition will remain a permanent link between a subjective dimension of faith and a objective one, between fides qua and fides quae. If the core of the faith act is the trust and the meeting with the saving God in Jesus, such experience requests the acceptance of the contents associated with that experience (the facts and words of Jesus and all the catechetical synthesis made by the apostolic community).
According to Dei Verbum 5, faith in God is the convergence of two freedoms: between God, that reveals Himself in history and the human person that surrenders his life to Him. The human component of the faith act must not be neglected.
Christian faith is normatively defined by christocentrism. But one that leads to the confession of the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit.
Believing in God is, obviously, a personal experience (credo) but also an ecclesial one (credimus). “The place where the faith is born is the concrete history of men (…) Even if faith is not reducible to sociological laws, she appears and explains it self in a community.” The community is the place where faith in God happens as ecclesial act.
Faith is a fundamental choice in favour of God and it’s project. To believe in God is always associated with a transformative and ortopraxic dimension. To believe in God causes change in the understanding and action upon self and external reality.
But a proper theological reflection upon this process of believing in God should always incorporate a inculturation-contextualization perspective. To think about the adolescents praxis of faith is a task where attention must be paid to the cultural, socio-political and eco-economic aspects of the environment where such praxis exists. This theological perspective should also extend to the fact that the social representation of the adolescents under scrutiny appears on a consensual model and not on a reified one, as is the case of our usual theological production.
4.2 Human sciences theory
To reach the chosen aims, social representations theory can provide the adequate theoretical frame to interpret the situation.
Social representations are a special kind of knowledge: common sense knowledge. It’s specificity is on the social processes that produces them. In social representations we are talking about as ensemble of knowledges, beliefs, shared by a group opinions, about a certain social object. Social representations have a double relation with their objects: symbolization and interpretation. This mix of symbolization and interpretation results from a mental activity which leads the subject to a particular production and to a specific construction of the object. The subject rebuilds the reality. Information coming from the object are categorized, transformed, upgraded. They evolve to give reality a substantial meaning. This reality building function is mainly social. The active role of the subject we just described is activated within the social field in which he is embedded. For that reason we say a representation is always social. They are the product of social interactions. It’s the richness of internal communications of the group (beliefs, values…) that conforms, channels, modifies and guides the individual production. And because those representations are shared by the individuals of a given group, they are different and contribute to differentiate this group form other groups.
Why to use the social representation theory? Because, in this context of complexity, cultural fragmentation and multivocality the usual praxis of predetermining a set of contents (derived from a theory or induced by the results of a exploratory research) is just not adequate. In the best of the chances, such procedure would give us a static “picture” of the reality, a single photogram of a moving scene. Instead, a social representation approach can make justice to the complex nature of the reality. A SR is not an attitude, a value system, a set of opinions nor a stereotype .
SRT has some theoretical premises:
1. Human reality is socially constructed; therefore the limits between subject and object are blurred;
2. This constructed reality is based on the interaction-communication process;
3. The forms of knowledge, which construct this reality and which equally constitute forms of communication, are different from each other and yet equivalent: the consensual and reified universes are differentiated forms of communication yet each one serves its function and communicates with the other;
4. The knowing subject is active and creative, relying on his notional repertoire as well as his values, interests and projects to decipher anything that is new to him;
5. In complex, multifaceted societies, in the era of information and high-speed communication, social representation is characteristic of the organization of social thought .
SRT predicts and interprets two kinds of processes that can be useful to our research: mute zones and cognitive polyphasia.
Mute zone of Social representations is part of a representation that doesn’t get easily expressed. The mute zone is not the unconscious part of the social representations. It belongs to the conscience of the subject but can not be expressed by him on the normal conditions of interaction production, because some social contexts can be contranormative.
Cognitive polyphasia are common and natural in social representations. SR carry contradictory meanings. This is not disturbing as long a SR is locally consistent. People do not live in homogenous worlds. In the context of different life-worlds holding to “contradictory” representations makes sense. SR are not primarly veridical representations of reality but above all they are elaborations for social groups serving to maintain the stability of their particular life-world.
Abric and the Aix-en-Provence school inaugurated a structural approach to TRS. According to this approach SR are internally structured in two systems: the central and the peripheral systems. The central system (noyau central) is rigid, coherent and stable. Defines the homogeneity of the group and is connected to the group history. The central system is responsible for organizing the representations. The peripheral elements are more flexible. They change more often, are more conditioned by the context, integrate the individual experience.
Social representations are embodied in different modes and mediums . There are four modes of representation: habitual behaviour, individual cognition, informal communication and formal communication. The mediums of representation can be associated with body movement, words, visual images and non-linguistic sounds.

