ethnicity, gender and age on religion

Question 1

GENDER

STEVE BRUCE - class differences in religion

Answer 1

• middle class women are more attracted to NAM beliefs that emphasise personal autonomy, control and self development
• working class women are more attracted to traditional religions that give them a more passive role (such as belief in an all-powerful god)

Question 2

GENDER

STEVE BRUCE - why women are more attracted to NAMS

Answer 2

• women are more associated with the caring and healing - NAMs celebrate this role
• womens experience of child-rearing makes them more cooperative and caring
• where men wish to achieve, women wish to feel
• in BRUCE’s view, this fits in with the expressive emphasis of the new age

Question 3

GENDER

STARK AND BAINBRIDGE - why sects attract women

Answer 3

• women are more likely to suffer from mental health issues - seek the healing that sects offer
• women are more likely to see the world in moral decline - attracted to sects which share this view
• sects attract poorer groups, and women are more likely to be poor

Question 4

GENDER

MILLER AND HOFFMAN - three reasons why women are more religious

Answer 4

• men are bigger risk takers: by not believing in religion, they are risking that religion may be right, and that they will go to hell
• women are socialised to be more passive, obedient and caring - qualities valued by religions
• women are more likely to work part time, therefore have more time for religious activities

Question 5

GENDER

GRACE DAVIE - why women tend to be more religious than men

Answer 5

research has shown:
- most churchgoers are female
- more women believe in the afterlife
- in all major faiths (except sikhs), women are more likely to practice their religion

reasons:
- women are closer to life/death (childbearing, caring for the sick and elderly)
- brings women closer to the ultimate questions about the meaning of life

Question 6

AGE

VOAS AND CROCKETT - why older people attend religious services

Answer 6

1. the ageing effect - as we get older, we naturally become more concerned about the afterlife
2. secularisation - each generation is less religious than the last
3. the era effect - may be religious due to events lived, such as war or rapid social change

Question 7

AGE

ARWECK AND BECKFORD - collapse of religious socialisation

Answer 7

• collapse of religious socialisation has made an ageing church population
• e.g. sunday schools are disappearing
• parents only 50/50 chance of raising their child as religious
• when parents are different faiths, these chances fall to one in four

Question 8

ETHNICITY

WILL HERBERG - cultural transition

Answer 8

• religion can be a means of easing the transition into a new culture by providing support
• explanation to high levels of first- generation immigrants in USA

Question 9

ETHNICITY

STEVE BRUCE - basis for solidarity/coping

Answer 9

• argues religion offers support and a sense of cultural identity for ethnic minorities in a new environment
• religion among minorities can be a basis for solidarity, and a means of preserving culture and language
• might also be a way of coping with oppression in a racist society