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The Missing Link in Parks’ Theory of Faith Development

Michaela Bishop

Western Carolina University

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The Missing Link in Parks’ Theory of Faith Development

Improving upon past theories relating to students’ faith, Parks’ Theory of Faith

Development explores how young adults make sense of life’s meaning through exploring their

spirituality. Parks wanted to focus on young adulthood because this is the time in students’ lives

when they first take responsibility for themselves and their own faith (Parks, 2000). The theory

includes three forms of development: forms of knowing, dependence, and community. Within

these forms, students progress from relying on authoritative figures, to open exploration, to

finally synthesizing their new identity with the identities of those around them. The model is

“dynamic and multidimensional” (Guido, Patton, Quaye & Renn, 2016, p. 206) and the forms are

not to be considered separately, but together as a “unified whole” (Guido et. al, 2016, p. 206).

One of the driving forces Parks identifies in students’ faith development is having a

mentoring community to guide students as they pull away from authority figures and begin to

form their own identities. With adequate mentorship, students have the support needed to

confidently explore their faith and create new identities. While religious mentors can be found

throughout campuses, “public higher education in the last century has been reluctant to address

the spiritual and faith development of students” (Guido et. al, 2016, p. 197). This is because

student affairs professionals are worried about compromising the separation of church and state,

being seen as subjective or irrational and simply are not prepared to discuss the topic of

spirituality with students (Guido et. al, 2016). This has led to a lack of spiritual mentors on

campuses who are not tied to religious institutions. Without these mentors, students who want to

explore their spirituality while pulling away from religion find themselves stuck within Parks’

model. To better serve these students, I propose adding considerations within the forms of
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development to account for students who may find themselves stagnant within Parks’ Theory of

Faith Development.

Students Getting Stuck in Parks’ Model

Many students who identify with a religion upon entering college are finding it harder

and harder to reconcile “the preponderance of social injustice and suffering in the world with the

promises of their religious traditions” (Bryant, 2008, p. 1), and as a result pull away from the

religion of their childhood or religion in general. Parks (2000) describes these moments of crisis

as ‘shipwrecks’ (Bryant Rockenbach, Roseboro Walker, & Luzader, 2012), and students usually

require a mix of exploration and mentorship to successfully navigate through their spiritual

struggles (Guido et. al, 2016). However, by pulling away from religion, students may not see

religious mentors as a possibility and find they do not know who else to turn to on matters of

spirituality, if they are even aware of the concept at all. As a result, “for fear of being

misunderstood or stigmatized, students may attempt to conceal their troubled feelings—a

practice that may overwhelm them even more” (Bryant, 2008, p. 7). This self-concealment leads

these students to a stagnant period where they are not developing their faith or spirituality—in

essence, they are becoming stuck in Parks forms of development with no way to progress.

I propose, therefore, that formal ‘considerations’ be added to Parks’ (2000) forms of

development, specifically within probing commitment, fragile inner-dependence and

diffuse/mentoring community. These are the forms students are becoming stuck in when they are

seeking to develop spiritually without religious influences. While I agree with the layout of the

forms, adding in a ‘inadequate mentorship consideration’ addresses the road block so many

students are facing today in the lack of spiritual mentors available. As illustrated in Figure 1,

students are meant to develop through the stages in each form of development and each form has
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a stage where a consideration should be added. To help these students navigate this common

“shipwreck”, student affairs professionals must first be aware it is happening, which is why there

is a need to add it to the theory. Bryant (2008) writes, “‘Failure to recognize the seriousness of

these facets of students’ lives is to leave them quite alone on their quest,” (Bryant, 2008, p. 6).

