Sects and cults | AQA A-Level Sociology

For Specification 7192

AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes

Estimated study time: 85 minutes

These Sects and cults A-Level Sociology revision notes examine two forms of religious organisation required by AQA. You will explore characteristics of sects, including doctrinal purity, opposition to wider society, commitment, security and fellowship, and examine why social change, deprivation and uncertainty may encourage their growth. You will also consider the less demanding audience and client cults identified in AQA assessment material. This builds on churches and denominations [Churches and denominations] and prepares you for New Age movements [New Age movements].  

Learning Objectives 🎯

By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:

• Define sects and cults as forms of religious organisation.

• Describe the main characteristics of sects identified in AQA assessment material.

• Explain the relationship between sects, religious belief, commitment and wider society.

• Explain how social change, disprivilege and uncertainty may contribute to the growth of sects.

• Describe the audience and client cults identified in AQA material.

• Compare sects and cults with churches, denominations and New Age movements.

Revision Notes 📚

What does AQA require you to know?

AQA requires students studying Beliefs in Society to understand religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice.

This wording is important.

You are expected to understand:

• the characteristics of different religious organisations;

• their relationship to beliefs and practices;

• why particular forms of organisation may appeal to particular people;

• how religious organisations may be connected to wider social change;

• how different forms of organisation compare.

Sects are particularly important because AQA has directly assessed why social change may lead to the growth of sects.

Religious organisations are different forms of belief and practice

Terms such as sect, cult, church, denomination and New Age movement should not be treated as interchangeable.

They represent different sociological ways of organising religious or spiritual belief.

The previous lesson, churches and denominations [Churches and denominations], examined more formal and traditional religious organisations.

Sects and cults allow you to consider organisational forms that differ in:

• religious commitment;

• relationship with wider society;

• demands placed on participants;

• the type of beliefs or benefits they may offer.

⚠️ AQA examiner reports show that students sometimes confuse these organisational categories. Accurate classification matters.

What is a sect?

The AQA specification names sects as a type of religious organisation, while its assessment materials identify several characteristics associated with them.

AQA-supported characteristics include:

• an emphasis on doctrinal purity;

• opposition to wider society;

• relatively high levels of commitment;

• the provision of security and fellowship;

• appeal to people experiencing disprivilege or marginalisation;

• possible growth during periods of rapid social change and uncertainty.  

These features should be understood as connected rather than memorised as an isolated list.

Doctrinal purity

AQA's specimen mark scheme identifies sectarian emphasis on doctrinal purity as relevant knowledge.

Doctrinal purity means placing strong emphasis on maintaining particular religious beliefs or teachings.

For a sect, belief may therefore involve a clear distinction between:

• what members regard as correct or authentic religious teaching;

• ideas or practices associated with wider society that the sect rejects.

This helps explain why sects may be more demanding than looser religious or spiritual organisations.

The relationship is:

strong religious doctrine → expectation that members accept and follow it → high commitment to the religious group

This characteristic also helps distinguish sects from the more individualised spiritual choices explored in New Age movements [New Age movements].

Opposition to wider society

AQA also identifies opposition to wider society as a characteristic of sects.

This means that sectarian beliefs may define aspects of wider society as inconsistent with the group's religious principles.

The distinction can become:

sect's religious beliefs

versus

beliefs and practices of wider society

This opposition can strengthen boundaries between members and non-members.

If members believe that their religious teachings provide a more valid way of understanding life than the values of wider society, commitment to the group may become particularly significant.

Sectarian belief and group identity

Opposition to wider society can contribute to a strong group identity.

The possible process is:

1. Members share distinctive religious beliefs.

2. Those beliefs distinguish the group from wider society.

3. Members develop a stronger sense of belonging to the sect.

4. Security and fellowship within the sect may become especially valuable.

5. Commitment to the group may be strengthened.

This connection between religion and belonging is important because the AQA specimen mark scheme explicitly refers to the security and fellowship of sects.

Security and fellowship

Fellowship refers to a sense of companionship, belonging and shared identity within a group.