Esquema versão 2 (3)

3 Status quaestionis
3.1 Research done in Portugal
Some research done in Portugal, in the last decades, show that more than 90% of the population says to believe in God . But that fact has no correspondence with other Christian identity indicators; what leads us to the possibility that the “believe in God” construct does not overlap with the catholic ecclesial tradition.
We have a reasonably safe information that a high percentage of the population believes in God but we do not know what that means. Those researches were not interested in the question or have done it in a very feeble way, with a very deficient theoretical approach.
3.2 From the psychology of religion
The psychological research done internationally has been concerned with the conceptual representations of God, the identification of the correlated or predictive factors of those representations and/or with the development of the representations of the God concept .
Most of the researches has an individualistic approach and tends to ignore the role the socio-cultural contexts and the ecclesial practices have in configuring reality.
3.3 From the sociology of religion
The sociological research has been deeply conditioned by the “methodological atheism” and the consequent dichotomy between “god” (reserved to theological discourse) and the human reality (reserved to social sciences).
According to Piette , the dicotomization resulting from methodological atheism assumes four forms. The first reduces god to a social projection. God, which has no ontological status other than social projection, can not be studied. It’s the classical Durkheim position. The second form consists in the social dissolution. God is nothing else but a passive support for the social group values or social imagination. The third form is the theological exclusion. Accepted by believers and non believers, this form radicalizes the methodological atheism and considers god as untouchable, exterior to human culture and experience. Only theology would be able to talk about God; sociology should be mute about God. The fourth form consists in the “annulation humano-centrique” inspired by Weber. This form is interested by the religious subjects, by the social structures they build, erasing god from the scene.
Thesis, now classics, like the progressive dechristianization or the dissolution of Christianity in a syncretistic consumerism are proposed with no support from empirical data nor rigorous analysis of the theoretical basis.
3.4 From the religious education perspective
Schweitzer , from the perspective of a religious educator, lists five reasons explaining the useless character of a lot of research done so far about this theme:
1. There is a tension between the religious themes and the contextual embeddeness of the subject. Religious propositions, if considered apart from the living context of the subjects, can easily generate errors.
2. There is a lot of frustration with the fixation on snapshot-like empirical results which do not take into consideration the ongoing processes of religious change and development of a person.
3. Another tension arises from the difference between actual and potential faith of the person.
4. Another source of tension lies on the normative aspects of the researches. Apparently a research should be value-free to achieve objectivity. But the problem is that there are always parti pris (theological or ideological), non recognized as such; and for that reason ever discussed.
5. A final obstacle is the tension between the structure or function of religion and the religious content.
3.5 For a synthesis
The human sciences research about God has been usually built upon epistemological prejudices, rarely discussed, that undermine the quality and relevance of the results.
One of those prejudices is the dyadic perspective. God is studied only on a subject-object relation.
A linear causality has also been preferred, forgetting the complexity of the social, cultural, mediatic and religious systems in which we are embedded .
The majority of the research done so far has a positivist trend (unable to resist a honest criticism) or calls for a radical fragmentation (do it your self religion) that blocks knowledge (and knowledge is always general knowledge) and a thought and renewed praxis.
The reception the adolescent who attend catechesis give to the announcement of the mystery of God is not enough studied and the concomitant research is not directly exportable.
It is true that the determinism of the progressive dechristianisation thesis is not acceptable; but it’s also true that religious agencies (Christian families, parish, catechesis…) are not any more the only ones contributing to God image formation.
The recent research about “God image” has, usually, balanced between the sum of descriptors attributed to the image of God ante the attempt to find causal explanations (mainly psychological ones).
The literature suggests there are several factors influencing that process:
1. Social and psychological family processes;
2. Personal experiences;
3. Formal and explicit religious formations processes (systematic catechesis, liturgy participation…);
4. The contents and worldview proposed by the state owned school system;
5. The values systems present in the Portuguese society;
6. The mainstream media system and its proposals;
7. The developing processes associated with adolescence;
The more sociological approaches indicate several other phenomena:
1. Women have higher belief in God indicators
2. The faith indicators diminish with age;
3. There is a serious difficulty in determining if this is a social change or only a cohort effect;
4. Individualization of the believing process;
5. Fluidity on the faith contents and quick intra-individual changes;
6. Apophatic tendencies.

