Comprehending Cults : The Sociology of New Religious Movements,9780195420098

Comprehending Cults : The Sociology of New Religious Movements

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Edition: 2nd
ISBN13: 9780195420098
ISBN10: 0195420098
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2006-01-25
Publisher(s): Oxford University Press
List Price: $125.52

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Summary

Tackling popular stereotypes and media portrayals of new religious movements (NRMs), Lorne Dawson attempts to replace prejudice, misconceptions, and speculation with scholarly insight. Drawing on more than forty years of research conducted by historians, sociologists, and psychologists, he explores how new religious movements develop, who joins them, and why. He also analyzes controversial issues such as the accusations of brainwashing and sexual deviance that are sometimes made against cults; discusses why cults sometimes turn to violence; and examines what NRMs can tell us about the future of religion and culture in North America. The result is a comprehensive, evenhanded introduction to the study of new religious phenomena. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Lorne L. Dawson is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v
Why Study New Religious Movements?
1(13)
The Cults in Our Midst
2(3)
The Hostility Towards Cults
5(3)
Box 1 They Come in All Shapes and Sizes
8(2)
Responding to the Suspicions of the Public
10(4)
What Are New Religious Movements?
14(25)
Religion and Its Continuing Significance
14(12)
Churches, Sects, and Cults
26(4)
Creating a Typology of Cults
30(4)
Box 2 How New Religious Movements Change with Success
34(5)
Why Did New Religious Movements Emerge?
39(32)
Asking the Right Question First
39(1)
New Religious Movements as a Response to Cultural Change
39(21)
Box 3 Three Models of Cult Formation
60(2)
New Religious Movements as an Expression of Cultural Continuity
62(8)
Concluding Remarks
70(1)
Who Joins New Religious Movements and Why?
71(24)
The Stereotypes
71(1)
Getting Involved with New Religious Movements
71(11)
The Social Attributes of Those Who Join
82(6)
Box 4 Why Are American Converts to New Religious Movements Disproportionately Jewish?
88(2)
Some Reasons for Joining
90(5)
Are Converts to New Religious Movements `Brainwashed'?
95(30)
The Issue and Its Significance
95(2)
The Case Against the Cults
97(6)
The Case Against Brainwashing
103(14)
Box 5 The Active Versus Passive Convert
117(2)
Reformulating the Issues in the Brainwashing Debate
119(6)
Why Are New Religious Movements So Often Accused of Sexual Deviance?
125(17)
Sexual Deviance and the Cults
126(6)
Box 6 Child Abuse and the Social Control of NRMs
132(4)
Gender Matters
136(6)
Why Do Some New Religious Movements Become Violent?
142(37)
Responding to Recent `Cult' Tragedies
142(4)
Apocalyptic Beliefs
146(6)
Charismatic Leadership
152(10)
Social Encapsulation
162(6)
Box 7 Surviving the Failure of Apocalyptic Prophecies
168(7)
Concluding Remarks
175(4)
What Is the Cultural Significance of New Religious Movements?
179(21)
Our Skewed Perspective
179(10)
Modernism and the New Religious Movements
189(4)
Box 8 Factors Affecting the Success of NRMs
193(2)
Postmodernism and the New Religious Movements
195(2)
NRMs: Anti-modern, Modern, or Postmodern?
197(2)
Concluding Remarks
199(1)
Notes 200(16)
Bibliography 216(42)
Index 258

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