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Unit 3SCLY3
Beliefs in Society
February 2011 to May 2011 A2 mock exams
April-May 2011.
Live exams
15th June 2011
Wednesday pm
1 hour 30 min
Unit 4Crime & Deviance
Sociological Theory & Methods
A2 mock exams
20th June 2011
Monday am
2 hours
Unit 3 ~ 20% of A level
Written exam 1hr 30mins
Unit 4 ~ 30% of A Level
Written exam 2 hours
A2 Course Structure and Outline.
The specification:
The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability
Functionalism: conservative force, inhibition of change, collective conscience,Durkheim and totemism, anomie; civil religions
Marxism: religion as ideology, legitimating social inequality, disguising exploitationEtc
Weber: religion as a force for social change: theodicy’s, the Protestant ethic Neo-Marxism: religion used by those opposing the ruling class, liberation theology Feminism: religious beliefs supporting patriarchy Fundamentalist beliefs: rejecting change by reverting to supposed traditional
Values and practices.
The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, includingThe nature and extent of secularisation in a global context
Globalisation and belief systems, including fundamentalism Post modernity: end of meta-narratives, ‘spiritual shopping’
Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and Practice
Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults,With examples of each New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg worldRejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each
New Age movements and spirituality, with examples The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and
Practice.
The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritualOrganisations and movements, beliefs and practices
Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations Gender and religion: women: women’s greater participation, women in religious
Organisations including NRMs; men’s participation and organisational roles inReligions; sexuality and religion; images of gender in religions
Ethnicity and religion: religion and ethnic identity; religion in migrant communities;Religions and minority ethnic groups in the UK today
Age and religion: religious participation and belief by age group; religiousSocialisation
Social class and religion: religious participation and belief by social class
Secularisation: problems of definition and measurement; aspects of secularisationSuch as disengagement, rationalisation, rise of pluralism/diversity, desacralisation,Disenchantment, individuation
Arguments and evidence for and against secularisation e.g. attendance andMembership; believing without belonging; the secularisation cycle theory andCompensators (Stark and Bainbridge); UK compared with other countries (e.g.USA) and global significance of religion today.
We are going to be looking at religious organisation 1st
Religious Organisations
Sociologists have used number of terms to identify key social organisations of religion:
Church, Denomination, Sect and Cult
There have been a number of attempts to categorize the different types of religious organisations, but no system fits perfectly the enormous variety of organisations that have existed throughout the world. Nevertheless, it is possible broadly to distinguish some main types of religious organisations.
New Religious Movements and
typologies of NRMs eg world
rejecting/accommodating/
affirming; millenarian beliefs, with
examples of each.
Typologies of religious
organisations: churches,
denominations, sects and cults,with examples
of each.The
relationship of these
organisations to religious
and spiritual belief and practice.
New Age movements and spirituality, with
examples.
Gender,ethnicty,class ,age and
religion: religious participation and
belief by gender,ethnicty,cl
ass & ageWe will be looking at this later on
the course
Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations.
Church
Pages 422-423
DENOMINATION
Ernst Troeltsch
Steve Bruce
Pages 422 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 49 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
He was the first to distinguish between different religious organisations – influenced by Weber
He questions the usefulness of the definition of the church that Troeltsch comes up with
Pages 423 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 49 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
Niebhur was the first sociologists to differentiate denomination from church
CHURCH DENOMINATION
Similarities
Differences
SECTS& CULTS
Pages 424-425 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 49 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
Troeltsch was the first to distinguish between religious organisation starting of with church which you looked at above, the second was sect. He argues that sects have characteristics that are opposite to churches
The Cult
The media use of the term sect has become interchangeable with the word cult. Sensational reporting of such events as the Waco siege in Texas have meant that the term 'cult' has become loaded with negative connotations
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/
Steve Bruce
How does Bruce define cults?
