Informal Agency of Social Control - Religion

Question 1

Modood

Modood and Berthound (1997)

Answer 1

Surveyed young people and found that 67% of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis saw religion as “very important”
-Compared to 5% of British youths

Individuals brought up in a Muslim, Sikh or Hindu family may feel that religion is a very important influence of their norms and values

Almost all minority ethnic groups in the UK are more religious and show higher levels of religiosity than the white British majority

Question 2

Functionalism

Answer 2

For Durkheim, the key feature of religion was not a belief in gods, spirits or the supernatural, but a fundamental distinction between the sacred ( things set apart, and forbidden, that inspire feelings of awe, fear and wonder and are surrounded by taboos and prohibitions) and the profane (things that have no social significance) found in all religions.

Powerful feelings in believers indicates to Durkheim that this is because they are symbols representing something of great power. Durkheim suggests this can only be society itself, since society is the only thing powerful enough to command such feelings.

When one worships the scared symbols, people are worshiping society itself, uniting believes into a single moral community