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y Sociology : Theories and beliefs > Movements and members > Flashcards

Movements and members Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 4 types of religious organisations

A
  1. Churches
  2. Denominations
  3. sects
  4. cults
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2
Q

What are sects ?

A
  • Smaller organisations that are more exclusive eg Jehovah’s witnesses
  • There are restrictions over members
  • Claims to have a monopoly over the truth
  • Exclusive membership
  • Hostile relationship with society
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3
Q

What are churches ?

A
  • Largest of all christian religious organisations
  • Troeltsch identifies a number of features : Large global following, hierarchy of leadership, social/political influence (eg Bishops sit in the Lords), claims a monopoly over the truth and limited demand placed on members
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4
Q

What are denominations ?

A
  • Christians organisations away from the church eg Pentecostalism and methodism
  • Neibuhr : large following (not as big as churches), hierarchy, no social/political influence, exclusive approach to membership, no claim to have a monopoly over the truth + restrictions placed on members eg no alcohol
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5
Q

What are cults ?

A
  • smallest and least organised
  • No real membership
  • Practiced by individuals for their wellbeing (yoga/astronomy/meditation)
  • No system of leadership + open approach
  • Positive relation with society and no restrictions placed on members
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6
Q

Sociological definitions of sects and cults (2 theories)

A
  1. Wallis’ typology of new religious movements (NRM’s)

2. Categories of Cults (Stark and Bainbridge)

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7
Q

Wallis’s 3 typologies of New Religious Movements (NRMs)

A
  1. World rejecting
  2. World accommodating
  3. World affirming
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8
Q

Wallis’ typology of NRMs (world rejecting)

A
  • World rejecting = hostile with society + expect member to turn backs on old lives
  • Revolve around : notion of God, charismatic leader, disprove of wider society + claim to bring about radical social change
  • Expect members to join a commune (separate from society), highly conservative and must show commitment (cut ties with family)
  • Eg The People’s Temple (Jim Jones became increasingly power hungry + persuaded 900 members to take their own lives + shot himself
  • Took the commune to Guyana + exerted complete control
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9
Q

Wallis’ typology of NRMs (World accommodating NRMs)

A
  • Similar to denominations (smaller + broken away from mainstream religious values)
  • Positive relationship with society but don’t fully accept mainstream social values
  • Live normal lives
  • Eg neo-pentacostalism who believe the spirit of God enters a person’s body whilst they worship
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10
Q

Wallis’ typology of NRMs (World affirming)

A
  • Cult like in structure + provide tools enabling follower to be succesful in wider social lives
  • Accept society + encourage people to better themselves
  • Inclusive eg Yoga/meditation
  • Eg Scientology (set up following PTSD in WW2) to teach people techniques to remove past traumas so they can be rational in thinking
  • Members must $ + doesn’t involve God
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11
Q

Evaluation of Wallis’ typology of New Religious movements

A
  • Criticised as he doesn’t make clear if organisations are classified based on teachings or belief
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12
Q

Evaluation of categories of cults

A
  • Don’t acknowledge some individuals may participate in multiple types of activity
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13
Q

Categories of cults (what are they)

A
  • Stark and Bainbridge
  • Emergence of cult based activities since the mid-late 1900’s
  • Cult activities linked to new age moments (self discovery and personal fulfilment)
  • There are 3 types :
    1. Audience cults
    2. client cults
    3. cultic movements
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14
Q

Audience cults (categories of cults)

A
  • loosely organised + don’t involve interaction between members and practitioners
  • Participate = passive and individual
  • Eg Belief in astrology through horoscopes or aliens through UFOs
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15
Q

Client cults (categories of cults)

A
  • Practitioners provide a service to members
  • Involve payment of $ in exchange for an activity/service
  • One to one/class eg yoga or tarot card reading
  • People drop in and out when the please
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16
Q

Cultic movements (categories of cults)

A
  • Structured and organised
  • Demand a little more eg unlikely members will practice any other form of worship
  • enable followers to develop skills which enable them to be more successful as individuals eg Scientology
  • Moonies claim to be Christian but has different interpretation of the bible + couples are matched by the leaders
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17
Q

Why do people join particular organisations ? (3)

A
  1. Marginalisation
  2. Relative deprivation
  3. Impact of social change
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18
Q

Evaluation of the impact of social change

A
  • Fails to make clear why people specifically turn to new religious movements in response to social change
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19
Q

Impact of social change

A
  • Wilson :
  • Sect activity grows in periods of social change (it heightens the risk of anomie)
  • SC leaves people insecure so they turn to NRMs to help them cope
  • Eg 1800s : GB on the brink of industrialisation + people felt dissatisfied with the Anglican church + lack of support for poor
  • Led to the birth of sect methodism which grew and became denominational
  • Bruce
  • People have turned to sect/cult activity in response to postmodernism and secularisation
  • Dissatisfied with how society has changed eg focus on tech. + materialism
  • World affirming movements = sense of spiritual fulfilment not provided in society
  • World rejecting sects = shield them from changes brought by modernity
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20
Q

