Faith and the Foreigner

Do religious identities or practices shape views about
immigrants and immigration policy? This thesis
examines the role
of religious affiliation and attendance at worship in
shaping U.S.
citizens' perspectives on immigration. Using a
nationally
representative sample of U.S. respondents, the author
employs
multivariate regression to test whether religious
tradition or
attendance at worship affect views about
immigration net of other important social and
cultural factors. The
results reveal a complex picture in which
respondents from some
religious traditions tend to have less tolerant views
toward
immigrants even after controlling for socio-economic
status while those professing "no religion" tend to
have more
tolerant views than most self-described "religious"
respondents. On
the other hand, attendance at religious worship has a
positive affect on respondents' attitudes toward
immigrants. This
thesis illustrates the importance of understanding
complex cultural
factors such as religion when analyzing views about
immigration and xenophobia.

Autorentext
Robert Brenneman is a PhD. candidate in sociology at the
University of Notre Dame,
Notre Dame, IN. He is currently writing a dissertation examining
the role of religious
conversion among former members of youth gangs in Central America.

Klappentext
Do religious identities or practices shape views about immigrants and immigration policy? This thesis examines the role of religious affiliation and attendance at worship in shaping U.S. citizens' perspectives on immigration. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. respondents, the author employs multivariate regression to test whether religious tradition or attendance at worship affect views about immigration net of other important social and cultural factors. The results reveal a complex picture in which respondents from some religious traditions tend to have less tolerant views toward immigrants even after controlling for socio-economic status while those professing "no religion" tend to have more tolerant views than most self-described "religious" respondents. On the other hand, attendance at religious worship has a positive affect on respondents' attitudes toward immigrants. This thesis illustrates the importance of understanding complex cultural factors such as religion when analyzing views about immigration and xenophobia.