“Research linking religious involvement with psychological well-being among African Americans indicates that prayer is an important means of coping with serious personal problems.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2642557/)
Although there is a distinct difference between religion and crime fighting, I think that this passage could be used to make a comparison between Batman’s partners giving up hope in him and someone losing faith in their religion.
As the article says, people with serious personal problems often find that it helps to find peace in God. The belief that someone is watching over them, leading them to better pastures, helps them to overcome their grief.
The majority of Batman’s partners (the exception would be Barbara) come from traumatic backgrounds.
They found a sense of belonging in heroism that, to an extent, helped to ease their pain.
It is important to note, however, that almost every child who had ever worked alongside Batman as Robin has had a period of time in which they had lost their faith in their mentor.
Dick felt overshadowed and longed for independence that he couldn’t receive as Batman’s sidekick. He was angered at the way Batman would hide things from him and manipulate situations (to keep him as safe as possible) in order to put the mission first.
Jason was killed in a horrific way and felt that Bruce allowing The Joker to continue living after beating him to death with a crowbar was unjustifiable. He decided that Batman’s brand of justice just didn’t cut it and started killing criminals.
Stephanie was given the title of Robin by Bruce purely to spite Tim, since at the time Tim’s biological father had forced him to quit vigilantism. He never treated her fairly and eventually fired her after only allowing her to act as Robin for a couple of days. This event threw a wrench into their already shaky relationship.
and Damian, much like Jason, eventually decided that his father’s way of dealing with criminals wasn’t enough. He created an underground torture chamber that was eventually found by Batman - who was not happy, and thus left the role of Robin. This is a relatively new development in comics, so a better explanation of it can be found at this link : https://screenrant.com/damian-wayne-quits-robin-dc-comics/
https://youtu.be/om-kwCnTExg (Dick quits being Robin)
https://youtu.be/4HCofUFZ7n0 (Under the Red Hood speech)
https://youtu.be/Z4t6BYnMjM0 (Damian vs Bruce)
Tim Drake is the only person who has worked as Batman’s sidekick, in main continuity (meaning that there is an infinite number of “multiverses,” or parallel earths in DC comics but what is considered to be main continuity is any event that happens on “prime earth”) that has not had a significant falling out with him at any point in time during comics history.
There are four steps that occur when one either converts to a new religion, or forgoes religion altogether; they are : “existential questioning, self surrender, new vision, and new life.” (https://www-jstor-org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/stable/3512355?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Finding+Faith%2C+Losing+Faith+The+Prevalence+and+Context+of+Religious+Transformations+during+Adolescence.&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DFinding%2BFaith%252C%2BLosing%2BFaith%253A%2BThe%2BPrevalence%2Band%2BContext%2Bof%2BReligious%2BTransformations%2Bduring%2BAdolescence.%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26group%3Dnone&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-5187_SYC-5188%2F5187&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ae050d4f0226ffc10f8931b8277d80664&seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents)
This idea can be seen in the transformation of each of Bruce’s past Robins.
They have all undergone a situation in which they had to question whether or not Batman’s methods worked for them, in most cases the answer to this was “no.”
Jason and Damian have different morals, Stephanie didn’t like the treatment she received, and Dick realized that he was too emotionally driven, and lacking in the same relentless sense of justice that compelled Bruce to do what he does.
https://youtu.be/2D0eujskWaA (Dick explains why he doesn’t want to be Batman)
“There is general consensus that disengagement from religion occurs most often between the late teens and early twenties. The progressive impact of secularization; life cycle, cognitive-development, and biographical effects; generational and cohort specific aspects; changing historical periods; and the changing face of adolescence and adulthood may all help explain this phenomenon.” (https://www-jstor-org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/stable/3512355?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Finding+Faith%2C+Losing+Faith+The+Prevalence+and+Context+of+Religious+Transformations+during+Adolescence.&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DFinding%2BFaith%252C%2BLosing%2BFaith%253A%2BThe%2BPrevalence%2Band%2BContext%2Bof%2BReligious%2BTransformations%2Bduring%2BAdolescence.%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26group%3Dnone&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_SYC-5187_SYC-5188%2F5187&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ae050d4f0226ffc10f8931b8277d80664&seq=6#metadata_info_tab_contents)
This also rings true in the case of most of the Robins.
They grow up and stop admiring Batman. They begin to see his flaws and turn against him.
In some cases you see them reclaim faith in Batman and join back in on his crusade as a trusted ally (Dick), but in others the relationship remains strained at best and peace is never truly found (Jason).