SECTS CULTS
Similarities
Differences
Typology of religious organisations
Church Denomination Sect Cult
Structure
Organisation
Jonestown 1978 - scene of mass suicide see John for video on this
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~remoore/jonestown/index.html
Relationship with secular society
Relationship with members
New members
Time Scale
Social background of members
Examples (4 of each)
Similarities &Differences
New Religious movements, Sects & Cults
How does Eileen Barker attempt to classify new religious movement (new religious movement means the same thing as sects and cults or so it is used as to mean that)
Pages 425-428 (Haralambous & Holborn)Page 50 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
Roy Wallis – The elementary forms of the new religious life
New Religious Movements (NRM's)
Wallis 1984 - 3 types of NRM
1 World Accommodating
Affirmation of the world
Accommodation of the world
Rejection of the world
Wallis 1984
Argues that the last 30 years in the USA and Europe have witnessed a rapid growth in NRM's. This appears to be going hand in hand with the decline in established churches, suggesting that beliefs are not so much declining as changing
2. World-rejecting movements
3. World Affirming Religions
The Middle ground – Wallis realizes that no religious group will conform to the categories he outlines.
Evaluation
Rodney Stark and Sims Bainbridge 1985- Un – Ideal types
Argue that sects are offshoots of existing religions and cults involve innovation and importing ideas from other religions
They classify cults into 3 types
1. Audience Cults
2. Client Cults
3. Cult Movements
Problems with this classification
Pages 428-429 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 50-51 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
1.
2.
Reasons for the growth sects,cults and new religious movements
Both church and sect claim that they have the unique, true message - but the church is seen as legitimate (even by non-believers), the sect is seen as deviant.
Cult and denomination recognise a variety of beliefs - but again one is seen as legit (denomination) and one is seen as deviant (cult)
Marginality Relative Deprivation
Pages 420-430 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 50-51 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
The Development of sects
Explanations for the growth of religious movements
Marginality Relative Deprivation
Social Change The growth of new religious movements
Pages 431-432 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 52-53 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
Sects as short-lived organisations
The life cycle of sects
The life cycle of sects
Internal ideology and the wider society
Other
The New Age
Other
Examples of the new age
Variations within the new age The appeal of the new age
Pages 432-435 (Haralambous & Holborn)Pages 54 AQA A2 Sociology textbook
The themes of the new age
Questions that could be asked on this
Data questions and short essays
Read Item A below and answer parts (a) and (b) which follow.
Item A
Society has changed significantly over the past century and it has often been noted that there has been a drift away from mainstream religious organisations. Many people now feel that their religious needs can no longer be met through the more conventional forms of religious organisation, such as the traditional churches and denominations. In such cases, it is not unusual for people to be attracted by different and new approaches to worship and belief offered by sects and cults.
To help clarify our understanding of these newer religious organisations, Wallis developed a classification of what he called New Religious Movements that divided them into world-affirming, world-accommodating and world-rejecting religions. In such organisations, participation and membership are often significantly different from mainstream religions. Many people fear that New Religious Movements have too great a hold over their members, but evidence shows that in reality the turnover in membership is very high.
(a) Identify and briefly explain some of the reasons why New Religious Movements have such a high turnover of members. (9 marks)
Identify and briefly explain some of the characteristic features of sects, apart from those referred to in Item A. (9 marks)
Identify and briefly explain three reasons why some individuals may choose to join religious sects or cults 6 marks
Example exam 33 mark questions
Assess the view that cults, sects and New Age movements are fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in contemporary society. (33 marks)
The growth of the new religious movements and the new age beliefs since the 1960s indicates a revival of religion. Discuss 33 marks
Assess sociological explanations for the increasing number of religious and spiritual organisations and movements in society 33 marks
Variations within the new age The appeal of the new age
Conclusion
January 2010
1 Read Item A below and answer parts (a) and (b) that follow.
Item A
Traditional religious organisations have faced many challenges over the past thirtyyears. In the past, their infl uence in society was considerable and they were seenas the mainstream spiritual movements. Some sociologists argue that most peopleparticipated in such organisations, even if only to reinforce their social status. Theseorganisations also had substantial political power and infl uence.However, changes in society over the past few decades have presented considerablechallenges to the traditional roles and status of these organisations. Similarly, somesociologists argue that many people have reassessed their personal commitment totraditional religious organisations. As a result, such organisations have lost bothsupport and membership.
(a) Identify and briefly explain three reasons why traditional religious organisations mayhave lost support and/or membership over the past thirty years, apart from that referredto in Item A. (9 marks)
(b) Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that most people today seespirituality and religious belief as purely private and personal matters. (18 marks)