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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Sociology

Journal

2019

The University of Akron

Keyword
Publication

Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Programs And Strategies For Community Resilience In A Metropolitan Area Public Library: A Case Study, Andreas Vårheim Dec 2019

Programs And Strategies For Community Resilience In A Metropolitan Area Public Library: A Case Study, Andreas Vårheim

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper reports a case study on community-oriented public library programs in a metropolitan Texan city. A main purpose of the paper is to report the findings from this explorative case study on the relationship of a public library system with its communities from a community resilience perspective. The study is a part of a research project aiming at creating empirically-based knowledge on the role of public libraries in forming community resilience. The description of specific library programs is a basis for further study of the mechanisms contributing to community resilience. Community resilience enables communities to face major environmental change …

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A Mid-Decade Update On Amish Settlement Growth, Joseph Donnermeyer, Cory Anderson Nov 2019

A Mid-Decade Update On Amish Settlement Growth, Joseph Donnermeyer, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

The rapid growth of the Amish population brings a concomitant growth of new settlements. This research note provides a mid-century report on new Amish settlement growth in North America, emphasizing that the vast percentage of today's extant settlements have been established in the very recent past. As settlements in-fill around decades-old settlements, spatially distinctive Amish regions are taking shape, both in states of historic settlement and neighboring states. The apparent recent success of geographically outlying settlements is also of note, given the unequivocal failure of such settlements in the more distant past.

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Interpreting Non-Amish Perceptions Of The Old Order Amish Using Cultural Relativism And Human Rights Frameworks, Kristin Park Oct 2019

Interpreting Non-Amish Perceptions Of The Old Order Amish Using Cultural Relativism And Human Rights Frameworks, Kristin Park

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Relatively little is known about how ordinary non-Amish citizens interact with and perceive their Old Order Amish neighbors. This study used interpretive and semi-inductive approaches with in-depth interviews to describe and analyze interactions and perceptions of non-Amish research participants. Sixteen subjects were identified from purposive, snowball and theoretical sampling in a region near a sizeable, very tradition-minded Old Order settlement. All participants engaged in secondary relationships, while several individuals had intimate and enduring relationships with a small number of Amish individuals and families. While most participants perceived their Amish acquaintances and friends as honest, hard-working, caring and community-minded, some expressed …

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A Socio-Religious Introduction To The Apostolic Churches In North America, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

A Socio-Religious Introduction To The Apostolic Churches In North America, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

The Apostolic Christian Churches descend from the religious revivals instigated under the leadership of Samuel Fröhlich in 1830s Switzerland. Fusing Anabaptist thought into his revival through contact with Mennonites, Fröhlich’s movement constitutes a distinct religious tradition within the larger Anabaptist movement. Research about this Anabaptist tradition has remained sparse. This article helps introduce the Apostolics to a scholarly audience. It reviews the movement’s recent history in North America, tracing the history of both the largest body—the Apostolic Christian Church of America—and several smaller, generally more conservative, factions. In addition to establishing links between the Apostolics and other Anabaptist branches, this …

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Continuity And Change In A Southern Beachy Amish-Mennonite Congregation, William L. Smith Oct 2019

Continuity And Change In A Southern Beachy Amish-Mennonite Congregation, William L. Smith

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Key leaders in a Beachy Amish-Mennonite church in southwest Georgia were interviewed to discuss the congregation’s history and position on religious beliefs and practices, gender roles and family life, education, work life, and areas of current concern. I then use the framework of boundary maintenance to assess the congregation’s viability. I conclude that while this congregation has experienced a variety of changes, its history reflects continuity rather than change.

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The UnDistinguished Scholar Of The Amish, Werner Enninger, -Or- Has The Time Yet Come For Rigorous Theory In Amish Studies?, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

The UnDistinguished Scholar Of The Amish, Werner Enninger, -Or- Has The Time Yet Come For Rigorous Theory In Amish Studies?, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Werner Enninger embodies the highest standards of methodological rigor and theoretical insight in Amish studies, and this article synthesizes his 30-some publications written in English. Enninger was a socio-linguist from Germany who conducted field research in Delaware in the 1970s and published intensely in the 1980s. His mixed methods address common hurdles field researchers face and offer meticulously detailed qualitative and quantitative data. Enninger’s theory can be organized around a social system model that fuses structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism. Within the model, he proposes a four-part superstructure—(1) core, group-defining values, namely, religious community and separation, (2) are realized in …

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Of Shoulders And Shadows: Selected Amish Scholarship Before 1963, Joseph Donnermeyer Oct 2019

Of Shoulders And Shadows: Selected Amish Scholarship Before 1963, Joseph Donnermeyer

