Date of Award
4-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2026
Degree Name
Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL)
Director
Julie Hanlon Rubio
Abstract
This study asks whether, and in what ways, family size shapes moral formation within the Catholic family as a "school of deeper humanity," as articulated in Gaudium et Spes (§52). Drawing on a mixed-methods approach-qualitative interviews with ten families (five large, with four or more children; five small, with one to three children) in Kerala, India, supplemented by a survey of sixty-three respondents-the project compares how large and small families cultivate virtue. The analysis is guided by an interpretive framework rooted in the theological vision of family as a school of deeper humanity.
The findings reveal two distinct logics of formation. Large families cultivate virtues primarily through relational breadth: patience learned by negotiating among many, generosity habituated through daily necessities, and social competence formed through constant interaction. Small families form virtues through relational depth: patience as enduring proximity, emotional attunement as precise knowledge of the few, and generosity as intentional cultivation rather than necessity. Both ecologies produce genuine virtues, yet each carries characteristic crucibles-fragmented attention and emotional scarcity in large families; overprotection, narrow social exposure, and delayed agency in small families.
The study argues that family size, while not the sole determinant of moral formation, is a significant and overlooked variable in Catholic family ethics. No family size is morally superior; rather, the decisive question is whether a household is open and whether parents act reflexively to supplement what comes naturally with deliberate formation. The conclusion evaluates large and small families in light of Catholic teaching, suggesting that while large families tend toward outward-oriented virtues and small families toward inward formation, intentionality can render either a genuine school of deeper humanity. The project falls within the ongoing renewal of virtue ethics in contemporary family ethics and responds to sociologist Eleanor Boll's eighty-year-old plea for sustained attention to family size in child development.
Recommended Citation
Elvis, Joanna, "School of Deeper Humanity: A Comparative Analysis of Character Formation in Large and Small Families in Kerala" (2026). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 165.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/165
