The Self-Image of Adolescents in the Protestant Family: A Study of Seventh-day Adventist Families in Predominantly Orthodox Serbia

This is an extraordinary and comprehensive book examining the complexities of adolescent self-image formation using an interdisciplinary empirical research format examining the role and challenges of Christian faith on adolescent personal identity development in modern Protestant families in Yugoslavia. The subject of this research is the analysis of the Protestant family life in Yugoslavian society which underwent a rapid transition from general animosity toward religion to overwhelming dominance of a traditional church. Within this environment the Protestant family is doubly condemned. It has to remain secluded in order to protect itself from the social hostility, but also from what it perceives as negative influences of a society on its moral standards and religious lifestyle. Besides the adverse social climate, children from these families are burdened with high expectations of their parents. This book, based on empirical research and backed up by theoretical studies, seeks to examine psychological and social consequences of growing up in these conditions: how it affects their self-image, social relationships, mental health, social adjustment, but also their own religious views. Although based on experiences of Adventist families, the findings of this research are not restricted only to this Protestant group or to Protestantism in general.