Strategies Among Young Jehovah’s Witnesses in Compulsory School in Sweden, Age 13–15, a Case Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v4i1.3Keywords:
strategies, coping, Jehovah’s Witnesses, adolescence, compulsory school, ageAbstract
This study investigated how young teenagers, as members of a strong religious organization, dealt with the school situation and the encounter with mainstream culture taking place at school during the final years in Swedish primary school (age 13–15 years). The purpose was to explore possible strategies that members of a minority group, in this case the Jehovah’s Witnesses, developed in order to deal with a value system differing from that of the group. We interviewed eleven former members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses about their final years in compulsory Swedish communal school. The ages of the interviewees ranged between 24 and 46 years, and the interviewed group comprised six men and five women. Nine of the eleven interviewees had grown up in the countryside or in villages. All but two were ethnic Swedes. The time that had passed since leaving the movement ranged from quite recently to 20 years ago. The results revealed three strategies; Standing up for Your Beliefs, Escaping, and Living in Two Worlds. The first two strategies are based on a One-World View, and the third strategy, Living in Two Worlds, implies a Two-World View, accepting to a certain extent both the Jehovah’s Witnesses outlook as well as that of ordinary society. The strategy Standing up for Your Beliefs can be described as straightforward, outspoken, and bold; the youngsters did not show any doubts about their belief. The second subgroup showed an unshakeable faith, but suffered psychological stress since their intentions to live according to their belief led to insecurity in terms of how to behave, and also left them quite isolated. These people reported more absence from school. The youngsters using the strategy Living in Two Worlds appeared to possess the ability to sympathize with both world views, and were more adaptable in different situations.
References
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Charmaz, Kathy. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.
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Davis, Timothy, Barbara Kerr and Sharon Robinson Kurpius. 2003. “Meaning, purpose and religiosity in at-risk youth: The relationship between anxiety and spirituality.” Journal of Psychology and Theology 31(4): 356–365.
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Jonzon, Eva, and Frank Lundblad. 2006. “Risk factors and protective factors in relation to subjective health among adult female victims of child sexual abuse.” Child Abuse and Neglect 30(2): 127–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199809000-00001
Koenig, Harold, Kenneth Pargament and Julie Nielsen. 1998. “Religious coping and health status in medically ill hospitalized older adults.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186(9): 513–521.
Lazarus, Richard, and Susan Folkman. 1984. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Academic Press.
Liedgren Dobronravoff, Pernilla. 2007. Att bli, att vara och att ha varit. Om ingångar och utgångar i Jehovas vittnen. Unpublished PhD thesis, Lund University, 2007.
Liedgren Dobronravoff, Pernilla. 2009. Att lämna en värld—om utgångsprocessen från Jehovas vittnen. Socialvetenskaplig Tidskrift 16(3–4): 390–411.
Maynard, Elisabeth, Richard Gorsuch and Jeffrey Bjorck. 2001. “Religious coping style, concepts of God, and personal religious variables in threat, loss, and challenge situations.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40(1): 65–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0021-8294.00038
Miller, Lisa, and Merav Gur. 2002. “Religiosity, depression and physical maturation in adolescent girls.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 41(2): 206–214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200202000-00015
Moncher, Frank. 1995. “Social isolation and child-abuse risk.” Families in Society 76(7): 421–433.
Ottosson, Jan-Otto. 2004. Sektrelaterade psykiska störningar bör identifieras i vården. Läkartidningen 45(101): 3612–3613.
Phillips III, Russell, Kenneth Pargament, Quinten Lynn and Craig Crossley. 2004. “Self-directing religious coping: a deistic God, abandoning God, or no God at all?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43(3): 409–418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2004.00243.x
Pargament, Kenneth, and Kenneth Maton. 2000. “Religion in American life: A community psychology perspective.” In Handbook of Community Psychology, edited by J. Rappaport and E. Seidman, 495–522. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1388152
Pargament, Kenneth, Bruce Smith, Harold Koenig and Linda Perez. 1998. “Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(4): 710–724.
Park, Crystal, and Lawrence Cohen. 1993. “Religious and nonreligious coping with the death of a friend.” Cognitive Therapy and Research 17(6): 561–577. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01176079
Ringnes, Hege Kristin and Helje Kringlebotn Sodal. 2009. “Jehovas vitner. En religionsvitenskapelig presentasjon.” In Jehovas Vitner—En Flerfaglig Studie, edited by Hege Kristin Ringnes and Helje Kringlebotn Sodal. Oslo: Universitetsförlaget.
Vakna. 1974. Finner du verklig tillfredsställelse i livet? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 22nd of December, 8–11.