AQA identifies security and fellowship as one reason why sects may appeal in societies experiencing modernisation, declining religious certainty and social atomisation.

The argument is that wider social change may weaken older forms of certainty or community.

A sect may then provide:

• clear beliefs;

• a strong collective identity;

• a community of fellow believers;

• greater certainty about values and behaviour.

The sociological relationship is:

loss of certainty or community → desire for security and belonging → attraction to a sect → strong religious fellowship

This connects sects with wider debates about religion and social change [Religion and social change].

High commitment

AQA's 2022 mark scheme identifies the high level of commitment needed by sects when considering why some contemporary social changes might reduce their appeal.

This means membership or participation in sectarian religion can involve significant commitment to the group's beliefs.

This characteristic is particularly useful for comparison.

AQA's specimen material contrasts sects with the growth of less demanding audience and client cults.

The broad distinction is therefore:

Sect	Audience or client cult
May require high commitment	Described by AQA as less demanding
Strong doctrinal emphasis	May involve more limited participation
May oppose wider society	Can offer benefits connected to life within wider society
Strong fellowship may be important	Participation need not require the same level of group commitment

Sects and disprivilege

One of the strongest AQA-supported explanations of sect growth concerns disprivilege.

AQA's specimen mark scheme refers to sectarian theodicies of disprivilege and their appeal to lower social classes. Its 2022 mark scheme similarly explains that people experiencing poverty may feel marginalised and disprivileged and turn to sects for a religious explanation of their suffering.  

Disprivilege means experiencing relative disadvantage within society.

This might be connected to:

• poverty;

• marginalisation;

• a lack of social status;

• exclusion from valued resources or opportunities.

The important examination point is not simply:

“Poor people join sects.”

That is far too simplistic.

Instead, explain the sociological process.

Theodicies of disprivilege

A theodicy of disprivilege is a religious explanation that helps people interpret or make sense of disadvantage or suffering.

The AQA-supported chain is:

poverty or disadvantage → feelings of marginalisation and disprivilege → sect offers religious explanation → suffering becomes meaningful → sect becomes more attractive

This demonstrates how religious belief and social position can interact.

The individual is not attracted merely because they are poor. The sect's religious interpretation of their circumstances matters.

This relationship will connect with later work on social groups and religion [Social groups and religion].

Social change and the growth of sects

AQA directly assessed this relationship in June 2022.

The item identified two forms of social change:

• periods of increased poverty;

• feelings of uncertainty during rapid social change.

These provided two different explanations for sect growth.

Poverty, marginalisation and sect growth

AQA's mark scheme explains that poverty may produce feelings of marginalisation and disprivilege.

Sects may appeal because they provide religious justification or explanation for suffering.

The full analytical chain is:

social change increases poverty → individuals experience marginalisation → sectarian beliefs explain the experience of disadvantage → sect becomes more attractive

📌 Notice how every stage matters.

A weaker answer might simply say:

“Poverty causes sects to grow.”

A stronger answer explains why sectarian religion is particularly relevant to people experiencing poverty.

Rapid change, uncertainty and sect growth

The second AQA-supported explanation concerns uncertainty.

Rapid social change may make established patterns of life less predictable. AQA's mark scheme links this with anomie and the possibility that people seek sects as a response to uncertainty.

Anomie refers here to a condition in which established norms or expectations become weakened or uncertain.

The analytical process is:

rapid social change → uncertainty or anomie → desire for clearer beliefs and values → sect provides certainty and fellowship → sectarian participation may increase

This explanation connects the characteristics of sects with the social circumstances that make those characteristics attractive.

That connection is exactly what the 2022 examiner report says students needed to make.

Sect growth and secularisation

AQA's specimen paper also links the growth of sects to secularisation.

This may initially seem contradictory.

If secularisation involves declining traditional religious importance, why might sects grow?

One AQA-supported explanation is that the decline of traditional religious certainty can itself create demand for the security and fellowship provided by sects.