Esquema versão 2 (2)

2. Background
The church in Portugal, since the beginning of the 90’s, has a catechetical project with a ten year duration (from 6 to 16 years old). The original goal of this catechetical project was to empower the children-teenagers with a proper formation to an adult and committed Christian identity. But the social and religious evolution in Portugal, and probably also the internal limitations of the project, led to the presence of signs indicating the possible failure of those processes: decline on the signs of ecclesial belonging, disarticulation between faith and life, disappointment in may catechists…
Meanwhile, there is a growing consensus among the experts that there is a longer adolescence and a delay on the decision and identity processes . In spite of some calls from the CEP (Bishops conference of Portugal), the portuguese churchs have not done any significative proposal to deal with older than 16 years old adolescents.
The catechetical process has no standard evaluation mechanisms to measure the success of the proposed objectives.
So, we have, some very generic impressions about the success-failure of the catechetical programs leading to the confirmation celebration, a diffuse conscience that the adolescents needed a longer and better pastoral support, and, above all, a deep ignorance about the real faith experience of the new generations of Christians.
This ignorance about reality extends to all aspects of Christian experience. Also about faith in God, the contents about God the adolescents learn and the relation they have with Him.
In the centre of the Christian experience and of the evangelizing effort of the church lies the faith in the Trinitarian God, revealed in the person, words and acts of Jesus of Nazareth. According to the DGC it is from that faith that can grow, with the proper processes of ecclesial insertion and education-initiation, a Christian identity, adult and autonomous. But, in fact, concerning the adolescents living in Portugal that followed the catechetical programs, we know very little about their faith contents, quality and relevance. This need for a better knowledge is not only nor mainly academic: it is an important factor to understand the quality of the actual pastoral processes; it’s an important factor to think, project and implement alternatives.

Esquema versão 2 (1)

Aqui vai o texto da 2ª versão do meu esquema de tese.
Believing in God.
An empirical-theological study of social representations among adolescents in Portugal
1. Aims of the research
Affirming and living accordingly to the faith in the God revealed in Jesus Christ is essential to christian existence and ecclesial praxis. With this research project I want to verify the quality of the reception Portuguese adolescents who followed the systematic catechesis curriculum offer to the announcement of the mistery of God.
The aims of this research are:
1. Identify the images of God elaborated by the adolescents and what relation they establish with it;
2. The processes by which that happens;
3. Reflect and evaluate theologically and pastorally about the actual experience of believing in God.

Quadro teológico

Uma das sugestões que recebi em relação à 1ª versão do esquema foi explicitar mais o quadro teológico de referência. Aqui vai:
Para entender toda a problemática da fé em Deus é necessário superara fragmentação disciplinar que muitos curricula de teologia mantêm entre os tratados do mistério de Deus, no anúncio evangelizador e De Fides.
A Sagrada Escritura e a melhor tradição eclesial sempre afirmaram a íntima relação entre um certo tipo de relação com Deus e a aceitação de uma certa imagem de Deus.
Para o AT, crer é aceitar confiar em Deus na certeza de estar de este modo assente sobre uma verdade segura e sólida. Acreditar em Deus não é um facto ocasional mas central para a pessoa. Acreditar é um acto que implica confiança e obediência no Deus em que se acredita como resposta pessoal e livre à iniciativa de Deus.
Para o Novo Testamento, acreditar conserva todas as características identificadas no AT mas especificadas pela adesão à pessoa de Jesus de Nazaré. Jesus, a sua pessoa, os seus gestos, a sua morte e ressurreição, são apresentados como o ponto mais alto da revelação de Deus. Por isso, o acto de fé concentra-se na pessoa de Jesus e no seu potencial soteriológico.
Vai manter-se, ao longo da tradição eclesial, o cruzamento constante entre a dimensão subjectiva da fé e a dimensão objectiva, a fides qua e a fides quae. Se o núcleo do acto de fé é confiança e encontro com o Deus que salva em Jesus, isso implica o acolhimento dos conteúdos a que este acto se refere (os factos e palavras de Jesus e toda a catequese da comunidade apostólica).
De acordo com a DV 5, a fé em Deus é um encontro de dupla liberdade: entre Deus que Se auto-revela na história e a pessoa humana que se entrega a Ele. A componente humana deste acto de fé não pode ser negligenciada.
A fé cristã define-se como tal precisamente pelo seu cristocentrismo. Mas um cristocentrismo que conduz à confissão do Deus Trino: Pai, Filho e Espírito.
Embora pessoal (credo) acreditar em Deus é também e necessariamente um processo eclesial (credimus). “O lugar onde nasce a fé é a história concreta dos homens (…) Embora a fé não seje redutível exclusivamente a leis sociológicas, ela surge e explica-se numa comunidade.” A comunidade é o lugar da fé que se realiza como acto eclesial.
A fé é uma escolha fundamental a favor de Deus e do seu projecto. Acreditar em Deus traz consigo uma dimensão transformativa e ortopráxica: Acreditar em Deus provoca mudança na compreensão-acção de si mesmo e da realidade externa.

