Formal Responses to Increasing Diversity within Social Institutions

Maryville College, Maryville TN

Investigators

Abstract

"Formal Responses to Increasing Diversity within Social Institutions" Tricia C. Bruce, PI ABSTRACT How do social institutions respond to increasing diversity? This research examines the question of the accommodation of subcultures in religious institutions via an in-depth, national look at non-territorial parishes in the U.S. Catholic Church. Data are drawn from: (1) a nationwide survey of dioceses regarding the presence and creation of non-territorial or "personal" parishes, and (2) follow-up case studies of personal parishes in several dioceses. In a context of increasing racial, political, and cultural diversification in the U.S., this study brings attention to how the largest U.S. religious denomination has fostered and managed congregations which serve sub-cultural groups. It maps an important concept (the "personal parish") which has growing and significant implication for how Americans build and define religion in local contexts. The creation of personal parishes to serve subcultures of Catholics on the basis of ethnicity, language, rite, or other reason reveals how religious groups act within a pluralistic religious marketplace driven increasingly by identity rather than territorial ascription. Findings carry significance not only for religious groups in their attempts to accommodate diversity from within but also for a broader understanding of homophily and heterogeneity in American life as revealed in a variety of social institutions. Broader Impacts This project brings empirical data to bear on questions relevant to all social institutions facing subcultural diversification. Its relevance to the ways social institutions accommodate diversity and organize amidst changing local contexts can be utilized by scholars and policy makers. Its broader impacts also include (1) training for undergraduate students at an Appalachian, non-PhD granting college (including multilingual and first-generation college students) in the methodology of the social sciences, (2) presentation to broad audiences interested in the theoretical and cultural implications of responses to subcultural diversity in American religion and other social institutions, and (3) public access to previously ungathered information on congregations geared toward traditionally marginalized populations. A resulting database of personal parish profiles will facilitate future studies of diversification in the American religious landscape.