Stephen A. Kent is a professor in the Department of
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at the
University of Alberta in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
. He researches
new religious movements (NRMs), and has published research on several such groups including the
Children of God (The Family), the
Church of Scientology, and other NRMs operating in Canada.
Education
Kent graduated from the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...
, in 1973, with a
B.A. degree in
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
and a
minor in social and political theory.
In 1978, he was awarded a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in the
history of religion
The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The Prehistoric religion, prehistory of reli ...
s from
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
.
Kent was also awarded an M.A. in 1980 from
McMaster University
McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...
with a focus in religion and modern Western society and a minor in
Indian Buddhism; he was granted a
Ph.D. in
religious studies
Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...
in 1984 from the same institution.
From 1984 to 1986, Kent held an Izaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship in the sociology department at the
University of Alberta.
He is a professor in the Department of
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at the University of Alberta in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
.
Research
John H. Simpson writes in a chapter of
Lori G. Beaman's 2006 book ''Religion and Canadian Society'' that Kent "finds himself on the
cult side of the cult/new religious movement divide."
Irving Hexham commented in a 2001 article in ''
Nova Religio'' that Kent "has been outspoken in his criticism of many new religions, particularly
Scientology, and who works closely with various anticult groups."
Simpson recommends Kent for further reading on the group the
Children of God and notes: "He has done extensive research on new religious movements and argues that we need to be careful about minimizing the risks of involvement with such groups. His work is a good example of the issues taken up by scholars who focus on 'cults.'"
Kent has devoted significant study to the Children of God, and the group's founder
David Berg.
Some researchers, including sociologist
Lorne L. Dawson, have criticized Kent's work for his use of ex-member testimony.
In response to these critics, Kent has argued that former member accounts provide outsider insights not available to members who misattribute divine authority to leaders in high demand religious groups.
Scientology
Kent's research of Scientology has focused on its organization, the
Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF).
His extensive study of Scientology's history and practices led him to conclude that as a result of relatively young people becoming involved with the organization in the 1960–70s, some second-generation Scientologist children have left the group in "waves." Kent has commented to the media about Scientology's RPF,
and the
Scientology ethics and justice system, as well as its affiliated organization
Narconon. He has published articles concerning Scientology and Hollywood, and commented that Scientology uses
celebrities as "public relations officers for Scientology, and part of their mission is to represent Scientology to the outside world and to other governments."
According to ''
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
'', "
's considered one of the foremost experts on Scientology. But inside the church, he's considered an
anti-religious extremist who has been paid to testify against the church in court."
Tony Ortega, former editor of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
,'' referred to Kent as an academic "who studies Scientology in depth," and the ''
St. Petersburg Times'' referred to Kent as "an expert on the group." Kent has testified as an
expert witness
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...
for parties suing organizations affiliated with Scientology, and subsequently Scientologists picketed outside of his
University of Alberta office. Religious studies scholar
J. Gordon Melton and Church of Scientology spokesperson
Leisa Goodman have both questioned the accuracy of Kent's scholarship on Scientology. Kent responded to both critics, accusing them of breaches of ethics and poor research practices.
In 2017, he co-edited an
edited volume
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
titled ''Scientology in Popular Culture'' alongside Susan Raine, published by
Praeger. It received positive reviews from commentators in ''
Nova Religio'', ''
Choice
A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models.
Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...
'', and the ''
International Journal of Cultic Studies''.
Satanic ritual abuse
Kent has researched testimony of individuals that have alleged
Satanic ritual abuse, in a period from the 1930s to 1980s (also known as the Satanic panic).
Kevin J. Christiano notes in the book ''Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments'' that Kent's research "shows that the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and biblical themes provide the primary references for the articulation of abuse," noting that "purported cult ceremonies particularly used biblical references and metaphors."
He wrote a two part journal article on Satanic ritual abuse for the journal ''
Religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
'' in 1993.
Kent's opinions on the legitimacy of satanic ritual abuse received criticism.
Christopher Partridge said of this article that Kent "accepts uncritically the stories of alleged victims about satanic abuse
..the problem is that there is absolutely no concrete evidence that such rituals are practiced and no evidence that Satanists are interested in carrying out such inversions of obscure biblical texts."
