Social Groups - Age (Old & Young) Flashcards
Disengagement
As you get older, you become detached from society and face a growing privatisation of life with increasing social isolation as partners and friends die.
Religious Socialisation (Generational Effect)
> As society becomes more secular, each new generation is less religious than before.
> More old people in church congregations because they grew up at a time when religion was more popular.
Weak Religion (Bruce)
> Watered down version of faith.
> Not a real religon.
Ill Heath and Death (The Ageing Effect)
> Older people tend to be faced with declining health, death looms on the horizon.
> Therefore, older people tend to be more religious for comfort, coping and meaning.
Religion Is Unattractive To The Young
Young people find services to be boring, repetitive, old-fashioned, full of old people and out of touch with the styles and attitudes of younger people.
Christocentric
This does reflect the experiences of young ethnic minorities in Britain today who tend to be more religious.
For example, young British Muslims tend to be highly religious.
The Expanding Spiritual Marketplace
> This involves the growing exposure and accessibility to a wide diversity of religious and spiritual ideas.
> This means there are now more sources for young people to draw on to build religious and spiritual beliefs.
> Young people are finding expression outside of traditional religions and religious organisations.
Declining Religious Education (Bruce)
The Church of England is struggling to recruit young people by socialising them into religious thinking through Church Sunday schools or religious education.
Pragmatic Reasons
> Young people have more demands on their time, they simply have more interesting and enjoyable things to do e.g. shops, clubs and pubs.
Believing without Belonging
When you are religious and do believe in a religion, but do not attend a place of worship.
