Why Children Need Authoritative Communities

Two weeks ago I focused this column on a report written by a group of 33 children's doctors, research scientists, and mental health and youth service professionals entitled Hardwired to Connect. The study, a joint project of the YMCA, Dartmouth Medical School and the Institute for American Values, discusses the rising rates of mental problems and emotional distress among U.S. children and adolescents, identifies important contributors, and suggests specific strategies to address this crisis.

Children, the researchers insist, are in special need of “authoritative communities” to help them regain "close connections to other people and deep connections to moral and spiritual meaning." Their findings are based on scientific studies from an interdisciplinary perspective , including medicine, child and adolescent development, religion, sociology, psychology, and neurobiology. Their two primary claims are that we are “hardwired for close attachments to other people” and “hardwired for meaning,” that is, we are born with a “built-in capacity and drive to search for purpose and reflect on life’s ultimate ends”(p. 14). Both of these needs, the authors argue, are best met and satisfied in authoritative communities.

According to the authors of the study, there are ten main characteristics of an authoritative community.

1)      It is a social institution that includes children and youth.

2)      It treats children as ends in themselves.

3)      It is warm and nurturing.

4)      It establishes clear limits and expectations.

5)      The core of its work is performed largely by non-specialists.

6)      It is multi-generational.

7)      It has a long-term focus.

8)      It reflects and transmits a shared understanding of what it means to be a good person.

9)      It encourages spiritual and religious development.

10)  It is philosophically oriented to the equal dignity of all persons and to the principle of love of neighbor (p. 34). 

The authors expound on each of these characteristics at much greater length than is possible here, but from a quick overview one can easily see that most, if not all, are fundamentals associated with a healthy family. At the same time, they are not necessarily limited to family life. A faith community, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, 4-H and Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) are also possible examples. Many organizations involve children and youth, but do not necessarily focus on their growth and development, i.e. the focus of youth engagement is not limited strictly to winning games or claiming a trophy.

As a psychologist and family therapist who has worked with hundreds of children, couples and families over the last three decades, I value the skills professionals bring to the table. At the same time, I see that the most critical person in a child or adolescent’s life may be a grandparent, concerned teacher, dedicated mentor or caring minister. Since children tend to learn to be what they admire, positive relationships with worthy adults are key to their development.

I think I was most taken with the study’s claim that an authoritative community “recognizes that religious and spiritual expression is a natural part of personhood.”  Of course, this assertion is also closely tied to the long-term focus of an authoritative community, its understanding of what it means to be a good person, its orientation to the equal dignity of all persons, and the principle of love of neighbor. If what the authors say is true, than we really do have a lot of work to do in helping our children and adolescents form the deeper spiritual connections often found in a faith community.

It’s not often you hear this sort of challenge from the scientific community. I wonder how we will respond.

Grateful for community,

Dr. Jennifer Baker