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

John Hostetler’s first edition of Amish Society in 1963 is a milestone in the advancement of scholarship about the Amish. It was revised and re-issued through three more editions. Even though the fourth and final edition was released nearly a quarter century ago, in 1993, Amish Society remains the most frequently cited authoritative sources about the Amish. Yet, there was a wealth of other solid scholarly work about the Amish before 1963, by such notable authors as Elmer Lewis Smith, Calvin Bachman, Walter Kollmorgen, Charles Loomis, and William Schreiber. The purpose of this review essay is to re-consider the merits …

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Birthing New Kinships: The Cross-Pollinating Potential Of Amish Health Research, Natalie Jolly Oct 2019

Birthing New Kinships: The Cross-Pollinating Potential Of Amish Health Research, Natalie Jolly

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

In this article, I explore the connections between Amish gender socialization and Amish birth practices to suggest that an Amish construction of femininity shapes the ways that Amish women experience childbirth. This study is framed by Amish women’s health research and takes as a point of departure two observations often made about Amish childbirth practices: (1) medical research has found that Amish women have shorter labors than their non-Amish (English) counterparts, and (2) doctors, midwives, and birth attendants have argued that Amish women’s expression of pain during labor and delivery differs substantially from their English counterparts. I draw on my …

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Reviving The Demographic Study Of The Amish, Corey Colyer, Cory Anderson, Joseph Donnermeyer, Rachel Stein, Samson Wasao Oct 2019

Reviving The Demographic Study Of The Amish, Corey Colyer, Cory Anderson, Joseph Donnermeyer, Rachel Stein, Samson Wasao

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

The Amish exhibit distinctive demographic patterns, notably high fertility. While scholars have studied Amish population dynamics for more than a half century, recent research in this area is limited. We believe the time is ripe to reverse this trend. This article reviews data collection methods, points to a variety of accessible sources of new data, presents some preliminary results from the analysis of one such source (the McKune dataset for Holmes County, Ohio), introduces the research agenda and work of the newly formed Amish Population Research Group, and reviews past demographic findings to situate our agenda. An invitation is extended …

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Seventy-Five Years Of Amish Studies, 1942 To 2017: A Critical Review Of Scholarship Trends (With An Extensive Bibliography), Cory Anderson Oct 2019

Seventy-Five Years Of Amish Studies, 1942 To 2017: A Critical Review Of Scholarship Trends (With An Extensive Bibliography), Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

After 75 years, Amish studies has received no field reviews, an oversight I rectify with this article using several citation analysis techniques. I offer criteria for defining Amish research, which results in 983 references that are analyzed. Amish studies has a very highly centralized core of works; the top one percent of cited references account for nearly 20% of every citation in Amish studies, with Hostetler, Kraybill, Nolt, and Huntington dominating the top list. Few consolidated subareas exist, exceptions being language and health- population research. Analyzing Amish studies chronologically, the field early on accepted the definitive-sympathetic-authoritative-comprehensive-insider research approach, which legitimated …

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Doubling Time And Population Increase Of The Amish, Joseph Donnermeyer Oct 2019

Doubling Time And Population Increase Of The Amish, Joseph Donnermeyer

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Current estimates of Amish population growth often cite a “doubling time” figure, but fail to substantiate the source from which the estimate was derived. As well, some estimates of population increase, such as by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, use net change in the number of church districts as a proxy to determine population change, rather than a more precise counting up of children and adults. Unfortunately, a direct “head count” of the Amish, and changes in this count overtime to create a doubling time estimate, would be very daunting, Until there is a …

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Amish Education: A Synthesis, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

Amish Education: A Synthesis, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Amish education is one of the most researched subtopics in Amish studies. This article is a meta-analysis of the existing literature about Amish education, finding that most research discusses how the parochial school system functions to socialize students into the broader Amish social system. In particular, the school socializes students into (1) several major Amish-defining internalized dispositions, ideologies, and outlooks and (2) the meso- and micro-level Amish social structure. Several anomalies do exist, including their educational approach to special needs children, parochial school dysfunctions, and alternative schooling methods. The article concludes with suggestions for future research, including more rigorous ethnographic …

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Conservative Mennonite Storybooks And The Construction Of Evangelical Separatism, Jennifer Anderson, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

Conservative Mennonite Storybooks And The Construction Of Evangelical Separatism, Jennifer Anderson, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Group-produced literature is representative of and reinforces group behaviors, norms, and beliefs. This study focuses on the missionary theme in literature from three Conservative Mennonite publishers, identifying two major constructs of what we term evangelical separatism. First, Rod & Staff depicts evangelism as establishing stable, integrating church communities in places where none exist, making their offering accessible to any who would care to join while also withholding assessment of outsiders. Second, Christian Light Publications and TGS present missions in a more aggressive, individualized mode, whereby the outside is viewed as a land of darkness and the missionary, in embodying Christ’s …

