Thesis (M.A.)--University of London, 1970. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 301-310).

Thesis (inauguralis)--Universitatis Fridericiae Gvilelmiae Rhenanae, Bonnae, 1926. / Includes index. Vita. Description based on print version record.

Thèse--Uppsala. / "Ouvrages cités": p. [116]-130.

Inaug.-diss.--Uppsala. / "Literaturverzeichnis": p. [v]-ix.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northwestern University, 2000. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 61-11, Section: A, page: 4441. Adviser: Caroline Bledsoe.

Ministry research project (D. Min.)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-170).

No description available.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of cult membership, by examining the "before, during, and after" experiences of former members. Five male and five female former long-term members of bible-based religious cults were interviewed. The transcripts of these interviews were then analysed using procedures based on Strauss and Corbin's (1990) Grounded Theory methodology. Three models were constructed from the data analysed, which was explored using a variety of psychological and sociological conceptualisations. The study found that experiences of cult membership were too complex to be explained by a single theory or model. However Social Identity Theory proved useful in synthesising theories across a range of disciplines. The main predicators of joining were a searching/idealistic disposition, pre-existing religious convictions, and active cult recruitment tactics. The dynamics of membership were best conceptualised as an active process, involving a "switch" from individual to group identity. A belief that God was the constant audience was fundamentally important in determining the behaviour of members. A number of those interviewed had left involuntarily due to pressure from within the group rather than outside influence, which had not been widely reported before. Individuals appeared to suffer a grief/bereavement reaction after exiting, and treating them as such may provide a useful initial mode of intervention by mental health professionals. Former members themselves stressed the importance of understanding the context of their involvement, as opposed to any clinical approach based on individual pathology. The study was de facto a pilot, as no previous record of grounded theory research into religious cults was found in the existing literature. The study therefore dentified significant scope for further research into this field, and recommends the grounded theory approach as a useful means to do so.

Esta pesquisa visa analisar as práticas religiosas dos devotos de São João Maria, em uma região interiorana do sul do estado do Paraná e do planalto catarinense. A devoção e o culto ao santo são presentes na região onde, há quase um século, ocorreu a Guerra do Contestado, um movimento de cunho milenarista e messiânico. Procura-se, através de uma etnografia multi-situada, apreender estas práticas religiosas com uma proposta teórica que surge de um campo emergente na antropologia de discussões associadas aos estudos de performance. A partir dos estudos de Stanley Tambiah, intenta-se uma abordagem que privilegia os rituais das práticas de culto ao santo apoiado em um diálogo da antropologia com as perspectivas teatrais oriundas da instigante parceria de autores como Victor Turner e Richard Schechner. / This research intends to analyze the devotees of Saint João Marias religious practices, from an inland region of Paraná state´s south and from the Santa Catarina´s plateau. The devotion and the cult to the Saint can be found at the region where, almost a century ago, occurred the Contestado War, a millenialist and messianic movement. Using the multisited ethnography, we intend to understand these religious practices, through a theoretical proposal which appears by an emergent anthropology field of discussions related to the performance studies. Based on Stanley Tambiah, we propose an approach that privileges the rituals of these practices, supported by a dialogue between anthropology and theatrical perspectives coming from Victor Turner and Richard Schechner works.

This thesis gives an overreaching, detailed analysis of how the Anglo-Saxon cult of St Guthlac of Crowland developed from its modest origins in the eighth century to its summit in the early thirteenth century. It attempts to elucidate the reasons why and how an isolated fenland hermit became the object of widespread veneration instead of drifting into obscurity. In order to consider these reasons, fourteen materials have been chosen from the substantial and varied dossier of surviving Guthlacian materials, to elucidate particular phases or stages in this cult’s development. Ultimately, this thesis considers the function, dissemination, interaction and reception of materials indicative of each author’s adaptation of their subject matter for their patron(s) and audience, and in response to a changing ecclesiastical context. Its central argument is that the adaptability and popular appeal of the Guthlac narrative enabled this cult to benefit from lay support prior to the foundation of a monastic community at Crowland, possibly as late as three hundred years after the saint’s death. This thesis is organized into seven chapters which respectively contribute to a holistic analysis of cult development. Following the introduction, chapter two seeks to draw attention to the variety and import of the Guthlac dossier through an analysis of the historiography relating to their dating, origins and provenance. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a chronology and identify fourteen materials which will be used to define different developmental stages; the Origins, Vernacular Variations, Norman Developments and Longchamp Revival, in subsequent chapters. The third chapter uses a variety of sources to reconstruct Crowland’s historical geography and landscape in order to determine how this context initially and over time affected the development of the cult. It argues that there is no evidence to support that Crowland was chosen as anything other than a site for ascetic retreat within borderlands, both perceived and actual, and that this choice provided substantial challenges to our perception of a cult’s requirements, though none that were insurmountable. Chapter four will proceed onwards to the dossier itself in order to consider how the Guthlac narrative was adapted in response to the changing ecclesiastical contexts defined in chapter three. An analysis of the sources used by these authors and the alterations which they made indicate that there were elements to these texts that were best understood and appreciated by a literate audience, that was likely exclusively monastic. In fact, the authors who were creating new Latin compositions for abbots of Crowland in the years following the Norman Conquest were less and less concerned with creating a text which could be easily comprehended by those with sparse Latin abilities and source knowledge, than they were with meeting the changing needs of successive abbots at Crowland and their progressive designs for the cult. There were nevertheless, other atypical elements found within the origins and vernacular variations phases which are not resolved by this interpretation. Subsequently, chapters five and six explain the social relevance of the heroic and visionary aspects of the Guthlac legend according to contemporary attitudes and accounts. Overall, it will be shown that the cult of St Guthlac of Crowland benefitted from the popular appeal this legend garnered early on, for this enabled it to remain adaptable and relevant until Crowland could take over, with variable results, the propagation of the cult.