The process is:

decline in traditional religious certainty → increased social or religious uncertainty → some individuals seek a more committed religious group → sect growth

Therefore:

growth of some sects does not necessarily prove that traditional organised religion is growing.

It could instead be a response to wider religious change.

You will explore this debate fully in secularisation [Secularisation].

Sects and social atomisation

The AQA specimen material also refers to social atomisation in relation to sect growth.

In this context, social atomisation means individuals becoming more socially separated or less strongly connected to traditional collective relationships.

A sect may offer a response through:

• fellowship;

• common beliefs;

• stronger community;

• shared religious commitment.

This means sect growth can be interpreted as an attempt by some people to recover certainty and community in a changing society.

Why high commitment may also limit sect growth

AQA's 2022 mark scheme provides an important evaluation.

Although uncertainty may increase the appeal of sects, contemporary social change may also lead to a decline of sects because of the high level of commitment needed.

This creates two competing processes:

Social change may encourage sect growth	Social change may reduce sect appeal
Uncertainty increases desire for certainty	High commitment may be unattractive
Marginalisation creates demand for religious explanations	Less demanding religious or spiritual alternatives exist
Social atomisation increases desire for fellowship	Individualised contemporary belief may fit less easily with demanding group membership

This is a useful evaluative point.

Social change does not automatically produce more sects.

Different aspects of social change can have different effects.

What is a cult?

AQA names cults explicitly in the specification as religious organisations that students need to understand.

However, the supplied AQA specification does not give a single detailed definition of a cult.

The AQA specimen mark scheme provides the clearest supported material by referring specifically to:

• audience cults;

• client cults;

• their relatively less demanding character;

• client cults offering techniques for this-worldly success.

These characteristics provide the safest basis for AQA revision.

Audience and client cults

AQA groups audience and client cults together as less demanding forms in its specimen material.

This gives a useful contrast with sects.

Sects may require:

• high commitment;

• doctrinal purity;

• strong fellowship.

Audience or client cults are identified as less demanding.

This suggests a lower level of commitment can be involved.

The important comparison is not that one form is “more religious” than another.

The difference concerns the relationship between the individual and the organisation or belief system.

Client cults and this-worldly success

AQA's specimen mark scheme gives a particularly clear example of a client cult.

It states that client cults can offer adherents techniques for this-worldly success.

This-worldly success means goals or benefits concerned with life in the present social world rather than rejecting that world.

AQA gives career success as an example of the type of secular goal that some New Age beliefs may address.

The relationship can be represented as:

individual has a present-life goal → cult offers beliefs or techniques associated with achieving it → participation can remain compatible with wider social life

This differs from sectarian opposition to wider society.

Cults, spirituality and individual goals

The AQA material therefore places client cults close to debates about contemporary spirituality.

Participation may concern individual goals rather than membership of a highly committed religious community.

This provides a bridge into the next lesson, New Age movements [New Age movements].

The contrast is useful:

sect → collective commitment and distinctive doctrine

while

less demanding client cult → individual use of beliefs or techniques for this-worldly goals

This does not mean all cults are identical or that the two categories never overlap.

It means these are the distinctions explicitly supported by the supplied AQA assessment material.

Limits of the provided material on cults

The specification requires knowledge of cults, but the supplied AQA papers and mark schemes provide much more detailed guidance on sects than on cults.

They identify audience and client cults and describe them as less demanding, with client cults potentially offering techniques for this-worldly success. They do not provide a complete standalone typology of every characteristic of cults.

For revision, therefore, do not add unsupported claims about cult leadership, membership, recruitment or beliefs and present them as AQA requirements.

Sects compared with churches and denominations

The characteristics covered in churches and denominations [Churches and denominations] allow several secure comparisons.

Sects	Churches and denominations
May emphasise doctrinal purity	Associated with established or traditional religious beliefs
May oppose wider society	May be more closely connected with established religious structures
May require high commitment	AQA material focuses more on formal organisation and hierarchy
Security and fellowship may be central to their appeal	Formal religious authority is an important characteristic
Growth may be linked to disprivilege or uncertainty	More closely associated with traditional organised religion in AQA comparisons

Be careful not to invent additional differences.

