“We’re a walking picket sign”: Management of a Stigmatized Religious Identity

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes qualitative data from interviews with 18 members of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) focusing on the group’s religious identity and relationships with “mainstream” society. Two primary themes emerged. First, the WBC religious identity appears to hinge on external conflict with society which is promoted by their core religious ideology and negotiated through various stigma management strategies. Second, members of the church enjoy strong internal group cohesion promoted by their religious ideology and symbolic boundaries that separate them from outside institutions. This study therefore suggests stigmatization offers social benefits to members of the WBC in addition to social consequences.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Kevin Steinmetz and Dr. Nicolette Manglos-Weber for their indispensable comments and feedback throughout the development and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexandra Pimentel

ALEXANDRA PIMENTEL is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Kansas State University. She received her M.A. in Sociology from Kansas State University in 2016. Her research interests include criminology, deviance, culture, and religion.

Lisa Melander

LISA MELANDER is an associate professor of in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Kansas State University. Dr. Melander’s research interests broadly include crime, deviance, and family, and many of her projects emerge from the intersection of these substantive areas. In particular, she is interested in a variety of youth and young adult issues including partner violence, delinquency, substance use, mental health, and homelessness.