ethnicity

• Who's most likely to be religious?

  EMs tend to be more religious than the ethnic majority in the UK and religious affiliation forms a big part of their ethnic idenity
• Bierley-

  black people are twice as likely to attend church as white people.
• Modood

  there is less religiosity amongst second generation ethnic groups
• Cultural defence

  Bruce- Religion can offer support and a sense of cultural identity in uncertain or hostile environments.

  Bird- Religion can be a basis for community solidarity, a means of preserving ones culture, language and a way of coping with oppression
• Cultural transition-

  -Herberg - Religion can be a means of easing the transition into a new culture by providing support and a sense of community in a new environment

  -Pryce- Pentecostalism is a highly adaptive religion which provided migrants with values that were appropiate to their new world in a format that they could understand
• Social deprivation and marginality-

  A sense of dissatisfaction with a lack of status in society may account for higher religiosity amongst ethnic minorities as many ethnic minority groups are amongst the poorest in the UK.

  Some older Asian women may turn to religion as a source of support as they are marginalised from the mainstream due to a poor grasp of English.

  Religion may also provide a source of identity and status that is lacking from the mainstream.
• Social identity-

  Religion can help to provide many markers of identity for ethnic minorities such as dress, food and customs as well as ritual and festivals they celebrate.

  This can help members to resist the denial of their status and the devaluing of their culture through Racism.

  Jacobson –British Born Pakistanis in the East End of London identified as Muslim rather than Asian or Pakistani first as this provided them with stability, security and certainty when they face a lot of uncertainty in other aspects of their lives.
• African Caribbean-

  The main religion among Afro Caribbean groups is Christianity and Afro-Caribbean's made up 17% pf those attending church on the average Sunday in 2007.

  Their Christianity had developed mainly in the Pentecostal and charismatic tradition and found that British churches were boring and quite different to what they were used to so established their own churches
• Asian groups-

  The main religions of Asians tend to be non Christian, and include Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.

  This has meant that this ethnic minority has had to establish its own temples, Mosques and places of worship in contemporary Britain.

  Growing up in contemporary Britain has also led to difficulty for these religions to maintain traditional values such as the Hindu Caste System with young people as they have grown up in a society of equal opportunites