Socialization of children in new and minority religions has been seen as a process crucial to the survival and perpetuation of such groups, but also as a process vulnerable to claims of “brainwashing,” negative social control, and child abuse, the latter allegation dubbed the “ultimate weapon” in a prescient article by Richardson (1999).
Ex-member testimony invariably lies at the heart of such allegations (Bromley, 1998). Many testimonies come from second-generation adult children who have separated from or repudiated their parents’ faith community and roundly criticize their upbringing in the faith. Relevant to the topic of religious socialization but seldom heard are the perspectives of second-generation adult children who have elected to remain in the faith community in which they were raised.
The few extant studies of practicing Jehovah's Witnesses and their conversion experience have focused mainly on first-generation converts (Wilson, 1977; Di Marzio, 2020; Cardoza, 2021; Tokmantcev, 2023). Research literature on affiliation among Jehovah’s Witnesses is predominated by studies based on convenience samples of former Witnesses (e.g., Ransom, 2021; Luther, 2022; Thoma 2023), the limitations of which have been noted by scholars (e.g., Namini & Murken, 2009).
Against the backdrop of recent campaigns of disaffiliated second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses, particularly in Japan, but also in several European countries, a quantitative study of 150 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan (JWJ-QS) collected data on the religious profile and experience of second-generation adherents (Hu & Murata, 2025). The investigators are independent researchers and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
A nationwide survey of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rwanda (JW-RWA), conducted in 2023, makes possible a cross-cultural comparison between a non-Christian, non-Western, Asian country and a highly Christianized post-conflict African country (Nkurikiyinka & Chu, 2025). The investigators are affiliated with the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rwanda and the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, respectively.
Understanding researcher bias to be a legitimate concern, the paper describes bias mitigation strategies, including consultation with non-Witness academic advisors, sound recruitment sampling methods, use of validated measures, and “prefer not to answer” options. Both surveys were conducted online and anonymously.
The studies investigated the experiences of Jehovah’s Witnesses with respect to the process of socialization in and affiliation with the faith, generally following the model of Saroglou’s (2011) “Big Four” of religious dimensions: believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging.
The data in each study enable comparisons between cohorts of first-generation and second-generation Witnesses. Basic demographic data gathered in the two countries included parental religion at respondent’s birth, year of baptism, and time spent in Bible study.
The findings in this paper focus on an analysis of second-generation Witness respondents regarding their experience prior to baptism; motivation to become and remain a Witness; sense of religious identity (Postmes et al., 2013); perceived effects of the religion on their social relationships, conflicted relationships, and well-being; and evaluation of support and resilience as fostered by their congregation (Cénat et al., 2021). The survey inquired whether respondents had ever interrupted their time as active Witnesses and when they resumed association.
The JW-RWA study measured intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, which distinguishes between inner orientations, such as aligning one’s conduct and attitude with a moral code, and external orientations, such as forming social connections or status (Maltby, 1999). The JWJ-QS examined family life, marital situation, and child training and discipline among Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan.
The JWJ-QS and JW-RWA studies fill a gap in the literature by contributing insights into the process of religious socialization of children within the Jehovah’s Witness community. The data offer potential for further analysis of factors leading to affiliation, retention, and reaffiliation of second-generation Witnesses.
-Bromley, D. ed. (1998). The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of New Religious Movements. Westport, CT: Praeger.
-Cardoza, D. (2021). “Becoming Accountable: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Responsibilities of Evangelism.” PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/336103.
-Cénat, Jude M., Rose D. Dalexis, Daniel Derivois, et al. “The Transcultural Community Resilience Scale: Psychometric Properties and Multinational Validity in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (2021): 713477.
-Di Marzio, R. (2020). “Being Jehovah’s Witnesses: Living in the World without Being Part of It.” The Journal of CESNUR 4(6), 69–91
-Luther, R. (2022). “What Happens to Those Who Exit Jehovah’s Witnesses: An Investigation of the Impact of Shunning.” Pastoral Psychology 72, 105–20
-Maltby, John. (1999). “The Internal Structure of a Derived, Revised, and Amended Measure of the Religious Orientation Scale: The ‘Age-Universal’ I-E Scale-12.” Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 27, no. 4: 407-412.
-Namini, S. & Murken, S. (2009). “Self-chosen Involvement in New Religious Movements (NRMs): Well-Being and Mental Health from a Longitudinal Perspective.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 12(6), 561–85.
-Nkurikiyinka, V. & Chu, J. (forthcoming). Jehovah’s Witnesses during and after the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: Summary Report to the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement.
-Postmes, Tom, S. Alexander Haslam and Lise Jans. (2013). “A Single-item Measure of Social Identification: Reliability, Validity, and Utility.” The British Journal of Social Psychology 52, no. 4: 597–617.
-Ransom, H., Monk, R., & Heim, D. (2021). “Grieving the Living: The Social Death of Former Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Journal of Religion and Health 61, 2458–80.
-Richardson, J. T. (1999). Social control of new religions: From “brainwashing” claims to child sex abuse accusations. In S. Palmer & C. Hardman (Eds.), Children in New Religions (pp. 172–186). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
-Saroglou, V. (2011). Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The Big Four religious dimensions and cultural variation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(8), 1320–1340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111412267
-Thoma, M., et al. (2023). “Characteristics of Health and Well-Being in Former Jehovah’s Witnesses in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 26 (7): 644–62. doi:10.1080/13674676.2023.2255144.
-Tokmantcev, A. (2023). “Jehovah’s Witnesses in Post-Soviet Armenia.” PhD thesis, University of California, Los Angeles. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jn618p.
-Wilson, B. (1977). “Aspects of Kinship and the Rise of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Japan.” Social Compass 24(1), 97–120.
Socialization of children in new and minority religions has often been discussed in the context of criticism, often by former members, of religious childrearing practices. This paper discusses the seldom-heard perspectives of second-generation adult children who have elected to remain in their parents’ faith. Two quantitative studies of the Jehovah’s Witness communities, in Japan (JWJ-QS) and Rwanda (JW-RWA), collected data from first- and second-generation Witnesses, providing their perspective of learning, adopting, and remaining in the Witness faith. Additional variables investigated the centrality of religious identity, changes in social relationships, intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation, and resilience and support in congregation life. The JWJ-QS and JW-RWA studies fill a gap in the literature by contributing insights into the process of religious socialization of children within the Jehovah’s Witness community. The data offer potential for further analysis of factors leading to affiliation, retention, and reaffiliation of second-generation Witnesses.