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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 12-2018 A Recipe for Success in the ‘English World’: An Investigation of the Ex-Amish in Mainstream Society Jessica R. Sullivan Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Sullivan, Jessica R., "A Recipe for Success in the ‘English World’: An Investigation of the Ex-Amish in Mainstream Society" (2018). Dissertations. 3358. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/3358 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS IN THE ‘ENGLISH WORLD’: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EX-AMISH IN MAINSTREAM SOCIETY by Jessica R. Sullivan A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology Western Michigan University December 2018 Doctoral Committee: Angela Moe, Ph.D., Chair Whitney DeCamp, Ph.D. Jesse Smith, Ph.D. Cynthia Visscher, Ph.D. Copyright by Jessica R. Sullivan 2018 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My graduate work and dissertation would not have been possible without the help of my participants and the amazing support and love of those around me. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge their contributions (in no particular order of course). First of all, I would like to thank Angie Moe, my dissertation chair. You have been fantastic from the beginning, and I truly appreciate all that you have done for me. You seemed to know when to be supportive and assuring, but maybe more importantly, when to kick my butt. I could not have done this without you, and I am forever grateful for all you have taught me. Thank you to my extremely flexible committee—Dr. Whitney DeCamp, Dr. Jesse Smith, and Dr. Cindy Visscher. I could not ask for a better group to work with. I would also like to thank Dr. Ann Miles, who made the gracious suggestion to ask Dr. Smith to take her place, knowing his expertise would be invaluable. And thank you Dr. Smith for agreeing to help me out. I might still be working on my analysis chapters if it was not for you. I would also like to thank Dr. David Hartmann, the Kercher Center, and the Graduate College for financial assistance. Without the additional funds, I would not have been able to interview such a diverse group of people or hire the best transcriptionists—Olivia and Traci. Thank you both for saving me. My family and friends also deserve recognition. Mom, Dad, Bub, and Bo— thank you so much for all that you have done and continue to do. I would not be where I am without your support, love, sound advice, and the occasional loan. To my friends—Melinda, Codie, Lisa, Jen, ii Acknowledgments—Continued Olivia, Traci, Andy, Matt, Ronnie, Hongor, sweet Saranna, and anyone else I might be forgetting—thanks for always being there. You are my family away from home, and I could not have done this without your support and encouragement. And thanks Codie for talking me into Western so many years ago. I would also like to give a shout out to my fur babies. Oscar was the best friend I could ever ask for. He kept me warm when it was cold, kept me smiling while working long hours, active even when I did not really want to be, and was a really great guard dog for anyone that met him. Had he lived long enough for me to graduate, I am pretty sure he would have earned a degree as well. Ollie came at just the right time and has fulfilled all of those same roles, except she is a little sweeter and not quite the guard dog that he was. Nonetheless, both Oscar and Ollie made this process more enjoyable, along with the rest of you. Finally, I would like to thank all of the participants of this research. Without you, this would have been impossible. I appreciate you sharing your lives with me and trusting me with treasured stories. I hope for continued success as you venture into the unknown. Thank you for all that you have done, and please know that I appreciate you. Jessica R. Sullivan iii RECIPE FOR SUCCESS IN THE ‘ENGLISH WORLD’: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EX-AMISH IN MAINSTREAM SOCIETY Jessica R. Sullivan, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2018 As a largely understudied and misunderstood religious group, the Amish appear to be a relic of more traditional times. Because they are a secluded group with little influence from the outside world, they remain relatively untouched by technology and social media. This results in a strict, fundamentalist church community with extremely high rates of retention. Distancing themselves from outsiders and temptations in the English world aids in retaining strong church boundaries, and results in a population that doubles every 20 years (Kaufmann 2010). Acknowledging these aspects, this research delves into the lives of those who have defected from the church in which they were raised, often giving up all that they know. Through 25 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 14 men and 11 women, this study looks at the following research questions: (1) How does an Amish person make the transition to becoming ex-Amish? (2) What factors were involved in the participant’s decision to leave Amish culture? (3) What has life been like since leaving? The participants ranged in age from 25 to 78 years and came from various communities across the United States, with different levels of Ordnung (i.e., Amish rules and regulations). Using the principles of constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2014), the data were analyzed using emergent and overarching themes. The analysis chapters are broken down into three main areas relating to the participants’ exits. First, the traditional retention factors that previous research deemed useful were analyzed for existing relevancy. Not surprising, the data suggests that these factors, like birth order, boundaries with the outside world, gender, education, and baptism, are in fact more complicated than they appeared 20 years ago. Further, the findings point to relationships with others while leaving, the age the participant is when leaving, and how long they are out of the community as fundamental influences when defecting from the Amish. The second theme explored here relates to the participants’ rationales for leaving. Using Bromley’s (1998) contested exits (i.e., defectors, whistleblowers, and apostates) and Mauss’s (1969) breakdown of defectors (i.e., intellectual, social, emotional, religious, cultural, psychological, alienated, total, and circumstantial), it becomes evident that when a participant exits quickly they do not necessarily have the time to weigh the alternatives or test out new roles, as more recent research on becoming an ex suggests (Ebaugh 1988; Smith 2011). As a result, this more detailed analysis was needed. The final theme that emerged involved the difficulties the participants encountered when adjusting to their new world. As one could imagine, there were issues of culture shock when it came to meeting or dating new people or trying new things. Even more subtle challenges were identified, however. Being secluded for most of their lives until the point they defected, many of the participants had difficulties with more common tasks, like finding a job, going to school, getting an apartment or even a driver’s license. These issues and others made life in the English world more difficult, especially when compared to those who had left other religions. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings (briefly highlighted here), methodological issues and limitations, theoretical implications and the contributions of this study. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii CHAPTER I. RESEARCH INTERESTS AND AMISH CULTURE........................................................1 Amish History .............................................................................................................6 Foundations of the faith ...................................................................................10 Relationship with Mennonites .........................................................................13 Amish Faith and Culture ...........................................................................................14 Church leadership, meetings, and the Lot ........................................................16 Ordnung ...........................................................................................................18 New and Old Order Amish ..............................................................................20 Modernity and the Amish ................................................................................21 Shunning and forgiveness ................................................................................23 Education .........................................................................................................26 Rumspringa ......................................................................................................28 To join or not join ............................................................................................29 iv Table of Contents—Continued CHAPTER Baptism ............................................................................................................32
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