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Reliability And Validity Of A Scale To Measure Prejudice Toward Old Order Amish, William Mcguigan Oct 2019

Reliability And Validity Of A Scale To Measure Prejudice Toward Old Order Amish, William Mcguigan

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Numerous studies have examined prejudice in regard to race, age, sexual orientation, and gender, among others. However, there remains a paucity of research on prejudice toward Christian religious groups. In particular, prejudice towards one of America’s fastest growing religious groups, the Old Order Amish, is rarely examined. Using social categorization theory and based on McConahay’s modern and old-fashioned racism scale, an “Attitude Toward Amish” scale is developed and tested. Factor analysis revealed one dominant component and high internal reliability. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for future research of this rapidly growing population.

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The Role Of Social Capital For Amish Entrepreneurs In Pursuing Informal Economic Opportunities, Sunny Jeong Oct 2019

The Role Of Social Capital For Amish Entrepreneurs In Pursuing Informal Economic Opportunities, Sunny Jeong

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This study explores the specific types of social relationships that influence initiation into and involvement in informal businesses. In particular, it examines the social capital possessed by Amish entrepreneurs who establish home-based, off-the-books tourism businesses. This paper theoretically refines social capital by identifying three dimensions of social relations: cognitive, reciprocal, and structural. I explore the relationship between social capital and Amish involvement in tourism businesses by using measures of tie strength, expected roles in one’s network, structural equivalence of network position, common culture, and religion. The results suggest that neither tie strength nor diversity alone accounts for one’s involvement in …

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A Peculiar People Revisited: Demographic Foundations Of The Iowa Amish In The 21st Century, Elizabeth Cooksey, Joseph Donnermeyer Oct 2019

A Peculiar People Revisited: Demographic Foundations Of The Iowa Amish In The 21st Century, Elizabeth Cooksey, Joseph Donnermeyer

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This article describes the demographic foundations of the Amish in Iowa. We note that since the publication of “A Peculiar People” by Elmer and Dorothy Schwieder in 1975, the demographic dynamics of the Amish have changed little. They remain a high fertility group; and when coupled with increases in their retention of daughters and sons in the Amish faith, the Amish are currently experiencing rapid population increase and settlement growth. In turn, the occupational base of the Iowa Amish has become more diverse and less reliant on agriculture. We observe that the first or founding families for new settlements in …

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The Amish Population: County Estimates And Settlement Patterns, Joseph Donnermeyer, Cory Anderson, Elizabeth Cooksey Oct 2019

The Amish Population: County Estimates And Settlement Patterns, Joseph Donnermeyer, Cory Anderson, Elizabeth Cooksey

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This article presents the findings of a county-based estimate of the Amish population. The results are from work commissioned by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies for the recently released 2010 U.S. Religion Census, plus research and updates associated with tracking the growth and geographic spread of Amish settlements in North America. County estimates are restricted to Amish church groups who rely on horse-and-buggy for travel. Using the terminology of the larger ASARB report, we break the Amish population into three groups: communicants (baptized members), non-baptized members (mostly children/young adults still living at home), and adherents (both baptized …

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Who Are The Plain Anabaptists? What Are The Plain Anabaptists?, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

Who Are The Plain Anabaptists? What Are The Plain Anabaptists?, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

I define the plain Anabaptists by answering two essential questions: “Who are the plain Anabaptists” and “What are the plain Anabaptists?” In asking “Who are the plain Anabaptists?” I investigate several dimensions of identity. First, I trace the history of seven religious traditions within Anabaptism: the Swiss Brethren/Mennonites, the Low German/Russian Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Amish, the Brethren, the Apostolic Christian Churches, and the Bruderhof. Second, I explore three categories of people in each group—mainline, conservative, and Old Order—describing the last two as “plain.” Third, I explore scales and indices on which plainness is measured, as well as other measures …

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Can A New Layer Of Leadership Save Sectarian Practice? A Decentralized Denomination’S Experiment With A Central Committee, Cory Anderson Oct 2019

Can A New Layer Of Leadership Save Sectarian Practice? A Decentralized Denomination’S Experiment With A Central Committee, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

The Beachy Amish-Mennonite bishop committee was established at the 1991 annual ministers’ meeting as a conservative response to uncertainty about religious practices across the denomination. The committee was tasked with developing 18 concerns from the meeting into a denomination-wide standard of practice. While majority support was forthcoming for this statement, leadership from some influential, moderate congregations worked against the committee for two reasons. First, the congregation’s leaders wanted a think tank-style advisory committee, not a committee that made and enforced regulations. Second, these congregations feared being ousted due to eventually falling out of conformity. Due to this opposition, the committee …

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