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Scientific Evaluation of the Dangers
Posed by Religious Groups: A Partial Model
Stephen A. Kent, Ph.D.
Abstract
This article borrows from family-violence and sociology-of-religion literature
to provide a biopsychosocial model for evaluating religious danger. Taking its
departure from Kenneth G. Roy’s model of four necessary levels of analysis
concerning the determination of violent behaviour, this article identifies four
interrelated “domains” that contribute to, and help explain, religious violence,
especially within alternative religious groups. These domains include 1)
intrapsychic or biopsychosocial contributors; 2) interpersonal contributors; 3)
intragroup contributors; and 4) intergroup contributors. Each of these
contributors has various subcategories, many of which have parallels in
family-violence literature.
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