Figure 1.0
Parks’ Theory of Faith Development Forms of Development
Unqualified Probing Tested Convicted
Authority Bound
Relativism Commitment Commitment Commitment
Trust place in authorities Authorities are Short-term Commitments Wisdom after
(parents, religious leaders, fallible and commitments become more exploring the
teachers), Life seen in rigid reality has centered on secure complexity
terms; little tolerance for many forms, future plans and mystery
ambiguity Not all of life, Deep
Forms of (relationships,
opinions are commitment
Knowing equally valid; faith, career)
to their own
evidence-based understanding
opinions have **Add in of truth and
more substance
consideration** appreciate
others’ truth

Fragile Inner Confident Inner

Dependent/Counterdependent Interdependence
Dependence Dependence
Authority-based until found Balances one's Inner dialogue Confidence leads to
fallible then adolescence own views with shapes new strong
explores others, mentors confidence and understanding of faith
Forms of crucial at this guides destiny
Dependence stage

**Add in
consideration**

Conventional Diffuse Mentoring Self-Selected

Open to the Other
Community Community Community Group
Defined by their New Mentoring Seek out Deepening
family connections relationships groups that communities awareness of others
begin to support young that share their
Forms of form as new adults as they beliefs
Community ideas distance
emerge

**Add in
consideration**
a
Guido, F., Patton, L., Quaye, S. & Renn, K. (2016, p. 203-206).
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Why This Consideration is Necessary

Mentors fostering “spiritual conversations allow[s] students to engage in the process of self-

discovery,” (Cady, 2007, p. 103). During this process, students may experience problems in their

lives, such as confusion about beliefs and values and lowering their ability to cope with the crisis

they are faced with. Without their familiar belief systems in place, students may “question their

existential sense of worth, especially when they feel no support from social networks”

(Dittmann, 2003, p. 52). Therefore, spiritual mentors are vital to college students. Students

questioning their spirituality, especially the students who are so used to relying upon religion, are

vulnerable and lacking their familiar coping skills. It is natural for students to then reach out to

mentors to help ease suffering, but if students cannot identify an adequate mentor, they are left to

suffer alone and cease their spiritual exploration while they are trying to compensate for their

lost coping skills (Cady, 2007). While student affairs professionals have focused heavily on

accepting religious diversity in higher education, “the effect of secularization has been to deny

the significance of the very foundation of religions” (Laurence, 1999, p. 11), which is

spirituality.

Exploring spirituality is a difficult and complex task, and “without the necessary supports

to confront the challenge of trying to understand complexity, students face the danger of feeling

foreclosed to further exploration or meaning-making processes” (Cady, 2007, p. 98). Millennials

today have access to information college students of the past never dreamed about. With just a

few clicks, students today can access information about a variety of religions and beliefs, and

while this is liberating, it is also paralyzing. Newman (2015) says, “Having so many options

creates a lot of anxiety about which religious beliefs, careers, or relationships millennials should

choose. Spirituality allows millennials to avoid choosing one religion and instead combine

elements from many” (Newman, 2015, p. 4). When students choose to pull away from their
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religion, however, they may feel they can no longer turn to their former religious authority

figures as mentors, because they fear being misunderstood or judged.

Dukehart (2013) gives an example of a student who chose to turn away from religion,

saying, “a large part of the reason I moved away from Catholicism was because without

accepting a lot of these core beliefs, I just didn’t think that I could still be a part of that

community,” (Dukehart, 2013, p. 2). Students such as this may feel a few of their beliefs

eliminate them from belonging to a religion, but do not realize they still have the option to

explore spirituality because spiritual mentors do not outwardly identify themselves on campus

most times for fear of crossing a line. In fear of being shamed by the communities they once

considered themselves to be a part of, students are then left to figure out their spiritual struggles

on their own. This leads to feelings of fear and isolation, which ultimately leads students to self-

concealment (Bryant, 2008). Instead of finding support to help them deal with their feelings now

that they have turned away from religion, students often choose to ignore the spiritual part of

themselves and suppress it. While “self-concealment provided a protective barrier, participants

struggled with the fragmentation that followed from representations of the self that were

incomplete and seemingly inauthentic” (Bryant, 2008, p. 5). The religious mentors that are easily

identifiable to students are either refusing to acknowledge a spiritual struggle exists or calling for

premature and unsatisfactory resolutions to preserve faith traditions (Bryant, 2008). The mentor

lying in between, one who acknowledges spirituality is important, but that religion is not always

necessary, is missing in the higher education landscape, leaving students stuck in their faith

development and stagnant in Parks’ model.

