Religiosity and Social Groups

• More women than men participate in religious activity and have religious beliefs.
  • e.g. 1.8 mil female vs. 1.36 mil male churchgoers in England, 2005.

MILLER AND HOFFMAN:

• Women express greater interest in religion and have stronger personal committment.
• True for all ages and religious organisations.

BRUCE:

• Twice as many women than man involved in sects.

HEELAS AND WOODHEAD:

• 80% of holistic milieu participants in Kendal were female.

MILLER AND HOFFMAN:

• Women socialised to be more passive, obedient and caring.
• These qualities are valued by most religions.
• Men with these qualities are also more likely to be religious.
• Women more likely to work part-time so have more scope to organise time around religion.
• Women more likely to be attracted to church as source of gender identity.

GREELEY:

• Taking care of family members increases women's religiosity.
• Involves responsibility for thier ultimate welfare.

DAVIE:

• Women's close proximity to birth and death brings them closer to ultimate questions about the meaning of life
  • e.g. through child-bearing, caring for elderly, sick and dying relatives.

• Women are often associated with nature and a healing role.
• May explain their attraction to the new age.
  • e.g. Kendal project.
• NAMs often celebrate the natural giving women higher status and sense of self-worth.

BRUCE:

• Womens experience of child-rearing makes them less agressive and goal-oriented and more cooperative and caring.
• While men wish to achieve, women wish to feel.

BROWN:

• New Age emphasises importance of being authentic rather than conforming to roles.
• Women more likely to be attracted to this as their role are more restrictive.
• New Age religions emphasis subjective experience rather than external authority.
• Appeals to women's wish for autonomy.
• Alternatively fundamentalism is attractive to some women bc of certainty of gender roles.

GLOCK AND STARK / STARK AND BAINBRIDGE:

• People participate in religion bc of the compensators for deprivation.
• Deprivation is more common amongst women explaining high sect membership.
  • Organismic Deprivation
    • women more likely to suffer ill health and turn to religion for healing.
  • Ethical Deprivation
    • women more morally conservative and thus view the world as in moral decline.
  • Social Deprivation
    • women are more likely to be poor.

• UK today is a multi-ethnic, multi-faith society.
• Biggest group Christians (59%) followed by Muslims (5%).
• Muslims (74%) and black Christians (81%) are considerably more likely to see religion as important than white Catholics (32%).
• Minorities have higher participation rates.

MAMOOD ET AL:

• Found some decline in the importance of religion amongst minorities.
• Fewer were observant.
• Especially among second generation.

• Most ethnic minorities originate from poorer countries with traditional cultures.
• Produce higher levels of religious belief and practice.
• On arrival in the UK their experience as immigrants and minorities gives religion a new role as cultural defence and cultural transition.

BRUCE:

• Religion provides support and a sense of community in uncertain/hostile environments.

BIRD:

• Religion among minorities can be a basis for community solidarity.
• Acts as a means of preservng their culture and language.
• A way of coping with oppression in a racist society.
  • e.g. Black African and Caribbean Christians in UK found that white churchs did not openly accept them.

HERBERG:

• High levels of religious participation among 1st generation immigrants in USA.

BRUCE:

• Sees similar pattern in history of immigration into the UK.
  • Provided a focal point for Irish, African Caribbean, Muslim and other communities.
• Once a group has made its transition into wider society religion may decline.

PRYCE:

• African Caribbean community in Bristol.
• Pentecostalism highly adaptive religion of the oppressed.
  • Helped members to adapt to British society by encouraging self-reliance.
• Rastafarianism represented a different response.
  • Radically rejected wider society as racist and exploitative.

• The older a person is the more likely they are to participate in religious services.
• There are two exceptions:
  • Under 15s
    • more likely to be made to go to chuch by their parents.
  • Over 65s
    • more likely to be sick or disabled and therefore unable to attend.
    • higher death rates makes them a smaller group.

VOAS AND CROCKETT:

• The ageing effect
  • People turn to religion as they get older.
    • e.g. Kendal Project.
  • As we approach death we become more concerned about spiritual matters.
  • More concerned about the afterlife, repentance.
• The generational effect
  • As society becomes more secular each new generation is less religious than the last.
  • Leads to more of old people in church than young people.
  • Claim that each generation is half as religious as their parents.
  • Children are no longer recieving religious socialisation.