13-1

Richard T. Schaefer

SOCIOLOGY:
A Brief Introduction
Seventh Edition

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

 chapter
13
Religion and Education
CHAPTER OUTLINE
•Durkheim and the Sociological Approach to Religion
•Word Religions
•Sociological Explanations of Religion
•Components of Religion
•Religious Organizations

(continued)

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 chapter
13
Religion and Education
CHAPTER OUTLINE
(continued)

•Case Study: Religion in India

•Sociological Perspectives on Education
•Schools as Formal Organizations
•Social Policy and Religion: Religion in Schools

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 13-4

A Look Ahead
█ What purposes do education and religion
serve?
█ Does religion help to hold society together
or foster social change?
█ What is the “hidden curriculum” in U.S.
schools?
█ Do public schools offer everyone a way up
the socioeconomic ladder, or do they
reinforce divisions among social classes?
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 13-5

Religion
█ Unified system of beliefs and practices
relative to sacred things (Durkheim)
█ Durkheim viewed religion as collective act
– Religion includes many forms of behavior in
which people interact with others
– Acknowledged religion is not the only
integrative force

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 13-6

Religion
█ Sacred: elements beyond everyday life
that inspire awe, respect, and even fear
█ Profane: includes the ordinary and
commonplace

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 13-7

Diversity in World Religions

█ 85% of world’s population adheres to
some religion
– Christianity is the largest single faith, the
second largest is Islam
– Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism developed
in India
– Differences among religions are striking, but
they are exceeded by variations within faiths

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 13-8

Figure 13-1: Religions of the World

Source: J. Allen 2005:30-31.

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 13-9

Table 13-1: Major World Religions

Sources: Author based on Barrett et al. 2006; Swatos 1998.

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 13-10

Functions of Religion
█ Manifest functions: open and stated
functions; religion defines the spiritual
world and gives meaning to the divine
█ Latent functions: unintended, covert, or
hidden functions; might include providing a
meeting ground for unmarried members

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 13-11

The Integrative Function

of Religion
█ Durkheim viewed religion as an
integrative force in human society
█ Gives meaning and purpose to people’s
lives
█ Gives people ultimate values and ends to

hold in common
█ Strengthens social integration within

specific faiths and denominations

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 13-12

Religion and Social Support

█ Religion’s emphasis on divine and
supernatural allows us to do something
about calamities we face
█ The Weberian Thesis (Social Change)
– Protestant work ethic: followers of Protestant
Reformation emphasized a disciplined work
ethic, this-worldly concerns, and a rational
orientation for life

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 13-13

Religion and Social Change

█ Liberation theology: church should be
used in political efforts to eliminate
poverty, discrimination, and other forms of
injustice

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 13-14

Religion and Social Control:

A Conflict View
█ Marx argued religion impeded social
change
– People focus on other-worldly concerns
– Religion drugged masses into submission by
offering a consolation for their harsh lives on
earth

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 13-15

Table 13-2 Sociological

Perspectives on Religion
Theoretical
Perspective Emphasis

Functionalist Religion as a source of social integration and unification

Religion as a source of social support for individuals
Conflict Religion as a potential obstacle to structural social
change
Religion as a potential source of structural social
change (through liberation theology)
Interactionist Individual religious expression through belief, ritual,
and experience

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 13-16

Components of Religion:
Religious Behavior
█ Religious beliefs: statements to which
members of a particular religion adhere
– Fundamentalism: rigid adherence to
fundamental religious doctrines
– Fundamentalism found worldwide among
most major religious groups

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 13-17

Religious Behavior
█ Religious rituals: practices required or
expected of members of a faith
█ Religious experience: feeling or
perception of being in direct contact with
ultimate reality or of being overcome with
religious emotion

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 13-18

Figure 13-2: Religious

Participation in Selected
Countries, 1981 and 2001

Source: Norris and Inglehart 2004:74.

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 13-19

Religious Organization
█ Ecclesiae: religious organization
claiming to include most or all of the
members of a society
█ Denominations: large, organized
religion not officially linked with the
state or government

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 13-20

Religious Organization
█ Sects: Relatively small religious group
that broke away from some other
religious organization to renew the
original vision of the faith
– Sects are fundamentally at odds with
society and do not seek to become
established national religions

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 13-21

New Religious Movements

or Cults
█ New Religious Movement (NRM):
small secretive religious groups that
represent either a new religion or a
major innovation of an existing faith
– Similar to sects
– Tend to be small
– Viewed as less respectable than more
established faiths

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 13-22

Comparing Forms of
Religious Organization
█ Ecclesiae, denominations, sects, and
new religious movements have different
relationships to society
█ Electronic communication led to the
electronic church

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 13-23

Figure 13-3: Largest Religious

Groups in the United States by
County, 2000

Source: Source: D. Jones et al. 2002:562.

