How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception
Using a complex religion framework, this study examines how and why three dimensions of religiosity—biblical literalism, personal religiosity, and religious service attendance—are related to young women’s reproductive and contraceptive knowledge differently by social class and race. We triangulate t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/1/5 |
| _version_ | 1797543779482206208 |
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| author | Laura M. Krull Lisa D. Pearce Elyse A. Jennings |
| author_facet | Laura M. Krull Lisa D. Pearce Elyse A. Jennings |
| author_sort | Laura M. Krull |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using a complex religion framework, this study examines how and why three dimensions of religiosity—biblical literalism, personal religiosity, and religious service attendance—are related to young women’s reproductive and contraceptive knowledge differently by social class and race. We triangulate the analysis of survey data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study and semi-structured interview data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to identify and explain patterns. From the quantitative data, we find that all three dimensions of religiosity link to young women’s understandings of sex, reproduction, and contraception in unique ways according to parental education and racial identity. There is a lack of knowledge about female reproductive biology for young women of higher SES with conservative Christian beliefs (regardless of race), but personal religiosity and religious service attendance are related to more accurate contraceptive knowledge for young black women and less accurate knowledge for young White women. From the qualitative data, we find that class and race differences in the meaning of religion and how it informs sexual behavior help explain results from the quantitative data. Our results demonstrate the importance of taking a complex religion approach to studying religion and sex-related outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:50:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fe06f9723ce4cb09a03b6b9852a30d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:50:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fe06f9723ce4cb09a03b6b9852a30d62023-11-21T02:13:47ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442020-12-01121510.3390/rel12010005How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and ContraceptionLaura M. Krull0Lisa D. Pearce1Elyse A. Jennings2Department of Sociology, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI 54115, USADepartment of Sociology, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USACenter for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USAUsing a complex religion framework, this study examines how and why three dimensions of religiosity—biblical literalism, personal religiosity, and religious service attendance—are related to young women’s reproductive and contraceptive knowledge differently by social class and race. We triangulate the analysis of survey data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) study and semi-structured interview data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) to identify and explain patterns. From the quantitative data, we find that all three dimensions of religiosity link to young women’s understandings of sex, reproduction, and contraception in unique ways according to parental education and racial identity. There is a lack of knowledge about female reproductive biology for young women of higher SES with conservative Christian beliefs (regardless of race), but personal religiosity and religious service attendance are related to more accurate contraceptive knowledge for young black women and less accurate knowledge for young White women. From the qualitative data, we find that class and race differences in the meaning of religion and how it informs sexual behavior help explain results from the quantitative data. Our results demonstrate the importance of taking a complex religion approach to studying religion and sex-related outcomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/1/5religionracesocial classcontraceptive knowledgereproductive knowledgecomplex religion |
| spellingShingle | Laura M. Krull Lisa D. Pearce Elyse A. Jennings How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception Religions religion race social class contraceptive knowledge reproductive knowledge complex religion |
| title | How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception |
| title_full | How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception |
| title_fullStr | How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception |
| title_short | How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception |
| title_sort | how religion social class and race intersect in the shaping of young women s understandings of sex reproduction and contraception |
| topic | religion race social class contraceptive knowledge reproductive knowledge complex religion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/1/5 |
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