ABSTRACT
The family is the context for primary socialisation (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) and parents are significant others during the early years for most children. There is clear research evidence that this key role of the family extends to the religiosity of children as they grow up, and before the influences of friends and society gain in importance (Hyde, 1990; Kay and Francis, 1996; Gunnoe and Moore, 2002; Smith and Denton, 2005; Mason et al., 2007). As illustrated in Chapter 4, the Youth On Religion (YOR) study also found the family to be a key influence on religiosity, at least for the early years, when young people acknowledge they are strongly influenced by their parents’ faith position. For many it continues to be important as children become teenagers and make their own more personal explorations and commitments.
