This paper assesses the continued relevance of Robert Wuthnow’s seminal theory of “religious restructuring” for explaining the relationship between religious conservatism and political allegiances in the contemporary United States. Employing a comparative approach, we evaluate the link between doctrinal conservatism (or liberalism) and political conservatism across the seven largest US religious traditions, including Islam. We find that for most Christians and Jews, doctrinal conservatism continues to be tightly linked with conservative political attitudes, even after adjusting for demographic differences and religiosity. For Muslims, Black Protestants, and Latinx Catholics however, doctrinal conservatism is unlikely to be associated with political conservatism. In short, Wuthnow’s theory still holds, but only for religious traditions that are majority white. We speculate that being “racialized religious traditions” explains the lack of restructuring we observe among Muslims, Black Protestants, and Latinx Catholics. External social and political pressures have kept unifying racialized religious identities salient for each of these traditions, preventing the internal bifurcation still characteristic of other major American religions. Our findings and approaches contribute to the two growing trends within the sociological study of religion—the analytical integration of considerations of race and racial politics into scholarship on religious life (called “complex religion”) and a recognition of the importance of cultural “styles” of religion in shaping political and social behaviors.

BackgroundThe UK Supreme Court recently ruled that when consenting patients for treatments or procedures, clinicians must also discuss any associated material risks. We surveyed medical staff at a large UK teaching hospital in order to ascertain knowledge of consent law and current understanding of this change.Materials and methodsEmail survey sent to medical staff in all specialities at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in February 2016.Results245 responses (141 Consultants and 104 junior doctors, response rate 32%). 82% consent patients for procedures at least monthly and 23% daily. 31% were not familiar with the concept of material risk. 35% were familiar with the recent change in consent law, 41% were not. 18% were “very uncertain” and 64% “a little uncertain” that their consenting process meets current legal requirements. >92% think that landmark cases and changes in law should be discussed through professional bodies and circulated better locally.ConclusionThe majority were not familiar with the concept of material risk and recent legal changes. A majority were not confident that their practice meets current requirements, suggesting that recent changes in consent law may not be widely understood at this hospital. We suggest more guidance and education may be necessary than is currently available. Increased understanding of recent changes to consent law will reduce the risk taken by NHS trusts and offer patients a service compliant with Supreme Court guidance.

How do persons with a stigmatized identity learn potential responses to discrimination and harassment? Drawing on three and a half years of ethnographic data, this paper demonstrates how members of a group of Muslim American youth are socialized in locally dominant stigma management strategies through stigma management rehearsals. Stigma management rehearsals are small group interactions through which leaders and members encourage their peers to adopt normative stigma responses. I identify two rehearsal types that vary in their socializing function as well as in their temporal orientation toward stigmatizing incidents. In direct preparation rehearsals, individuals anticipating a stigmatizing encounter are quickly taught the normative response. In deep education rehearsals, stigmatizing incidents set in the past or hypothetical future are used to teach justifications underlying local responses and to allow for the private expression of publicly inappropriate responses. These findings suggest that intragroup dynamics and backstage processes are important considerations when investigating issues of stigma and stigma management.

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