The strongest comparisons use characteristics directly supported by the AQA material.

Sects compared with cults

The clearest contrast supported by AQA concerns commitment and relationship to wider society.

Sect	Audience/client cult
High commitment may be required	Relatively less demanding
Doctrinal purity may be important	Can focus on techniques or individual benefits
May oppose wider society	Client cults may pursue this-worldly success
Fellowship and community may be important	Participation may be more individually focused
May respond to disprivilege and uncertainty	Can fit with individual goals in contemporary society

This comparison can help you avoid the common mistake of treating sects and cults as the same organisational type.

Sects, cults and New Age movements

The categories can overlap within wider sociological discussions, but AQA lists sects, cults and New Age movements separately in the specification.

The examiner reports show why keeping the categories clear is essential.

In November 2020, students sometimes confused:

• New Age movements;

• sects;

• cults;

• New Religious Movements.

Similarly, the 2025 report notes that some students confused New Age movements with sects or New Religious Movements.

📌 Revision rule: Learn each category by its supported characteristics before comparing them.

Religious belief and organisational form

The AQA specification requires not only knowledge of organisations, but also their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice.

For sects, organisational form is closely linked to religious belief.

For example:

doctrinal purity → clear religious expectations → high commitment

and:

opposition to wider society → stronger distinction between members and outsiders → increased group fellowship

For client cults:

individual goal → spiritual or religious technique → relatively less demanding participation

This demonstrates that organisational characteristics are not arbitrary.

They shape how beliefs are experienced and practised.

Sects and religious certainty

A strong sectarian commitment may become attractive where wider religious certainty has weakened.

AQA specifically uses this relationship when linking sect growth to secularisation.

The mechanism is:

traditional certainty weakens → individual seeks clear belief → doctrinally strong sect offers certainty → commitment to sect increases

This is a good example of how one type of religious change can produce another.

A decline in one form of religion may coexist with growth in another.

Sects and social class

AQA's specimen mark scheme identifies the appeal of sectarian theodicies of disprivilege to lower classes.

This does not mean every lower-class person joins a sect or that sects only recruit from one class.

The sociological explanation concerns the relationship between:

• disadvantage;

• religious explanation;

• organisational appeal.

A stronger exam sentence would be:

“Sects may appeal to some people experiencing social disprivilege because sectarian beliefs can offer an explanation for suffering and a supportive community.”

That is much better than:

“Sects are for poor people.”

The first explains a social mechanism. The second is an unsupported generalisation.

Sects and marginalisation

Marginalisation refers to being pushed towards the edges of society or feeling excluded from valued social positions.

AQA's 2022 mark scheme links poverty, marginalisation and disprivilege to the growth of sects.

A sect may potentially respond to marginalisation by offering:

• community;

• religious meaning;

• certainty;

• fellowship.

The mechanism is:

marginalisation → weakened connection to wider society → sect provides alternative community and explanation → increased attraction to sect membership

This is particularly useful when applying an item about poverty or exclusion.

Sects and anomie

Anomie is another concept explicitly used in AQA's 2022 marking guidance.

Rapid social change may weaken established social expectations and produce uncertainty.

Sects can potentially provide:

• definite teachings;

• a clear identity;

• stronger behavioural expectations;

• a supportive religious community.

Therefore:

anomie → search for certainty → sectarian religious commitment

This is an important explanation because it relates a feature of society directly to a feature of the religious organisation.

Social change can have opposing effects

One of the strongest conclusions from the AQA material is that sects should not be treated as the automatic product of modern change.

AQA recognises:

social change may increase sect growth

because of:

• poverty;

• disprivilege;

• uncertainty;

• anomie;

• loss of religious certainty.

But social change may also make demanding sect membership less attractive because of the high commitment required.

This gives you a useful evaluative principle:

The effect of social change depends on which aspect of change is being considered and which individuals or groups are affected.