Marginalisation

A
  • Feeling socially excluded
  • Experience by poor + BAME in white dominated societies
  • World rejecting sects = attractive to disadvantaged members of society
  • Troeltsch : Sects tends to be made of people from impoverished backgrounds and victims of racism
  • Weber : poorer people attracted as it offers a theory of disprivileg (religious explanation for suffering)
  • Good at latching on to this so members feel valued and welcomed
  • Jim Jones promoted the People’s Temple as an organisation that didn’t discriminate based on race
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21
Q

Evaluation of marginalisation

A
  • Fails to consider why MC join sects too ie don’t come from a position of social exclusion
22
Q

Relative deprivation

A
  • Experienced by privileged people
  • Materially wealthy people feel something missing form their lives eg socially/spiritually deprived
  • Wallis : MC join world rejecting sects to feel part of a community
  • Stark and Bainbridge : Join world affirming sects which provides them with tools to improve their social status
23
Q

Evaluation of relative deprivation

A
  • Relative deprivation effects everyone but most people don’t turn to religion
24
Q

Explanation for the growth of new age movements (NAMs)

A
  • Growth since 1980’s eg Yoga, meditation and astrology
  • Heelas : Interest in such things has grown as people became more focused on self spirituality + rejection of traditional religions
  • Dispute over main cause of increase in NAMs
  • Drane : NAMs increase is due to a shift in postmodernity (meta narratives of how the world works have declined)
  • Less faith in science/religion so have turned to NAMs to help them on a journey of self discovery
  • Bruce : NAMs are a feature of later modern society (people are individualistic so use NAMs as am expression of individuality eg meditation)
  • Modern society = lots of identities eg workers + parents are very separate (use NAMs to create identity)
  • Consumerism is important + engagement in NAMs requires $$
  • As organised religions lose popularity, people turn to NAMs
25
Q

Are new religious movements short lived ? (3 theories)

A
  1. Sects will either become denominational or die out
  2. The sectarian cycle affects the life span of sects
  3. Some Sects survive long term
26
Q

Sects will either become denominational or die out

A
  • Neibuhr (vulnerable organisations and tend to be short lived)
  • Denomination or death theory
  • 3 things that result in denomination or death
  1. Second generations are born who may lack commitment (eg less angry with the world)
    Organisation becomes denominated as less hostile to wider society
    OR will die out as they turn their back
  2. Protestant ethic may occur (members who were deprived find the sects teachings enable them to achieve upward mobility)
    More socially successful = less hostile to wider society + becomes more tolerant
    OR people leave as they no longer need it so it dies out
  3. When the leader dies, the group loses their charismatic figure head
    Leader may turn in to a hierarchy of leadership (more denominational in structure)
    OR the movement may lose purpose and people turn their back if the leader held them together
27
Q

Evaluation of sects will become denominational or die

A
  • Sects like mormonism have a large following and haven’t sold out to becoming denominational either
28
Q

The sectarian cycle effected ting the life span of sects

A
  • Stark and Bainbridge “sectarian cycle”
  • All religions go through a cyclic process :
    1. Religions experience schisms (tensions between privileged and underprivileged members)
    2. Those who set up a new religion go through a period of initial favour (enthusiastic about new faith)
    Next generation, fervour declines + tensions dissipate
  • Process of denominationalism (become world accommodating and embrace the status of a denomination)
  • Tensions arise so further schisms so the cycle begins again
29
Q

Evaluation of the sectarian cycle affects the life span of sects

A
  • Fails to acknowledge some sects don’t go through this full cycle and die out instead
30
Q

Some sects survive longer term

A
  • Wilson : There are some established sects which have retained there sect status and thrived fro years
  • Conversationist sects like mormonism have thrived as their purpose is to recruit
  • Adventist sects (anticipating a day of judgement) survive long term as they aren’t drawn in to the corruptions of modern life eg Amish have refused to be world accommodating
31
Q

Evaluation of some sects survive longer term

A
  • These movements are increasingly struggling to retain their status in a modernised world
32
Q

Patterns in religiosity (gender differences) 4 theories

A
  1. Gender role socialisation
  2. Women use religion to supplement there role as primary socialiser of children
  3. Women are more spiritual than men which attracts them to NAMs
  4. Women are more likely to suffer deprivation which attracts them to sects
33
Q

Patterns in religiosity (ethnic differences) 2 theories

A
  1. Cultural defence theory

2. Cultural transition theory

34
Q

Patterns in religiosity (age differences) 3 reasons

A
  • Voas and Crockett (people rediscover religion when they are older)
    1. Ageing effect
    2. cohort effect
    3. Secularisation argument
35
Q

