Adolescents and the occult : attitudes, beliefs and practices

Abstract

This dissertation was primarily written on the assumption of Fr. Elias Vella, that in Malta we encounter, particularly in schools, a problem with occult practices amongst adolescents. In the first chapter, the literature review, I tried to present a very general overview of the phenomenon of the occult from three perspectives: the biblical aspect, the teachings of the church and the situation today in relation with attitudes, beliefs and practices of the adolescents. The research methodology is presented in chapter 2 whereby a detailed explanation of the survey's procedures is given. In order to grasp an idea of how the adolescents think on this particular subject, I distributed 700 questionnaires to fourth form students in Church and State schools, covering all regions in Malta including Gozo. This was done so that the final results would be less biased and more realistic. The results of the survey and the discussion were sustained by the literature review and I tried to give a clear picture of how the situation in Malta actually is. In this dissertation my aim was not merely to present figures but also to propose to people that are directly involved with our youths, various ways of dealing with this phenomenon.