Sociology

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)

(a) One reason why new religious movements have a high turnover of members is that they find it difficult to sustain the interest and enthusiasm of members over time. This is because many new members are very committed and enthusiastic to begin with but over time they find this difficult to keep up and so may leave as their commitment and enthusiasm disappears.

Another reason for the high turnover of members is that many groups make heavy demands on members which they eventually feel is too much. Some members may find these demands unacceptable or difficult to manage, so they leave.

Some people join such groups during periods of personal crisis and leave when the crisis is

over. Some...