African American Studies Commons^™

African Americans And The Communication Of Religious Exit, William P. Cooper

Wayne State University Theses

This exploratory study investigates Christian disaffiliation, or deconversion, in a sample of African American ex-Christians living in the metro-Detroit area. The data obtained from 15 interviews were used to address the following research questions: (1) How do participants recall the religious socialization process? (2) What are some catalysts for African Americans disaffiliating from their former Christian denominations? (3) How does the Christian disaffiliation process unfold communicatively for African-Americans? Specifically, did participants utilize any strategies of SMC in their communication of exit? Jablin’s (2001) Model of Organizational Exit and Meisenbach’s (2010) Stigma Management Communication Strategy Typology were used as theoretical frameworks. …