Lecture topic:
Why people joins NRMs
Why Do People Join NRMs?
Social Science Models
Soc 257:
New Religious Movements
Lecture Outline:
- The Web of Group Affiliation
- Conversion As a Problematic Status
- Theories of Conversion
Part I
The Web of Group Affiliaion
Why do people belong to groups?
- Born into groups
- Compelled by authority to belong
- Elect to join
- Have a transformational experience
Why join religious groups?
- The most important reason people
belong to a religious tradition is.....
- They were born into the tradition
Through much of history, one's religion
was the religion of the ruler
- When Constantine embraced Chistianity (313AD)
the Roman Empire became Christian.
- Prince Vladimir's conversion to Christianity
(988 AD) has been identified with the "baptism of Russia.."
- In the 15th century Spain and Portugal conquered
Latin America with the sword and the cross.
- Beginning in the 7th century, soldiers were the
principle instrurment for the spread of Islam from Senegal to
Indonesia .
- So it has been throug` much of history.
In the contemporary modern world, one's
faith is often a matter of choice.
- People elect to join a faith tradition.
- What are some of the most common factors that
lead people to elect to join a religious group?
Factors affecting decision to join
- Marriage
- Social Status
- Association
Throughout history some people have always
been attracted to particular faith traditions by extraordinary
feelings of attachment
Committed to persecuting members of the young Christian cult,
Saul was struck down by a bolt of light on the road to Demascus
and became the most celebrated convert in all of
Christendom.
- Virtually everyone who lives in the Christian
world knows the story of a Roman soldier named Saul of Tarsis.
Conversion, undersood as a radical
life transforming experience has played a central role in
Christianity from the beginning.
Here are just a few examples:
- St Francis of Assisi
- John Wesley
- Joseph Smith
- Billy Graham
- Charles Colson
Who is this man?
In summary:
reasons for joining a faith tradition:
- Birth
- Compelled to join
- Elect to join
- Experience conversion
Part II:
Conversion As a
Problematic Status
Conversion is problematic
for a number of reasons depending who is assessing the conversion
- When someone converts to my faith, I am likely
to view it as authentic and genuine
- When someone converts to a faith that is ideologically
distant from my own I am likely to see it as:
- insincere
- the result of immaturity
- gulibility
- manipulation
- even foul play
Variations in Conversion Experience
- Intensity
- Demands of the new faith
- Ideological distance from former faith
Variation in conversion experience
Intensity high -------------> low
Demands high -------------> low
Ideological distance high -------------> low
In the lecture on the vocabulary of our inquiry we noted that
the social sciences are in the business of building theory, and
that the purpose of theory is to provide a road
map for predicting human behavior.
- Theory
is a systematic set of interrelated propositions
- Propositions
are statements about the relationship between two or more concepts.
- Can you begin to construct some elements of
theory about how people react to the conversion of others?
What are the elements or concepts we
have to work with?
- Conversion
- Intensity
- Demands
- Ideological distance
- Acceptance/Accomodation
- Rejection/Conflict
Two propositions:
The greater the intensity of the conversion experience, the greater
the demands, and the greater the ideological distance, the greater
the potential for rejection and conflict.
The lower the intensity of the conversion experience, the lower
the demands, and the less the ideologial distance, the greater
the ease of accepting or accommodating to the conversion.
Part III
Theories of Conversion
Theories of Conversion:
- Deprivation theory
- Social process theory
- Role theory
- Commitment Model
- Social Networks Model
A. Deprivaion Theory
Traditional Conceptions of Deprivation:
- Economic deprivation
- Social deprivation
- Psychological deprivation
- NB; THE THREE POINTS IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE ARE
NOT DEVELOPED LOGICALLY....CLEAN UP BEFORE REUSE.
Critique of psychological deprivation model:
Most importantly, the theory does not cover
the full range of factors that my contribute to joining a group,
e.g.:
1. desire to escape an intolerable life situation
2. desire to escape an unwanted "ego"
or "self"
3. quest for a sense of community
4. pursuit of truth; ultimate meaning in
life
A. Deprivaion Theory (con't)
- The biological deprivation model
1. "Human affinity for close-knit groups is ubiquitous
and apparently an innate trait.
2. People join many kinds of chaismatic groups to achieve
group affiliation.
3. Joining produces a "relief effect"
4. Even pathological groups can produce positive effects.
5. Once in a group, leaving can become difficult
B. Social Process Model
C. Role Theory Model
- Stresses volunteerism
- 1. Joiners see themselves as seekers before joining
- 2. Seekng new ways to live; new interpretations
of life
- Learn roles appropriate for participation
- 3. Role learning
- 4. Role playing
- 5. Making tentative commitments
- Socialization
- 6. Becoming a member is a gradual process
- 7. Novice may characterize experience as conversion,
but is not likely to have a dramatic experience
D. Commitment Model
Three Types of Commtment
- Instrumental Commitment
- Affective Commitment
- Moral Commitment
Kanter's Commitment Theory
Type of Commitment
Instrumental
[organizational]
Affective
[members]
Moral
[ideas]
E. Social Network Theory
- Personal social bonds are the key to joining
movements.
- New recruits are likely to return to old affiliations
to recruit yet more members.
- But, the greater
the demands made by a group, the less likely that recriters
will return of old social networks.
Personal bonds key to joining movements
Lofland and Stark found that every potential recruit
to the Doomsday Cult who developed strong personal ties
with a member of the group joined.
- Conversly, they found no cases of joining without
first developing strong personal ties.
- In short, personal ties rather than ideology
draws people to groups.
- Conversion, hence, is the acceptance of the
beliefs of one's friends.
Building on these observations, David
Snow reasoned that new recruits to all kinds of groups would likely
return to old groups to seek yet additional recruits.
- The results of his investigation only partially
confirmed this hypothesis.
- Where and how groups recruit is a function of
the level of commitment demanded by the group.
- Groups that do not make great demands on members
recruit heavily from the natural social networks.
- High demand groups, on the other hand, recruit
almost exclusively outside natural social networks.
Inclusive v Exclusive Movements
- Inclusive movements:
- do not require members to cut ties with other
groups
- extensively utilize established ties to recruit
- Exclusive movements:
- demand total commitment
- seek new members beyond established social ties
Movements and social networks
Movement: %
recriting w/in
networks
March of Dimes 90
Anti-abortion 91
Pentecostal 79, 74, 59
Sokagakkai ?
Hare Krishnas ?
Movements and social networks
Movement: %
recriting w/in
networks
March of Dimes 90
Anti-abortion 91
Pentecostal 79, 74, 59
Sokagakkai 92,96,100
Hare Krishnas
?
Movements and social networks
- HARE KRISHNAS
- ???
- 3%
- WHY?
Summary of Lecture:
- Belonging to groups is a natural human activity.
- People belong to religious groups for essentially
the same reasons they belong to other groups.
Conversion is generally understood as an emotionally charged
experience that leads to a dramatic reorganization of the convert's
life.
In reality, conversion varies enormously in terms of the intensity
of the experience and the degree to which it actually alters
the life of the convert.
- Conversion is one, but not the only reason people
join religious groups.
Summary of Lecture (con't)
- Social scientists have offered a number of theories
to explain why people join religious groups.
- Most of these explainations could apply equally
well to explain why people join lots of other kinds of groups.
- No one theory can explain all joinings or conversions.
What all of these theories have in common (deprivation theory
excluded) is the view that joining or converting is a natural
process.
Next topic
Leaving New Religious Movements:
Social Science Perspectives