Esquema tese 1ª versão

Estive hoje a rever a proposta de esquema (que publiquei aqui ontem) com o prof. Anthony. Correu bem. Riscámos muita coisa. Mas ou ele está a ser pascalmente simpático ou aquilo tem pernas para andar. Das sugestões-críticas que ele fez acho que me revi em todas.
A não ser no questionário: ele diz que aquilo com os 4 indutores e a hierarquização ficará difícil de preencher. Não sei.
Bem, mãos à obra. Vamos lá a refazer aquilo e a incorporar as sugestões.

esquema versão 1 (6)

6. Method
This research will start with a systematic analysis and evaluation on the researches done so far in regard with the topic “God and adolescents”. I will search to present and evaluate the relevant literature focused on the conceptual representation of God, the factors related to or predictive of these representations, the development of God representations. This analysis won’t limit itself to report and compare the previous researches but also to discuss them epistemological and theoretically.

Then I will present the theory of social representations and the reasons why it can be a good theoretical instrument to study the theme of this research.

I will also try an overview of the most relevant theological literature pertinent to this theme.

With a good theoretical support (empirical and theological) it becomes easy to design the empirical analysis instrument and procedures.
The empirical part of this research will have the following steps:
1 – Questionnaire elaboration
The questionnaire will have the following fields:
• Age: (interval)
• Number of Years in a catechetical group: (interval)
• 3 persons influenced most your image of God (Open ended; nominal)
• 3 events influenced most your image of God (open ended; nominal)
• How do you classify the quality of your relationship with your catechist (likert-scale)
• Religious practice (mass attendance, confession attendance; personal prayer; ordinal)
• How do you classify your parents religious affiliation (closed-ended; ordinal)
• Inductors (about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, personal relation with God)
o 10 fields for each
o Order them by relevance
o Mark each one as Positive, Negative, Neutral

2 – Pre-test of the questionnaire with a small sample
3 – Corrections and improvements to the questionnaire
4 – Sampling procedure
I propose to follow a stratified sampling strategy, according to gender, age and ecclesial belonging factors.
(How to deal with the gender distortion? We estimate there is a 80-20 ratio of girls-boys involved in catechetical processes during adolescence…)
steps:
1. Identify and invite catechist usually working with adolescents;
2. Use the pair catechist-group as a second level unit of analysis
3. Apply the research instrument to the adolescents actually belonging to the group
4. Ask the catechist for help to get in touch with adolescents that used to belong to the group
5 – Questionnaire application

6 – Preliminary data analysis

7 – Focus group and individual interviews to confirm and get a deeper understanding of the preliminary data analysis

8 – Final data analysis

9 – Theological evaluation of the data

esquema versão 1 (5)

5. Research questions

1 – What are the social representations of God made by the Portuguese adolescents involved on the catechetical process?
2 – What are the processes involved in the SR elaboration (Anchorage, objectivation)?
3 – What are the contents of the SR and how are they structured (according to the central core theory )?
4 – What correlations to the following variables and concepts: gender, age, religious personal practice, parents religious identity, catechetical curriculum, SR of God of the catechist? (Need to justify the choice of this variables?)
5 – Are there manifestations of cognitive poliphasia? How can they be explained?
6 – Can the “mute zone of SR” explain the apophatic tendency?
7 – What theological interpretation can we do about the adolescents social representations on God?

esquema versão 1 (4)

4. In search of theoretical frames
To reach the chosen aims, social representations theory can provide the adequate theoretical frame to interpret the situation.