Gender roe socialisation

A
  • Miller + Hoffman
  • Women are more likely to be religious due to the norms and values they were socialised in to
    1. Encouraged to be risk averse (practice religion to be safe eg worry if they reject God they ill be punished in the afterlife if it exists)
    2. Women are taught from an age to be more obedient (drawn to the rules and structure of religion)
    3. Women learn to have a caring role eg children, elderly or the care sector (religion promotes caring for the elderly)
  • Davie : Women are closer to brith and death making them question the meaning of life and religion helps them cope
36
Q

Evaluation of gender role socialisation

A
  • Gender roles are changing + many women are turning away from traditional roles as carers so also turn away from religion
37
Q

Women use religion to supplement their roles as primary socialiser of children

A
  • Bruce
  • Women work fewer $$ hours than men so have more time for church
  • Religion is closely connected to family life (teaches kids norms and values)
  • Women participate to integrate their children in to a religious community + faith based value
  • Christianity has been increasingly feminised (more female leaders)
38
Q

Evaluation of Women use religion to supplement their roles as primary socialiser of children

A

Women use the church for practical reasons eg support with education rather than genuine religiosity

39
Q

Women are more spiritual than men which attracts them to NAMs

A
  • Heelas and Woodhead : Research in to holistic milieu in Kendall = 80% of participants female
  • three main reasons
  1. Women are closely associated with nature + healing (roles in child bearing and caring for ill relatives)
    Activities that support their expressive roles eg yoga
  2. Women experience ‘role conflict’ between public and private spheres
    More likely to be in paid employment and primary responsibility for family (women = tired)
    Attracted to NAMs that promote self worth + prioritise individual needs
  3. MC = careers and attracted to self improvement eg mediation to help focus at work
    WC = fatalistic and unlikely to self improve so attracted to cult activities like tarot card reading which support the view their futures are written
40
Q

Evaluation of Women are more spiritual than men which attracts them to NAMs

A
  • Assumes falsely that all women have maternal instincts which require fulfilment
41
Q

Women are more likely to suffer deprivation which attracts them to sects

A
  • Stark and Bainbridge
  • 3 types of deprivation women
    1. Organismic deprivation (more likely than men to experience ill health eg mental health conditions)
    2. Ethical deprivation (more morally conservative and concerned about the impacts of social change on society)
    3. Social deprivation (women suffer gender pay gap and glass ceiling)
  • World rejecting sects are attractive as they provide women with a community which they are shielded from modern life
42
Q

evaluation Women are more likely to suffer deprivation which attracts them to sects

A
  • It fails to explain why some men are attracted to sects
43
Q

Cultural defence theory

A
  • Bruce
  • BAME in white society = racism and xenophobia
  • Religion can be significant in helping people feel protected = gives a community of people from similar backgrounds
  • Religion can be used to fend off oppression (eg 1950’s surge of black migrants who despite sharing christianity weren’t welcomed in white church so set up their own establishments)
  • Non Christian groups who wanted to retain cultural values set up their own places of worship eg mosques
44
Q

Evaluation of cultural defence theory

A

While religion helps people cope with racism, it itself is unlikely to be the reason for their religiosity

45
Q

Cultural transition theory

A
  • herberg
  • Religion is a powerful took for 1st generation migrants to help them adapt
  • People may feel homesick/lost so to help cope may turn to religious communities to forge links + a sense of connection with their home country
  • Protestant Christianity is dominant in the USA (early migrants est churches which practiced the christian faith of their homeland)
  • Helped transition + sense of community for further generations
  • Happens in UK with Asian/African migrants
46
Q

Evaluation of cultural transition theory

A
  • Fails to explain the high levels of religiosity in minority communities despite having been around for 3/4 generations
47
Q

Ageing effect

A
  • As people get older = growing awareness of mortality (closer to death so fear the afterlife)
  • Attend church just in case the notion of God, heaven and hell are real
48
Q

Evaluation of the ageing effect

A
  • Older people gravitate towards the church to give a sense of community in later life
49
Q

Cohort effect

A
  • People born in time periods are more/less likely to be religious depending on events they have faced
  • High levels = war generations as they faced major adversity where faith and religion provided security and comfort
  • Low levels of religiosity = socially stable periods with less need for religion
50
Q

Evaluation of cohort effect

A
  • People who turn to religion in turbulent periods may not genuinely be more religious
51
Q

Secularisation argument

A
  • Each generation, levels of interest in religion will decline (waning influence religion has)
  • Sense of cultural amnesia (no longer passed down each generation)
  • Less expectations to attend regular worship
  • The ageing population of churchgoers in the future as children don’t attend
52
Q

Evaluation of the secularisation argument

A
  • Not all groups experience secularisation equally

y Sociology : Theories and beliefs (10 decks)

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