Keywords

Race relations -- Religious aspects, Racism -- United States, Religion

Abstract

Building on previous work on racial attitudes among the religious, this study reassesses the effects of religion on individuals’ beliefs about racial inequality. This study relies on recent developments in the sociology of culture, which conceives of culture as a frame through which individuals interpret the world in which they inhabit (Benford and Snow 2000; Harding 2007; Small 2002, 2004). Religion is held to be an important social institution that provides substance to the frames that individuals employ for interpreting racial inequality. Two particular developments from this literature inform this study: first, that individuals can employ different, even contradictory, frames simultaneously, and second, that frames are dynamic processes that can change over time. This study utilizes the General Social Survey from 1985 to 2008 and uses a theoretically informed and improved methodology for assessing beliefs about racial inequality. Three conclusions are drawn: 1) religion continues to play a role in shaping individuals’ beliefs about racial inequality, 2) it is important to differentiate between “pure” frames and frames that combine different explanations for racial inequality when understanding the role of religion in forming beliefs about black-white inequality, and 3) frames for racial inequality undergo change over time, though the pattern of change depends upon the frame for racial inequality.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2011

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Carter, J. Scott

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0003650

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003650

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

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Sociology Commons

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