In this analysis, I am choosing to write about my spirituality and religious beliefs. From a young age, Catholic values and morals were instilled in me by my parents and other family members and I did not seem to have any other choice besides blindly obeying. I was sent to parochial school starting at age three, where we all knew the Ten Commandments by the time we finished preschool and were finger-painting biblical stories during arts and crafts hour. Until my sophomore year of high school when we started to learn more about world religions, I was generally not exposed to other faiths and unaware of the fact that the beliefs I grew up with are sometimes very different from those of others. I knew a couple of Jewish individuals over the years,
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First, according to Piaget, as a young child prior to age 10, individuals generally believe that their religious beliefs cannot be changed and that their affiliation “is to be determined by the family into which one was born” (Jacobs, 2007, p.197). I just went along with whatever my parents and teachers taught me and was not capable of realizing that this religion was not the only option available to me. I was baptized, had my first penance, and receive the Eucharist without any input from me because it was what children in my family were expected to do. I had more of a say in my Confirmation process, but at 14 years old, I did not have enough information or life experience to really think about the true meaning of this Sacrament or the commitment it entailed. Later on in life, Fowler’s theory that the “individuative/reflective faith of late adolescence or young adulthood moves one from reliance on external authorities to authority within the self, leading to consciously chosen commitments” (Jacobs, 2007, p.197). As I became more psychologically aware of myself when I grew older and was able to reevaluate my spiritual beliefs, I have been able to make my own religious decisions, such as just praying on my own time and being less fixated on following every single doctrine. I am still very connected to some of the values of Catholic social teachings, such as protecting the dignity and worth of the person and social justice, which also happen to be parts of the NASW Code of Ethics. There are some parallels that exist and those are usually the Catholic beliefs I tend to still agree with (McCarty,
First, according to Piaget, as a young child prior to age 10, individuals generally believe that their religious beliefs cannot be changed and that their affiliation “is to be determined by the family into which one was born” (Jacobs, 2007, p.197). I just went along with whatever my parents and teachers taught me and was not capable of realizing that this religion was not the only option available to me. I was baptized, had my first penance, and receive the Eucharist without any input from me because it was what children in my family were expected to do. I had more of a say in my Confirmation process, but at 14 years old, I did not have enough information or life experience to really think about the true meaning of this Sacrament or the commitment it entailed. Later on in life, Fowler’s theory that the “individuative/reflective faith of late adolescence or young adulthood moves one from reliance on external authorities to authority within the self, leading to consciously chosen commitments” (Jacobs, 2007, p.197). As I became more psychologically aware of myself when I grew older and was able to reevaluate my spiritual beliefs, I have been able to make my own religious decisions, such as just praying on my own time and being less fixated on following every single doctrine. I am still very connected to some of the values of Catholic social teachings, such as protecting the dignity and worth of the person and social justice, which also happen to be parts of the NASW Code of Ethics. There are some parallels that exist and those are usually the Catholic beliefs I tend to still agree with (McCarty,