Social representations are a special kind of knowledge: common sense knowledge. It’s specificity is on the social processes that produces them. In social representations we are talking about as ensemble of knowledges, beliefs, shared by a group opinions, about a certain social object. Social representations have a double relation with their objects: symbolization and interpretation. This mix of symbolization and interpretation results from a mental activity who leads the subject to a particular production and to a specific construction of the object. The subject rebuilds the reality. Information coming from the object are categorized, transformed, upgraded. They evolve to give reality a substantial meaning. This reality building function is mainly social. The active role of the subject we just described is activated within the social field in which he is embedded. For that reason we say a representation is always social. They are the product of social interactions. It’s the richness of internal communications of the group (beliefs, values…) that conforms, channels, modifies and guides the individual production. And because those representations are shared by the individuals of a given group, they are different and contribute to differentiate this group form other groups.
Why to use the social representation theory? Because, in this context of complexity, cultural fragmentation and multivocality the usual praxis of predetermining a set of contents (derived from a theory or induced by the results of a exploratory research) is just not adequate. In the best of the chances, such procedure would give us a static “picture” of the reality, a single photogram of a moving scene. Instead, a social representation approach can make justice to the complex nature of the reality. A SR is not an attitude, a value system, a set of opinions nor a stereotype .
SRT has some theoretical premises:
1. Human reality is socially constructed; therefore the limits between subject and object are blurred;
2. This constructed reality is based on the interaction-communication process;
3. The forms of knowledge, which construct this reality and which equally constitute forms of communication, are different from each other and yet equivalent: the consensual and reified universes are differentiated forms of communication yet each one serves its function and communicates with the other;
4. The knowing subject is active and creative, relying on his notional stock as well as his values, interests and projects to decipher anything that is new to him;
5. In complex, multifaceted societies, in the era of information and high-speed communication, social representation is characteristic of the organization of social thought .
SRT predicts and interprets two kinds of phenomenon that can be useful to our research: mute zones and cognitive polyphasia.
Mute zone of Social representations is part of a representation that doesn’t get easily expressed. The mute zone is not the unconscious part of the social representations. It belongs to the conscience of the subject but can not be expressed by him on the normal conditions of interaction production, because some social contexts can be contranormative.
Cognitive polyphasia are common and natural in social representations. SR carry contradictory meanings. This is not disturbing as long a SR is locally consistent. People do not live in homogenous worlds. In the context of different life-worlds holding to “contradictory” representations makes sense. SR are not primarly veridical representations of reality but above all they are elaborations for social groups serving to maintain the stability of their particular life-world.

Using the SRT we are asking for the common sense theological theories the referents produce. With an open (as possible) mind I want to put their consensual knowledge under the spotlight. That is compatible with the fact that the researcher assumes explicitly his own theological theory (even if reified): a Trinitarian christocentrism that coexists as fides qua and as fides quae, as content about God and as relation towards God. This theological theory influences the design of the empirical research instrument and also the theological evaluation.
The search for a theological theory has a caveat on the fragmentation of theology curricula. Usually “Mystery of God”, “Announcement of the mystery of God” and “theology of faith” are different disciplines. ???

esquema versão 1 (3)

