nrm's reasons for appeal

Question 1

rapid social change and secularisation

Answer 1

Wilson argues that rapid social change and collapse of social norms from the 1960s can be potentially destabilising and lead to people to seek the strict rules or guidelines that are found among NRMs

Question 2

response to relative deprivation

Answer 2

Relative deprivation, the feeling that a person has less than everyone else, drives some people to NRMs as a coping mechanism. NRM’s offer hope for improvement individually and within a person’s life as opposed to the church, which offers promise of improvement in the afterlife.

Question 3

status frustration

Answer 3

Wallis has suggested that NRMs can offer young people status, when they feel frustration or a tension between the goals of society and their ability to achieve them. This frustration may be linked to a person’s frustration with their position in school or the family. Wallis did however concede that the appeal of NRMs may wear off as young people move into adulthood and status frustration disappears.

Question 4

response to being in a marganised position

Answer 4

Troeltsch noted that sects tend to attract people from the poor or oppressed. Weber suggests that the appeal of sects (world rejecting NRMs) was that for underprivileged groups or individuals they offer a ‘theodicy of disprivilege’, whereby religious beliefs and values are developed to justify their socio-economic status, in a way that the church does not.

Question 5

emphasis on individualism

Answer 5

Heelas says the appeal of NRMs lies in the fact they focus more on individual needs than traditional religion. Whereas the church focusses on conservative values in society, NRMs allow people to focus on their individual needs and wishes

Question 6

changes in lifestyle and a search for the spiritual

Answer 6

Drane, a postmodernist argues that NRMs are more likely to fit in with people’s lives than traditional church activities. Drane argues that the church has failed to respond to the changes in people’s lifestyles, which are faster and more fragmented. Also, the spread of secular ideas has led to people to find alternatives to traditional practice: people still want to fill their spiritual void.