STAGE 5 :

CONJUNCTIVE FAITH

 Continue from the prior stage

Engage with others with different faith,
might learn something and will allow
them correct themselves
Had symbols broken by rational
inspection and consciously wills
themselves to a more comprehensive
interpretation
Learning how to reengage with some
type of faith that is beyond their
rationale control
Can appreciate and recognize symbols
without holding literal meaning

STAGE 6 :
UNIVERSALIZING
FAITH

 ONLY by the VERY, VERY FEW reached

this stage. (Gandhi, Martin Luther,
Mother Teresa)
Able to overcome the action/inaction
paradox of stage 5.
Able to sacrifice their own well being
to that of their cause
Referred as subversive because their
contribution are so radically different
from the views of the rest of society
They risk their own safety in order to
help the helpless in unexpected ways

IMPLICATION

1.Social Capital & Social Support

-King & Furrow (2001) human as part of religious
community have an expanded network of caring and
nurturing adults
-God becomes as emotional support (Waite,2001)
2.Health Promotion
-restriction of drug and alcohol
3.Promotion of Prosocial Behavior
-involvement in community service activities
4.Reduce Antisocial behavior

THEORY RELATED

Piaget Cognitive
Development Theory
How the Fowlers Theory connected to Piagets
Theory?
1.Preoperational stage (preschool children)
--begin to signs and symbols to represent objects in their real
lives
-children's have little ability to understand what distinguishes
categories from each other
-may know the name of their denomination, and that the name of
the denomination represents something about individuals who
belong to that denomination, but they have very little
understanding of what distinguishes one denomination from
another.

2.Concrete operational (elementary school children)

-increased level of understanding about religion and
religious beliefs
- characterizes children of this age, however, thinking
about religion is also based on observable behavior,
rather than on thoughts, feelings, and motivations .
- Children understand that denominations differ in their
religious activities, but they have much less
understanding about the differences in religious beliefs
that underlie different activities

2.Formal operational (preadolescence)

-characterized by the capacity for understanding abstract
concepts and for personal reflection and exploration of
religious beliefs, values, and practices.
-Denominations are understood to differ because of
underlying differences in beliefs, and prayer is
understood as a private and personal experience of
communion with God.

Connectivity with
Theories
Age Period
Fowler
Piaget
Erikson
Infants

Primal Faith

Sensorimotor

Trust vs
mistrust

Preschool
(4 -7)

Intuitive Faith

Preoperational
stage

Autonomy vs
shame & doubt
Initiative vs
guilt

Middle
Childhood
( 7 - 11)

Mythic Literal

Concrete
Operational

Industry vs
inferiority

Adolescence
(12 18)

Synthetic
Conventional

Formal
Operational
(12 & older)

Identity vs role
confusion

(early 30s)

Individuative
Conjunctive
Universalizing

Intimacy vs
isolation