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Book Cover
E-book
Author Jindra, Ines W.

Title A New Model of Religious Conversion : Beyond Network Theory and Social Constructivism
Published Leiden : BRILL, 2014

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Description 1 online resource (238 pages)
Series Religion in the Americas
Religion in the Americas
Contents A New Model of Religious Conversion; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments; 1. Conversions in Context: On the Interaction between the Personal and the Social; Goals and Argument of the Book; Religious Experience and Religious Conversion; Religious Experience; Religious Conversion; Outline of the Book; Methodology; 2. Case Studies, the Key Concept and Converts' Background Experiences; Selected Case Studies; Introducing the Inductive, Comparative Model: The Key Concept and Background Experiences; Shared Background Experiences; Problems with Fathers and/or Mothers
Short-Term Crises Prior to ConversionKey Concept -- Contrasting Background Experiences; The Experience of "Openness" or Disorganization (Category 1); Religious Meaninglessness; Cultural, Social and/or Familial Disorganization; Problems in the Area of Relationships and Self; The Experience of Closed, Too Structured Backgrounds (Category 2); Too Much Religious Structure; Too Much Cultural Structure; Feeling at Home in One's Milieu of Origin (Category 3); Attractions of Religious Groups in Light of Background Experiences; Conversions in Reaction to "Disorganization" (Category 1)
Converts to the Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Meaninglessness and Familial DisorganizationConverts to Islam and the Jehovah's Witnesses: Cultural, Social and/or Familial Disorganization; Converts to Christianity: Problems in the Area of Relationships and Self; Conversions in Reaction to Closed, Too Structured Backgrounds (Category 2); Unitarian Universalists, One Buddhist: Too Much Religious Structure; Converts to the Baha'i: Too Much Cultural Structure; Feeling at Home in One's Milieu of Origin (Category 3)
Converts to Various Christian Denominations, to the Baha'i and to Islam: Feeling at Home in One's Milieu of OriginConclusion; Comparison with Henri Gooren's "Conversion Career Approach"; Making Sense of Background Patterns in Light of Theories of Social Change; 3. Network Influence, Strong Social Constructivism and the Backgrounds of Conversion; Network Theory and Strong Social Constructivism: Explaining Why People Convert; The Failure of Network Theory and Strong Social Constructivism in Explaining Why People Convert
Why the Difference in Network Influence and Account Giving/Biographical Reconstruction?The Overall Pattern; Cases for Which the Dominant Paradigms Fit; Cases for Which the Dominant Paradigms Do Not Fit; Summary of Associations; Mechanisms; 4. Altering a (Problematic) Trajectory, Religious Content, and Conversion; Altering One's (Problematic) Trajectory; Case Stories That Fit the Dominant Paradigms; The Role of Network Influence in Altering One's (Problematic) Trajectory: Converts to the Jehovah's Witnesses and to Islam
Summary A New Model of Religious Conversion highlights connections between converts' backgrounds and the religions they convert to. It also critiques the prevalent application of network theory and social constructivism to the study of conversion narratives, while making the case for the introduction of biographical sociology to American sociology
Notes The Role of Network Influence, Positive Background Experiences, and Religious Emotions, Cognitions, and Beliefs: Adopting the Religion One Grew Up with
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Conversion.
Conversion -- Case studies
Conversion -- Psychology
BODY, MIND & SPIRIT -- Inspiration & Personal Growth.
BODY, MIND & SPIRIT -- Spirituality -- General.
RELIGION -- Christianity -- General.
RELIGION -- Devotional.
RELIGION -- Spirituality.
Conversion
Conversion -- Psychology
Genre/Form Case studies
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9789004266506
900426650X
130646448X
9781306464482