Contaminated by anomie

the social death of former members removed from Jehovah’s Witnesses

Abstract

This article proposes to analyze Émile Durkheim's concept of anomie as applied to the experience of former Jehovah's Witness members subjected to the removal process, a formal practice of expulsion and institutionalized ostracism within the religious movement. The investigation begins with the following question: to what extent can removal within Jehovah's Witnesses be understood, in light of Durkheim, as producing anomic conditions? Using a qualitative approach inspired by ethnography, the study employs in-depth interviews with dissidents from the religious group as its main methodological procedure, seeking to understand the social and identity implications of ostracism. In this context, it is argued that the rupture and ostracism experienced can generate feelings of loss of meaning and social isolation, approaching the notion of anomie formulated by Durkheim. In extreme situations, such conditions can culminate in intense psychic suffering and suicidal ideation, interpreted in this work in light of the category of anomic suicide.