Promoting spiritual well-being among Hindu children in South Asian, Southeast Asian and African Countries: Bala Vihars of Chinmaya Mission
The main objective of the study is to examine whether the Bala Vihars (BVs) of Chinmaya Mission promote spiritual well-being among Hindu children in different cultural contexts. Deploying a comparative survey design, 1194 BV participants aged 11-15 years, across 13 South Asian, African and Southeast...
| Published in: | International journal of children's spirituality |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2016]
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| In: |
International journal of children's spirituality
Year: 2016, Volume: 21, Issue: 1, Pages: 19-37 |
| RelBib Classification: | AE Psychology of religion AG Religious life; material religion AH Religious education BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism |
| Further subjects: | B
Self-concept
B Spirituality B Bala Vihars B Happiness B Religion B Children B Spiritual well-being B Hindus B Religiosity B Hope |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | The main objective of the study is to examine whether the Bala Vihars (BVs) of Chinmaya Mission promote spiritual well-being among Hindu children in different cultural contexts. Deploying a comparative survey design, 1194 BV participants aged 11-15 years, across 13 South Asian, African and Southeast Asian cities comprised the sample and an equal number comprised the comparison group. Email questionnaire was used comprising scales to assess spiritual well-being, operationalised through attitudes to Hinduism, hope, happiness, strengths and self-concept. Results of scale scores, ANOVA and logistic regression showed that BV participants scored better on all parameters and their scores, in turn, were contingent on attendance regularity, self-practice, and the consolidated learning of Hindu culture tenets, life skills and moral values. The BV programme significantly promotes child spiritual well-being, corroborating the extant literature on religiosity, spirituality and children's spiritual well-being. The programme works best for children who attend regularly, undertake self-practice and claim to get a consolidated package of tenets of Hindu culture, life skills and moral values. This has implications for practitioners in designing consolidated forms of religious programmes for children's spiritual well-being, giving a simultaneous emphasis on regularity of engagement and self-practice. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-8455 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal of children's spirituality
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1364436X.2016.1142938 |