Vakna. 1978. Biologiforskare utforskar nu Bibeln. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of October, 26.
Vakna. 1989. Vilken levnadsbana ska jag välja? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of May, 12–14.
Vakna. 1998. Längtan efter ett liv i trygghet. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of October, 4–6.
Vakttornet. 1979. Var förståndig—beräkna kostnaden. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 15th of August, 5–10.
Vakttornet.1982. På jakt efter framgång. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 5th of August, 3–6.
Vakttornet.2005. Vilken framtid vill vi att våra barn ska få? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 1st of October, 26–31.
Vakttornet.2007. Stå “fast i tron” om ditt barn gör uppror. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 15th of January, 17–18.
Van Dyke, Cydney, David Glenwick, John Cecero and Se-Kang Kim. 2009. “The relationship of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents.” Mental Health, Religion and Culture 12(4): 369–383. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670902737723
Westberg, Kenneth. 2006. Socialtjänsten måste få kunskap om slutna andliga grupper. Socionomen 8: 43–45.
Wong Joel, Lynn Rew and Kristina Slaikeu. 2006. “A systematic review of recent research on adolescent religiosity/spirituality and mental health.” Issues in Mental Health Nursing 27: 161–183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01612840500436941
Wright Loyd, Christopher Frost and Stephen Wisecarver. 1993. “Church attendance, meaningfulness of religion, and depressive symptomatology among adolescents.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 22(5): 559–568. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01537716
Ano, Gene, and Erin Vasconcelles. 2005. Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis. /Electronic version/ Journal of Clinical Psychology 61(4): 461–480.
Bryman, Alan. 2011. Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder. (uppl.2). Malmö: Liber.
Bamberg, Michael. 2006. “Master narrative.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory I, edited by D. Herman, M. Jahn and M.L. Ryan, 287–288. New York: Routledge.
Berk, Laura. 2006. Child Development (7th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson International Edition.
Bjorck, Jeffrey, and John Thurman. 2007. “Negative life events, patterns of positive and negative religious coping, and psychological functioning.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46(2): 159–167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2007.00348.x
Bryman, Alan. 2011. Samhällsvetenskapliga metoder. Malmö: Liber.
Carpenter, Thomas, Tyler Laney and Amy Mesulis. 2012 “Religious coping, stress and depressive symptoms among adolescents: A prospective study.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. 4(1): 19–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023155
Charmaz, Kathy. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage.
Compas, Bruce, Jennifer Connor-Smith, Heidi Salzman, Alexandra Harding Thomsen and Martha Wadsworth. 2001. “Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: Problems, progress, and potential in theory and research.” Psychological Bulletin 127(1): 87–127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.1.87
Cunningham, Dana. 2005. “Emotional and behavioural resilience in economically disadvantaged adolescents” [Abstract]. Department of Psychology in the Graduate School, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Dissertation Abstract International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering 65(9B): 4823.
Davis, Timothy, Barbara Kerr and Sharon Robinson Kurpius. 2003. “Meaning, purpose and religiosity in at-risk youth: The relationship between anxiety and spirituality.” Journal of Psychology and Theology 31(4): 356–365.
Eriksson, Stefan, and Lars Andersson. 2001. Autonomi och religion—Jehovas vittnen och blodtransfusioner. Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift 5: 436–448.
Franz, Raymond. 2002. Crisis of Conscience: The struggle between loyalty to God and loyalty to one’s religion. (4th ed.). Atlanta, GA: Commentary Press.
Glaser, Barney. 1978. Theoretical Sensitivity. Mill Valley, CA: The Sociology Press.
Hawkins, David, Catalano, Richard, and Arthur, Michael. 2002. “Promoting science-based prevention in communities.” Addictive Behaviours 27(6): 951–976. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(02)00298-8
Hammersley, Marty. 2010. “Reproducing or constructing? Some questions about transcription in social research.” Qualitative research 10(5): 553–569. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794110375230
Harris, Ronna, Mary Dew, Ann Lee, Michael Amaya, Laurie Buches, Debora Reetz, and Greta Coleman. 1995. “The role of religion in heart transplant recipients’ long-term health and well-being.” Journal of Religion and Health 34(1): 17–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02248635
Hoiseth, Lars Oivind, and Ulf Kongsgaard. 2009. Jehovas vitner og blodlos behandling—medisinske utfordringar. In Jehovas Vitner—En Flerfaglig Studie, edited by H-K. Ringnes and H. Kringlebotn Sodal, 108–122. Oslo: Universitetsförlaget.
