Cultural Transition

• Ken Pryce's (1979) study of the African Caribbean community in Bristol shows both cultural defence and cultural transition have been important. He argues that Pentecostalism is a highly adaptive 'religion of the oppressed' that provided migrants with values appropriate to the new world in which they found themselves. Pentecostalism helped African Caribbeans to adapt to British society, playing a kind of 'Protestant ethic' role in helping its members succeed by encouraging self reliance and thrift, It gave people mutual support and hope of improving their situation.
• On the other hand, Rastafarianism represented a different response for some African Caribbeans, radically rejecting the wider society as racist and exploitative.
• Religion can also be a means of easing the transition into a new culture by providing support and a sense of community for minority groups in their new environment. This is the explanation Will Herberg (1955) gives for high levels of religious participation among first-generation immigrants in the USA.
• Bruce sees a similar pattern in the history of immigration into the UK, where religion has provided a focal point for Irish, African Caribbean, Muslim, Hindu and other communities. However, once a group - such as Irish Catholics, for example - has made the transition into the wider society, religion may lose its role and decline in importance.