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Including an ‘Inadequate Mentorship Consideration’

The lack of adequate spiritual mentors in higher education is halting students’ spiritual

development and needs to be taken into consideration in Parks’ Theory of Faith Development.

While it does not exactly change the theory, stagnation is an important aspect of development

that must be taken into account. The official consideration could be worded along the lines of

‘Without an adequate spiritual mentor, students struggling to move from religion to spirituality

may turn toward self-concealment instead of self-exploration.’ There are three specific places

where this consideration should be added within the forms of development: forms of knowing,

forms of dependence, and forms of community.

Within forms of knowing, young adults begin their self-exploration in probing

commitment (Parks, 1986). If students are focused on self-concealment, they cannot move

forward to create the firm beliefs or values they rely on when making decisions and may not be

able to move confidently from unqualified relativism to probing commitments. They remain

suspended in a state that is aware authority figures are fallible and information is relative, but

with no way to fully decide how they should view information based upon their own

commitments and values. A consideration should be added as follows: students without adequate

spiritual mentors may be stuck in self-concealment and as a result may struggle to transition into

probing commitment where they can visualize future plans and make commitments towards their

own values and beliefs.

Within forms of dependence, young adults begin their self-exploration in fragile inner-

dependence (Parks, 1986). If students are stuck in self-concealment, they cannot balance their

own views with others because they may not have formed their own views yet and are basing

their identity heavily upon others. The self they portray is non-stable and inauthentic, preventing
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them from transitioning into confident inner-dependence. A consideration should be added as

follows: students without adequate spiritual mentors may be stuck in self-concealment and

unable to merge their true views with others, instead attempting to merge views of past authority

figures as their own. As this is an inauthentic version of themselves, students cannot transition

into confident inner-dependence and remain skeptical on their power to shape their destinies.

Within forms of community, young adults begin their self-exploration in diffuse

community. As students begin to try new ideas, they are no longer comfortable in their familiar

social groups and must distance themselves (Parks, 1986). However, if students are stuck in self-

concealment due to a lack of spiritual mentors, they cannot move forward into a meaningful

mentoring community, because they are not revealing their authentic selves and getting the

mentorship they need. In essence, they are suspended between the two forms, unable to go back

or move forward. In an effort to fit in, they self-conceal and put a false self forward. A

consideration should be added as follows: If a student is stuck in self-concealment, they cannot

move on to find a meaningful mentoring community that will truly help them, and instead might

struggle to maintain status in the social groups they no longer feel comfortable in.

Conclusion

Students who come from religious backgrounds may enter college without realizing faith

development is possible beyond religion. Without this knowledge and with student affairs

professionals who infrequently speak about their spirituality around students, these students may

turn towards self-concealment instead of self-revealment and exploration. As a result, though

they have the potential to move through Parks’ Theory of Faith Development, they often become

stuck without a way to move forward until a spiritual mentor reveals themselves. By adding

considerations into Parks’ theory, student affairs professionals can become aware of these
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students and meet them where they are to help continue faith development. Parks (1986b) agreed

that higher education is an important place for young adults to engage in mentoring relationships,

especially at moments where they are vulnerable or have their values tested. All students

experience “shipwrecks”, but it is our duty as student affairs professionals to identify the

“shipwrecks” which do not immediately rise to attention; it is the ones who are silent who need

our help the most.

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References
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Cady, D. M. (2007). Spirituality and Student Development. In B. W. Speck, Searching for

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Dittmann, M. (2003). Struggling to keep the faith. American Psychological Association. 34(11).

Retrieved from http://www.apa.org

Dukehart, C. (2013). More young people are moving away from religion, but why?. [Audio

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