3 Status quaestionis
3.1 Research done in Portugal
Some research done in Portugal, in the last decades, show that more than 90% of the population says to believe in God . But that fact has no correspondence with other Christian identity indicators; what leads us to the possibility that the “believe in God” construct doesn’t overlap with the catholic ecclesial tradition.
We have a reasonably safe information that a high percentage of the population believes in God but we don’t know what that means. Those researches weren’t interested in the question or have done it in a very feeble way, with a very deficient theoretical approach.
3.2 From the psychology of religion
The psychological research done internationally has been concerned with the conceptual representations of God, the identification of the correlated or predictive factors of those representations and/or with the development of the representations of the God concept .
Most of the researches has an individualistic approach and tends to ignore the role the socio-cultural contexts and the ecclesial practices have in configuring reality.
3.3 From the sociology of religion
The sociological research has been deeply conditioned by the “methodological atheism” and the consequent dichotomy between “god” (reserved to theological discourse) and the human reality (reserved to social sciences).
According to Piette , the dicotomization resulting from methodological atheism assumes four forms. The first reduces god to a social projection. God, which has no ontological status other than social projection, can not be studied. It’s the classical Durkheim position. The second form consists in the social dissolution. God is nothing else but a passive support for the social group values or social imagination. The third form is the theological exclusion. Accepted by believers and non beliervers, this form radicalizes the methodological atheism and considers god as untouchable, exterior to human culture and experience. Only theology would be able to talk about God; sociology should be mute about God. The fourth form consists in the “annulation humano-centrique” inspired by Weber. This form is interested by the religious subjects, by the social structures they build, erasing god from the scene.
Thesis, now classics, like the progressive deschristianization or the dissolution of Christianity in a syncretistic consumerism are proposed with no support from empirical data nor rigorous analysis of the theoretical basis.
3.4 From the religious education perspective
Schweitzer , from the perspective of a religious educator, lists five reasons explaining the useless character of a lot of research done so far about this theme:
• There is a tension between the religious themes and the contextual embeddeness of the subject. Religious propositions, if considered apart from the living context of the subjects, can easily generate errors.
• There is a lot of frustration with the fixation on snapshot-like empirical results which do not take into consideration the ongoing processes of religious change and development of a person.
• Another tension arises from the difference between actual and potential faith of the person.
• Another source of tension lies on the normative aspects of the researches. Apparently a research should be value-free to achieve objectivity. But the problem is that there are always parti pris (theological or ideological), non recognized as such; and for that reason ever discussed.
• A final obstacle is the tension between the structure or function of religion and the religious content.
3.5 For a synthesis
The human sciences research about God has been usually built on epistemological prejudices, rarely discussed, that undermine the quality and relevance of the results.
One of those prejudices is the dyadic perspective. God is studied only on a subject-object relation.
A linear causality has also been preferred, forgetting the complexity of the social, cultural, mediatic and religious systems in which we are embedded .
The majority of the research done so far has a positivist trend (unable to resist a honest criticism) or calls for a radical fragmentation (do it your self religion) that blocks knowledge (and knowledge is always general knowledge) and a thought and renewed praxis.
The reception the adolescent catechisands give to the announcement of the mystery of God is not enough studied and the concomitant research is not directly exportable.
It is true that the determinism of the progressive dechristianisation thesis is not acceptable; but it’s also true that religious agencies (Christian families, parish, catechesis…) are not any more the only ones contributing to God image formation.
The recent research about “God image” has, usually, balanced between the sum of descriptors attributed to the image of God ante the attempt to find causal explanations (mainly psychological ones).
The literature suggests there are several factors influencing that process:
a) Social and psychological family processes;
b) Personal experiences;
c) Formal and explicit religious formations processes (systematic catechesis, liturgy participation…);
d) The contents and worldview proposed by the state owned school system;
e) The values systems present in the Portuguese society;
f) The mainstream media system and its proposals;
g) The developing processes associated with adolescence;
The more sociological approaches indicate several other phenomena:
a) Women have higher belief in God indicators
b) The faith indicators diminish with age;
c) There is a serious difficulty in determining if this is a social change or only a cohort effect;
d) Individualization of the believing process;
e) Fluidity on the faith contents and quick intra-individual changes;
f) Apophatic tendencies;

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2. Background
The church in Portugal, since the beginning of the 90’s, has a catechetical project with a ten year duration (from 6 to 16 years old). The original goal of this catechetical project was to empower the children-teenagers with a proper formation to an adult and committed Christian identity. But the social and religious evolution in Portugal, and probably also the internal limitations of the project, led to the presence of signs indicating the possible failure of those processes: decline on the signs of ecclesial belonging, disarticulation between faith and life…
Meanwhile, there is a growing consensus among the experts that there is a longer adolescence and a delay on the decision and identity processes . In spite of some calls from the CEP (Bishops conference of Portugal), the portuguese churchs haven’t done anything significative proposal to deal with older than 16 years old adolescents.
The catechetical process has no evaluation mechanisms to measure the success of the proposed objectives.
So, we have, some very generic impressions about the success-failure of the catechetical programs leading to the confirmation celebration, a diffuse conscience that the adolescents needed a longer and better pastoral support, and, above all, a deep ignorance about the real faith experience of the new generation of Christians.
This ignorance about reality is about all aspects of Christian experience. Also about faith in God, the contents about God the adolescents learn and the relation they have with Him.
In the centre of the Christian experience and of the evangelizing effort of the church lies the faith in the Trinitarian God, revealed in the person, words and acts of Jesus of Nazareth. According to the DGC it is from that faith that can grow, with the proper processes of ecclesial insertion and education-initiation, a Christian identity, adult and autonomous. But, in fact, about the Portuguese adolescents that followed the catechetical programs, we know very little about their faith contents, quality and relevance. This need for a better knowledge is not only nor mainly academical: it is an important factor to understand the quality of the actual pastoral processes; it’s an important factor to think, project and implement alternatives.

esquema versão 1 (1)

Hoje, finalmente, apresentei o esquema da tese ao prof. Anthony.
Amanhã juntamo-nos para discutir.
Mas, entretanto aqui ficam os textos:
1. Aims of the reserach
Affirming the faith in the God revealed in Jesus Chrsit is essential to christian existence and ecclesial praxis. With this research project I want to verify the quality of the reception Portuguese adolescents who followed the systematic catechesis curriculum give to the announcement of the mistery of God.
The aims of this research are:
1. Identify the images of God elaborated by the adolescents and what relation they establish with it;
2. The processes by which that happens;
3. Evaluate theological the situation.