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 13-24

Table 13-3: Characteristics of

Ecclesiae, Denominations, Sects,
and New Religious Movements

Source: Adapted from Vernon 1962; see also Chalfant et al. 1994

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 13-25

Case Study: Religion in India

█ India large and complex enough, it might
be considered a world of its own
– 400 languages, of which 18 are officially
recognized by the government
– Hinduism and Buddhism are major
religions, but several other faiths exist
– Over a billion residents

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 13-26

The Religious Tapestry of India

█ Hinduism and Buddhism are major
religions
– Islam arrived in 1000 CE
– Sikhism founded in 15th century by Hindu
named Nanak
• Pursue enlightenment through meditations
• Men do not cut beards or hair and wear
turbans
– Jainism founded 600 BCE
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 13-27

Religion and the State in India

█ Religion influential in India’s drive to
overturn British colonialism
– India, today, is a secular state dominated
by Hindus
– Hindu faith is tolerant of stem cell
research and cloning, so India has
emerged as leader in biotechnology

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 13-28

Sociological Perspectives
on Education
█ Education is social institution that
formally socializes members of society
– Number of people age 25 or over with a
high school diploma increased from 41%
in 1960 to more than 85% in 2004
– Those with a college degree rose from
8% in 1960 to about 28% in 2004

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 13-29

Functionalist View
█ Transmitting Culture
– Exposing young people to existing beliefs,
norms, and values of their culture
█ Promoting Social and Political Integration
– Common identity and social integration
fostered by education contribute to societal
stability and consensus

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 13-30

Functionalist View
█ Maintaining Social Control
– Schools teach students punctuality,
discipline, scheduling, and responsible work
habits, and how to negotiate through a
bureaucratic organization
█ Serving as an Agent of Change
– Schools serve as meeting ground where
people can share distinctive beliefs and
traditions
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 13-31

Figure 13-4: Percentage of Adults

Ages 25 to 64 Who Have
Completed Higher Education

Source: Bureau of the Census; data for 2002 released in 2005:872.

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 13-32

Conflict View
█ Education is an instrument of elite
domination
– Schools socialize students into values
dictated by the powerful
█ The Hidden Curriculum
– Standards of behavior deemed proper by
society are taught subtly in schools

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 13-33

Conflict View
█ Credentialism
– An increase in the lowest level of education
needed to enter a field

Correspondence Principle: schools promote the

values expected of individuals in each social class
and perpetuate social class divisions from one
generation to the next

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 13-34

Conflict View
█ Bestowal of Status
– Schools tend to preserve social class
inequalities in each new generation
– Schools can reinforce class differences by
putting students in tracks
█ Treatment of Women in Education
– The U.S. educational system long
characterized by discriminatory treatment of
women
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 13-35

Conflict View
█ Treatment of Women in Education (continued)
– In 20th century, sexism in education
included:
• Stereotypes in textbooks
• Pressure on women to study
traditional women’s subjects
• Unequal funding for men’s and
women’s athletic programs
• Employment bias for administrators
and teachers
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 13-36

Interactionist View
█ Labeling and self-fulfilling prophecy
suggest if we treat people in particular
ways, they may fulfill our expectations

Teacher-expectation effect: impact of

teacher expectations and their large role
on student performance

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 13-37

Table 13-4: Sociological

Perspectives on Education
Theoretical
Perspective Emphasis

Functionalist Transmission of the dominant culture

Integration of society
Promotion of social norms, values, and sanctions
Promotion of desirable social change
Conflict Domination by the elite through unequal access
to schooling
Hidden Agenda
Credentialism
Bestowal of status

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 13-38

Bureaucratization of Schools
█ Weber noted five characteristics of
bureaucracy:
– Division of labor
– Hierarchy of authority
– Written rules and regulations
– Impersonality
– Employment based on technical
qualifications

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 13-39

Teachers: Employees
and Instructors
█ Teacher undergoes many perplexing
stresses every day
– 40 to 50% of new teachers quit the
profession within 5 years
█ Fewer students choose teaching as
career due to perceived low income
– In 2005, of first-year students, 5.1%
were interested in elementary education
and 13% in high school education
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 13-40

Student Subcultures
█ Collegiate subculture
█ Academic subcultures

█ Vocational subculture

█ Nonconformist subculture

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 13-41

Homeschooling
█ More than 1.6 million children
homeschooled
– Good alternative for children with ADHD
and LD
– Homeschooled children score higher on
standardized tests
– Some theorists cite lack of social
involvement as problem

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 13-42

Religion in the Schools

█ The Issue
– Some believe there is a role for prayer
and religion in schools
– Others want to maintain strict separation
of church and state
– Also controversy over teaching theories of
the origin of humans and the universe

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 13-43

Religion in the Schools

█ The Setting
– First Amendment protects religious
freedom
– In 1987, Supreme Court ruled states
could not compel the teaching of
creationism in public schools
• Creationists want Bible’s version of
creation of world taught as the only theory
of evolution or as an alternative theory

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 13-44

Religion in the Schools

█ Sociological Insights
– Supporters of school prayer and
creationism feel there is too much
separation in schools between the
sacred and the profane
– Opponents argue a religious majority
in a community might impose viewpoints
specific to its faith at the expense of
religious minorities

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 13-45

Religion in the Schools

█ Policy Initiatives
– In 2003, President Bush declared
schools that prevent school prayer
could lose government funding
– Religious fundamentalists have pushed
their agenda through the political
process

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