Law and Social Control

Abstract

Social control efforts involving religion often involve applications of law and of legal processes. Herein the theories of two prominent sociologists of law, Donald Black and William Chambliss, are applied to development of laws regulating religion and the application of laws against new religions. The ways in which both traditional and minority faiths such as New Religious Movements (NRMs) can themselves sometimes make use of the law, and in the case of dominant religions, even help construct the law also are examined. The use of the pseudo-scientific concept of “brainwashing” as a major tool for social control of new religions is examined, as is the use of laws dealing with children that supplanted brainwashing claims in social control once second generations developed within NRMs. The chapter closes with a discussion of future directions for research concerning how religions function within modern societies characterized by the “judicialization of politics.”