From generation to generation: Does Jewish schooling affect Jewish identification

This study tries to answer three primary questions: (1) What is the effect of Jewish schooling on Jewish religious identification? (2) What is the effect of the family on Jewish religious identification? (3) What is the effect of the interaction of Jewish schooling and family on Jewish religious identification? The study also explores the effect of Peers, Camps and Jewish Group Activity on Jewish identification and investigates how the predictors of Jewish identification vary by denomination.;The students of grades five, six and seven in all the Atlanta Jewish schools were surveyed. The schools included two day schools, three Traditional, three Conservative and four Reform synagogue schools. At the same time the parents of all the students were surveyed. The final sample consists of 416 families in which both children and parents responded. Some of the major findings are: (1) The number of hours of Jewish schooling does not make a significant independent contribution to Total Jewish Identification after controlling for the influence of Family background, Peers, Camps and youth groups. This finding differs from previous findings. (2) Family background makes a large and significant contribution to Total Jewish Identification after controlling for Jewish Schooling, Peers, Camps and youth groups. (3) The interaction between the hours of Jewish Schooling and the Parents' Residence-Friendship Patterns make a slight contribution to Total Jewish Identification. All other interaction variables are not significant. (4) The most important predictors of Total Jewish Identification are: Parents' Ritual Observance, Parents' Residence-Friendship Patterns, the children's Jewish Group Activity and the Parents' Parenting Behaviors. (5) The Peers variable is negatively related to Total Jewish Identification. (6) Two sub-scales of Total Jewish Identification, Religious Observance and Charity, are predicted by the hours of Jewish Schooling. (7) The pattern of predictors of Total Jewish Identification varies by denominational affiliation. The total Jewish Identification of Traditional/Orthodox subjects is predicted by Parents' Ritual Observance and Parents' Residence-Friendship Patterns. Reform Total Jewish Identification is predicted by Parents' Parenting Behaviors, subjects' Jewish Group Activity, and by Parents' Residence-Friendship Patterns. Conservative Total Jewish Identification is predicted by the subjects' Jewish Group Activity, years of Jewish Camping, Parents' Parenting Behaviors, and Peers.