Para encher 2

2. Status quaestionis
2.1 Pesquisa feita em Portugal
Há, em Portugal, estudos feitos nas últimas décadas a indicar que uma percentagem superior aos 90% da população afirma acreditar em Deus . O facto de esse dado não ter correspondência em outros indicadores de identidade cristã legitima a dúvida se o constructo “acreditar em Deus” das pesquisas coincide com a tradição eclesial católica.
Há um conhecimento razoavelmente seguro que uma percentagem elevada da população afirma acreditar em Deus mas não sabemos exactamente o que isso significa.
Esses estudos não se preocupam em dirimir a questão ou fazem-no de forma muito rudimentar, com impostações teóricas débeis.
2.2 Deus e a psicologia
A investigação psicológica internacional tem-se centrado sobre as representações conceptuais de Deus, a identificação dos factores relacionados ou preditivos dessas representações e/ou no desenvolvimento das representações do conceito de Deus.
A maioria das pesquisas tem um ponto de partida individualista, que tende a ignorar o papel que os contextos socioculturais e as práticas pastorais têm na configuração da realidade.
Deus teria que ver com a imagem paterna mas também com a imagem materna
2.3 Deus e a sociologia
A investigação de tipo mais sociológico, quase sempre condicionada pelo princípio do “ateísmo metodológico” tem sofrido uma forte dicotomia entre “Deus” (reservado ao discurso teológico) e a condição humana (resumida às ciências sociais).
Segundo Piette, a dicotomização do ateísmo metodológico assume quatro formas.
A primeira consiste em reduzir Deus a projecção social. Deus, que não tem outro estatuto ontológico que o de ser projecção social, não pode ser estudado. É a posição de Durkheim. A segunda forma consiste na dissolução social. Deus não é mais que um suporte passivo para os valores do grupo, a imaginação social. A terceira forma é a exclusão teológica. Assumida por crentes e não crentes, esta forma radicaliza o ateísmo metodológico e considera Deus como intocável, exterior à cultura humana. Só a teologia pode falar de Deus como objecto. A sociologia nada poderia dizer. A quarta forma reside na anulação humano-cêntrica, de inspiração weberiana. Esta forma interessa-se pelos sujeitos religiosos, pelas estruturas sociais que constroem. Esta perspectiva elimina Deus do seu horizonte de interesse. Considerado como não pertinente, Deus perde estatuto analítico.
Teses, agora clássicas, como a da descristianização progressiva ou a da dissolução do cristianismo num sincretismo consumista são afirmadas sem dados empíricos de suporte nem análise rigorosa dos pressupostos teóricos.
2.4 Um balanço feito pelo lado da prática
Schweitzer, na perspectiva do educador religioso, elenca um conjunto de cinco razões para o desilusão diante da qualidade de muita investigação feita:
• Há uma tensão entre afirmações sobre temáticas religiosas e a inserção contextual do sujeito. As afirmações religiosas, se são consideradas isoladamente do contexto vivencial dos sujeitos podem facilmente induzir em erro.
• há uma certa frustração com a fixidez fotográfica de alguns resultados que não têm em consideração os processos de mudança religiosa e desenvolvimento em curso na pessoa.
• Uma outra tensão resulta da diferença entre a fé actual e a fé potencial da pessoa.
• Uma outra fonte de tensão acerca dos aspectos normativos das investigações. Supostamente a investigação empírica seria value-free para ser objectiva. Mas os educadores religiosos ficam frustrados com esse tipo de investigação que é sempre guiado por pressupostos teológicos e ideológicos não admitidos e, por isso mesmo, nunca discutidos ou postos em causa.
• Uma dificuldade final é a tensão entre a estrutura ou função da religião e o conteúdo religioso.

