This study aims to examine power, control, resistance, and the relationalconsequences of leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses. The analysis focused on eightnarratives from the internet forum reddit.com, /r/exjw, where authors describeprocesses in which they challenge their belonging to the organization. The materialhas been analysed using qualitative content analysis, Bromley’s theory of thedisaffiliation process and Raven and French’s theory of power/interaction andinterpersonal influence. The findings point to four tendencies about how certainmembers Jehovah’s Witnesses tried to exert control over (former) members whowant to leave the organization; by controlling resources and social relationships,inflicting harm, engaging in emotional manipulation, and surveillance. None ofthese activities led to increased engagement among those who were the target, butthese actions could slow down the exit process. The study also show thatindividual's resistance was expressed in different ways, through protest, reducedcommitment, intellectual exploration, engagement in new social networks, selfassertion and by disaffiliation. Acts of resistance that were openly expressed tendedto lead to increased control by members of the religious community. The socialconsequences for individuals who (wanted to) leave the organization weredescribed as conflicts, neglect, and rejection.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-432287 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Larsson, Therese |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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