How Religious Content Matters in Conversion Narratives to Various Religious Groups

The Triple Bind of Narration: Fritz Schütze’s Biographical Interview in Prison Research and Beyond

“…Schützean approach was successfully employed in research on migrant workers (Treichel and Schwelling, 2006), patients (Kolip et al 2009), and religious converts (Jindra, 2011) among others.…”

“I Was There for the Free Food”: Accidental Conversions in College

“…We analyze how people reorganize their daily lives as a result of their new commitments and how their beliefs change as their involvement in the group continues; we contend that conversion should be understood as an ongoing, continuing process of socialization (Johnston ; Winchester ). Thus, conversion should be applied in some circumstances to “switchers,” who move from one denomination to another within a broader religious tradition (Sherkat ), and to “returnees,” who had nominal contact with a religious tradition in their childhood but who rejoin with a renewed sense of devotion and practice as adults (Davidman and Greil ; Jindra ). Just as Jindra () studies “renewal” and Gooren () studies “intensification” as processes of conversion, so too do we examine cases where people who experienced religious socialization as children nevertheless reorient their behaviors and eventually their worldview as part of a conversion experience.…”

“…Historically, conversion was considered most possible following a crisis, but recent scholarship also suggests the critical role played by periods of transition and change (Jindra ). Similarly, social movement scholars find that people are more likely to explore new groups when they have “biographical availability” due to fewer responsibilities, such as lacking children or a full‐time job (McAdam ).…”

“…Likewise, we analyze a variety of conversion outcomes: completed religious and nonreligious conversions, attempted but missed conversions, and no conversions begun. Because we do not sample on conversion, we have more opportunities for comparison to demonstrate how and why conversions occur and to demonstrate the similarity between secular and religious conversions (Jindra ; Yang and Abel ). We now discuss our conceptualization of conversion before reviewing existing research on conversions and on the organizational context of college.…”

From Prowar Soldier to Antiwar Activist: Change and Continuity in the Narratives of Political Conversion among Iraq War Veterans

“…Moving away from theological and psychological explanations of conversion, sociologists have focused on identifying narrative patterns in conversion stories (Jindra ; Smilde ; Snow and Machalek ). Hence, sociologists suggest that it is not just the convert who undergoes a radical change, but also her/his “universe of discourse” (Mead : 248).…”