2.5 Um balanço epistemológico
Tem havido uma série de pressupostos epistemológicos, raramente postos em discussão, que têm condicionado a qualidade e relevância dos resultados.
A questão de Deus, no plano das ciências humanas, tem sido muitas vezes estudado numa perspectiva diádica, entre sujeito e objecto.
Tem sido também estudada numa causalidade linear, que tende a esquecer a complexidade dos sistemas sociais, culturais e religiosos em que estamos inseridos.
As abordagens feitas até aqui ou assumem um carácter positivista (que não resiste à crítica legítima) ou remetem para uma fragmentação radical (religião faça você mesmo) que impede o conhecimento (que é sempre conhecimento do geral) e uma prática pensada e renovada.
2.6 Resumindo
O tema do acolhimento que os catequizandos adolescentes dão ao anúncio do mistério de Deus está pouco estudado e a investigação análoga não é aplicável directamente.
Embora o determinismo da tese da tese da descristianização progressiva não seja aceitável, a verdade é que as agências religiosas (família cristã, paróquia, catequese…) não são já as únicas a contribuir para a formação da imagem de Deus.

A pesquisa recente sobre a “imagem de Deus” tem, na sua maioria, oscilado entre o somatório de descritores atribuídos à “imagem de Deus” e a tentativa de encontrar explicações causais (quase sempre de tipo psicológico).
A revisão da literatura lança a hipótese que haverá vários factores a influenciar esse processo:
a) Os processos psicossociais ligados à família;
b) As experiências pessoais;
c) Os processos instituídos de formação religiosa (catequese sistemática, participação na liturgia);
d) Os conteúdos propostos pelo sistema escolar;
e) Os sistemas de valores presentes na sociedade portuguesa;
f) A tematização feita pelos media;
g) Os processos evolutivos específicos da adolescência.
As abordagens mais sociológicas indiciam vários fenómenos:
a) As mulheres apresentam indicadores de crença em Deus mais elevados;
b) Diminuição da crença com a idade;
c) Dificuldade de perceber se se trata de uma mudança real ou de um efeito de coorte;
d) Individuação do processo de crença
e) Indefinição pessoal dos conteúdos de fé e oscilações rápidas
f) Tendência apofática

Para encher 1

Entre o nervoso miudinho (hoje não houve nenhum abalo) e a dificuldade de me concentrar não tenho andado tão veloz como queria na redacção do projecto de tese.
Na realidade o problema não é de velocidade; é de qualidade. Não é que ande a trabalhar devagar; a qualidade é que é fraca.
Bom mas aqui ficam umas bitaitadas preliminares:
1. Problema
A Igreja em Portugal, desde o início dos anos 90, tem uma proposta de catequese de dez anos (dos 6 aos 16 anos). A intenção original era dotar os catequizandos de uma preparação adequada uma vida cristã adulta e comprometida. Mas a evolução social e religiosa em Portugal tem levado ao aparecimento de sinais indicadores do relativo insucesso destes mecanismos: abandono dos laços de pertença eclesial, desarticulação entre fé e vida…
Entretanto, cresce o consenso entre os especialistas que há um prolongamento da etapa adolescencial e um adiamento das tomadas de decisão e dos compromissos.
Apesar de alguns apelos da CEP, a verdade é que a Igreja em Portugal não tem feito um esforço muito grande no acompanhamento pastoral das idades posteriores aos 16 anos.
O processo de catequese não prevê mecanismos de avaliação para determinar o grau de sucesso dos objectivos propostos.
Temos, portanto, umas vagas impressões sobre o sucesso-insucesso da catequese sistemática que culmina na celebração do crisma, uma consciência difusa que o acompanhamento pastoral dos adolescentes se deveria prolongar e, acima de tudo, um grande desconhecimento da real experiência de fé das novas gerações.
Este desconhecimento da realidade alarga-se a todas as vertentes da experiência cristã. Também à fé em Deus, aos conteúdos sobre Deus que os adolescentes catequizados acolhem e à relação que com Ele mantêm.
No centro da experiência cristã e do esforço evangelizador da Igreja está a fé no Deus Trindade, revelado na pessoa, palavras e gestos de Jesus de Nazaré.
Segundo o DGC é dessa fé em Deus que pode brotar, com os adequados processos de inserção comunitário-eclesial e educação-iniciação, uma identidade crente adulta e autónoma.
Mas a verdade é que, a respeito dos adolescentes portugueses que frequentaram a catequese, pouco sabemos sobre os conteúdos, qualidade e relevância da sua fé.
Esta necessidade de conhecimento não é uma questão meramente académica ou de curiosidade científica: é um factor importante para perceber a qualidade dos processos pastorais efectivamente em acto; é um factor importante para projectar alternativas de mudança e melhoria.