Horwath, Jan, and Janet Lees. 2010. “Assessing the influence of religious beliefs and practices on parenting capacity: The challenges for social work practitioners.” British Journal of Social Work 40: 82–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcn116
Jonzon, Eva, and Frank Lundblad. 2006. “Risk factors and protective factors in relation to subjective health among adult female victims of child sexual abuse.” Child Abuse and Neglect 30(2): 127–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199809000-00001
Koenig, Harold, Kenneth Pargament and Julie Nielsen. 1998. “Religious coping and health status in medically ill hospitalized older adults.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 186(9): 513–521.
Lazarus, Richard, and Susan Folkman. 1984. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Academic Press.
Liedgren Dobronravoff, Pernilla. 2007. Att bli, att vara och att ha varit. Om ingångar och utgångar i Jehovas vittnen. Unpublished PhD thesis, Lund University, 2007.
Liedgren Dobronravoff, Pernilla. 2009. Att lämna en värld—om utgångsprocessen från Jehovas vittnen. Socialvetenskaplig Tidskrift 16(3–4): 390–411.
Maynard, Elisabeth, Richard Gorsuch and Jeffrey Bjorck. 2001. “Religious coping style, concepts of God, and personal religious variables in threat, loss, and challenge situations.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40(1): 65–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0021-8294.00038
Miller, Lisa, and Merav Gur. 2002. “Religiosity, depression and physical maturation in adolescent girls.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 41(2): 206–214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200202000-00015
Moncher, Frank. 1995. “Social isolation and child-abuse risk.” Families in Society 76(7): 421–433.
Ottosson, Jan-Otto. 2004. Sektrelaterade psykiska störningar bör identifieras i vården. Läkartidningen 45(101): 3612–3613.
Phillips III, Russell, Kenneth Pargament, Quinten Lynn and Craig Crossley. 2004. “Self-directing religious coping: a deistic God, abandoning God, or no God at all?” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43(3): 409–418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2004.00243.x
Pargament, Kenneth, and Kenneth Maton. 2000. “Religion in American life: A community psychology perspective.” In Handbook of Community Psychology, edited by J. Rappaport and E. Seidman, 495–522. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1388152
Pargament, Kenneth, Bruce Smith, Harold Koenig and Linda Perez. 1998. “Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(4): 710–724.
Park, Crystal, and Lawrence Cohen. 1993. “Religious and nonreligious coping with the death of a friend.” Cognitive Therapy and Research 17(6): 561–577. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01176079
Ringnes, Hege Kristin and Helje Kringlebotn Sodal. 2009. “Jehovas vitner. En religionsvitenskapelig presentasjon.” In Jehovas Vitner—En Flerfaglig Studie, edited by Hege Kristin Ringnes and Helje Kringlebotn Sodal. Oslo: Universitetsförlaget.
Vakna. 1974. Finner du verklig tillfredsställelse i livet? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 22nd of December, 8–11.
Vakna. 1978. Biologiforskare utforskar nu Bibeln. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of October, 26.
Vakna. 1989. Vilken levnadsbana ska jag välja? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of May, 12–14.
Vakna. 1998. Längtan efter ett liv i trygghet. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 8th of October, 4–6.
Vakttornet. 1979. Var förståndig—beräkna kostnaden. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 15th of August, 5–10.
Vakttornet.1982. På jakt efter framgång. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 5th of August, 3–6.
Vakttornet.2005. Vilken framtid vill vi att våra barn ska få? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 1st of October, 26–31.
Vakttornet.2007. Stå “fast i tron” om ditt barn gör uppror. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 15th of January, 17–18.
Van Dyke, Cydney, David Glenwick, John Cecero and Se-Kang Kim. 2009. “The relationship of religious coping and spirituality to adjustment and psychological distress in urban early adolescents.” Mental Health, Religion and Culture 12(4): 369–383. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670902737723
Westberg, Kenneth. 2006. Socialtjänsten måste få kunskap om slutna andliga grupper. Socionomen 8: 43–45.
Wong Joel, Lynn Rew and Kristina Slaikeu. 2006. “A systematic review of recent research on adolescent religiosity/spirituality and mental health.” Issues in Mental Health Nursing 27: 161–183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01612840500436941
Wright Loyd, Christopher Frost and Stephen Wisecarver. 1993. “Church attendance, meaningfulness of religion, and depressive symptomatology among adolescents.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 22(5): 559–568. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01537716
Published
2013-09-07
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Liedgren, P., & Andersson, L. (2013). Strategies Among Young Jehovah’s Witnesses in Compulsory School in Sweden, Age 13–15, a Case Study. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 4(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v4i1.3
