Chapter 4: Social groups and religion Flashcards
What is the difference in church attendance per thousand between 1980 and 2015 in the over 65’s?
1980: 810
2015: 957
What are the overall trends for age and religion?
65 and over increasing over time
All other age groups decrease
Except under 15 - no choice - parents make them go
Drop off for 15-19 year olds is steep
What is VOAS and CROCKET idea of the aging effect with age and religion?
People turn to religion as they get older and approach death
More concerned with spiritual life with age
What is VOAS and CROCKET idea of period effect with age and religion?
People born in certain time periods are more religious due to event at the time (war, rapid social change)
Societal events makes people more likely to turn to religion
Age groups experience same societal events
What is VOAS and CROCKET idea of secularisation and age with religion?
As religion declined in importance, each generation become less religious than the one before
Religion has less significance each generation
Less need for marriage before sex, baptism
In the 1950s, what proportion of children went to Sunday schools?
1/3 of all 14 year olds`
What does a YouGov poll in 2013 say about the percentage of ages believing in some type of god?
Over 60s: just under 60%
18-24: just under 40%
What is VOAS and CROCKET ‘inheritance effect’?
Children are much more likely to be religious if both parents are religious than if only one or neither are
With each generation there are fewer and fewer children raised by 2 religious parents
What gender is more religious?
Women
What did a YouGov survey say about gender differences in religion in 2013?
Women: 56%
Men: 41%
What percentage of women are in New Age Movements according to HEELAS?
80% female
What does DAVIE say about gender and religion with socialisation, motherhood and feminity?
Women associate god with love, comfort and forgiveness (traditional feminine roles)
Men associate more commonly with power and control
What does BRUCE say about gender and religion and socialisation, motherhood and femininty?
Women less aggressive and confrontational
More cooperative and caring - explains greater involvement in NAM and sects
More associated with self-spirituality (horoscopes, astrology, fortune telling)
What is the idea of life expectancy with gender and religion?
Women live longer, more likely to be widowed
Return to religion as a source of support and comfort
What does WOODHEAD say about gendering secularization?
Secularisation reduced involvement of men in traditional religion - became involved in rationalized modern world
Churches became increasingly feminized - more emphasis on love, care relationships
New Age Beliefs helped to resolve identity problems of women combining paid work with caring roles
What is the idea of poverty and relative deprivation with gender and religion?
Women more likely to face social deprivation and marginality
Religious groups provide solace in religious groups which provide theodicies explaining their feelings
What are the overall trends with religion and ethnicity?
African Caribbean protestants have the highest percentage of ethnic minority importance
Muslims have the highest percentage of those from ethnic minorities likely to attend worship
What is the percentage of white Anglicans compared to Muslims likely to attend weekly worship?
White Anglicans: 9%
Muslims: 62%
What does DAVIE say about ethnicity and religion?
Higher levels of religiosity help to maintain tradition, group cohesion and community solidarity
Mosques and Sikh temples are community centres as well as places of worship
Provide a focus for social life and protection and promotion of cultural values
Creates community for minorities to feel comfortable in
What does MODOOD say about ethnicity and religion?
Religion is a source of socialisation and maintains traditional morality
Helps to cope with worries and pressures in life (racism)
What does MARX say about ethnicity and religion with social deprivation, marginality and status frustration?
Opium of the masses
Comforting diversion for poverty and racism they encounter
People from ethnic minorities need comforting from difficulties in society
What does BRUCE say about ethnicity and religion?
EM are more religious than white in the UK
More about community solidarity rather than religious commitment
Cultural defence: using religion as a way of protecting your identity in a hostile environment
Cultural transition: religion used to cope with upheaval of migration
Which social classes are more represented in church statistics and why?
Upper class and upper middle class are over-represented
Association with the establishment and conservative ideology
What is the YouGov research into class and church attendence?
2015
Over 60% of regular attendees were middle class
Which social classes are more represented in worship in denominations and why?
Appeal most to upper working class and lower middle class
Why does WALLIS think that denominations are respectable institutions?
They are respectable organizations
Tend not to attract lowest classes
What classes do sects usually recruit from and why?
Recruit from most disadvantaged
Require members to give up lives, those with much to loose are unlikely to join
Why did WALLIS say that affluent students in the 1960s joined sects?
Appeal to the ‘relatively deprived’
M/C of affluent students who were seeking compensation for their lack of spiritual life
What class do cults appeal to?
Appeal to already successful and affluent who want to become successful
What does HEELAS say about cults and class?
M/C women
Want self-spirituality
Reject traditional authority
What does BRUCE say about social class and types of religious organisations?
Media
Expressive roes
Self-improvement (post-modernism)
What term was used by Voas and Crockett to mean that older generations are more religious due to the time in which they were brought up?
Period effect