Sociologist
Anson Shupe and Susan J. Darnell characterised Kent as "eccentric" on the subject matter, stating that research and police enquiries into the allegations of satanic ritual human sacrifice had proved them to be unfounded.
Responding to this article,
Jean La Fontaine criticized it, saying that though Kent made "an effort to seem objective," the article was not and that it strongly suggested the reliability of the testimonies. La Fontaine argued that the main objective in writing the article had been to validate these stories. She said Kent's dataset was unusual and criticized the fact that the number of people interviewed was not made clear; she further criticized Kent's failure to analyze other possible origins for these stories as "at best an academic weakness of the article and at worst a strong indicator that the veracity of the informants had been accepted in advance."
In a
rejoinder to Kent's article on satanic ritual abuse, David Frankfurter argued that Kent "accepts every detail of every story as if photographed" without providing further context. He argued that Kent demonstrated dubious research ethics and a lack of scholarly objectivity, having only been granted the interviews in turn for assistance in interpreting their memories. Frankfurter argued that any analysis drawn on this data was subject to "gross methodological problems" which Kent ignored; Frankfurter said there was little forensic evidence for any of these claims and that many of the convictions of supposed perpetrators of satanic ritual abuse had been overturned.
''From Slogans to Mantras''
Kent's book ''From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam Era'' was published in 2001 by
Syracuse University Press
Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Domestic distribution for the press is currently provided by the University of North ...
. In the book, Kent explored how political activists from the period of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
later turned to alternative religious movements including
Hare Krishnas,
Transcendental Meditation,
Scientology, and the
Unification Church
The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...
.
''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' described ''From Slogans to Mantras'' as a "lucid and economical study," noting that Kent had examined the convergence between the interest of American youth in radical politics and protest and the pursuit of "unusual,
cultish, spiritual traditions."
James A. Overbeck wrote in ''
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
'' that the work is recommended for
academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
and
public libraries, mentioning that Kent utilized
personal narratives and alternative press in the book.
Doni Whitsett reviewed the book in ''
Cultic Studies Review'',
writing that it contained informative content, and is an easy read free of sociological
jargon
Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...
which made it more accessible to non-expert readers. However, Whitsett also stated that it would have been interesting to compare those who did not choose the route of the ex-members described in the book and to analyze the differences inherent in these two subsets of individuals.
Jill K. Gill reviewed the book in ''Humanities and Social Sciences Online'' and also commented on its readability, stating that it was succinctly written and engaging.
Peter W. Williams reviewed the book in ''
The Journal of American History'' and provided a less positive review, saying that the book was a "mildly interesting and useful footnote to the sixties" but that he wished the book had gone further than that.
In 2003 it was cited by ''
Choice
A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models.
Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...
'' as an outstanding academic title that should be owned by every library, with the reviewer calling it an "engaging and articulate book" with a "fairly compelling social psychological account" of the topic.
Awards and recognition
In 2003, Kent's book ''From Slogans to Mantras'' was listed as one of the
Choice Outstanding Academic Titles that should be owned by every library.
Kent was recognized by his students at the
University of Alberta in 2009.
He received a "Graduate Student Supervisor Award" from the Graduate Students' Association on March 12, 2009.
In April 2010, Kent received the "Bill Meloff Memorial Teaching Award" given by the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta. He stated he would utilize the 1,000
USD award to "update the department's
DVD collections in the sociology of deviance and the
sociology of religion
Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of Quantitative research, quantit ...
."
Works
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See also
*
Anthropology of religion
*
List of cult and new religious movement researchers
*
List of sociologists
*
Sociological classifications of religious movements
*
Social psychology
Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Stephen A.
Canadian religion academics
Canadian sociologists
Critics of The Family International
Critics of Scientology
Critics of the Unification Church
Academic staff of the University of Alberta
Researchers of new religious movements and cults
Sociologists of religion
Living people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
American University alumni
McMaster University alumni
Articles containing video clips
Satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the United States
Year of birth missing (living people)