Sects, cults and changing religiosity

The existence of sects and less demanding cults also complicates the measurement of religious decline.

If traditional church participation falls but people participate in different religious or spiritual organisations, the meaning of secularisation becomes less straightforward.

AQA's specimen mark scheme explicitly connects the growth of sects and New Age movements with secularisation.

This means students should avoid the simple equation:

fewer traditional churchgoers = no religion

Different organisational forms may grow, decline or change at different rates.

This becomes a major issue in religion and religiosity in the contemporary world [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world].

A comparison framework for religious organisations

The safest way to revise AQA religious organisations is through dimensions of comparison.

Dimension	Sect	Audience/client cult	Church/denomination	New Age movement
Commitment	May be high	Described as less demanding	Not the main contrast emphasised in supplied material	More individualised in AQA comparisons
Belief	Doctrinal purity may be important	Can offer techniques associated with individual goals	Traditional belief important	Self-spirituality important
Relationship with society	May oppose wider society	Client cults may pursue this-worldly success	More established/traditional	Individual spirituality rather than traditional authority
Community	Security and fellowship may be important	Less demanding relationship	Formal organisation important	More fluid and individualised
Social circumstances	Disprivilege and uncertainty may increase appeal	Growth may fit increasing individualism	Traditional church appeal may decline	Connected to contemporary individualism

This framework is particularly useful for application questions because you can select the dimension actually mentioned in the item.

How to apply sect knowledge in an exam

Suppose an item says:

Rapid economic change has increased poverty. At the same time, many people feel that society has become less predictable.

You have two hooks.

Hook 1: poverty

Develop:

poverty → marginalisation/disprivilege → sectarian theodicy explains suffering → increased sect appeal

Hook 2: uncertainty

Develop:

rapid change → anomie/uncertainty → desire for certainty and fellowship → sect provides clear beliefs → increased sect appeal

Do not just write two paragraphs about poverty and uncertainty in general.

The endpoint of each paragraph must be why this affects sects in particular.

That is precisely the issue highlighted by AQA's 2022 examiner report.

Key Words 🔑

Key word	Student-friendly definition	How it may be used in an exam
Sect	A religious organisation associated in AQA material with doctrinal purity, opposition to wider society and potentially high commitment.	Identify distinctive sect characteristics before explaining their appeal or growth.
Cult	A religious or spiritual organisational category named by AQA, with assessment material referring particularly to less demanding audience and client cults.	Compare with more demanding sectarian forms.
Doctrinal purity	Strong emphasis on maintaining particular religious teachings as correct or authentic.	Explain why sectarian belief may demand high commitment or differ from wider society.
Disprivilege	Social disadvantage that may contribute to feelings of exclusion or marginalisation.	Explain why sectarian religious explanations may appeal to some disadvantaged groups.
Theodicy of disprivilege	A religious explanation that helps people make sense of disadvantage or suffering.	Link poverty and marginalisation to the appeal of sects.
Marginalisation	Being excluded from, or placed at the margins of, valued social relationships or positions.	Explain why a supportive sectarian community may become attractive.
Anomie	Uncertainty created when established norms or expectations become weakened during social change.	Explain why rapid social change may increase demand for sectarian certainty.
Fellowship	A sense of community and belonging among members of a religious group.	Explain the attraction of sects when other sources of community have weakened.
Client cult	A less demanding form identified in AQA material that may offer techniques for this-worldly success.	Contrast with sectarian opposition to wider society and high commitment.
This-worldly success	Goals concerned with achievement in present social life.	Explain the appeal of some client cults or New Age beliefs.

Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡

The June 2022 examiner report is especially important for this lesson because the paper directly tested social change and the growth of sects.

Examiner hint: AQA reported a lack of knowledge of sects and their characteristics. This caused students to give general answers about how religion might help people experiencing poverty or uncertainty rather than explaining why sects specifically might appeal.

The practical lesson is to learn sect characteristics alongside explanations of growth.

Do not write:

“Religion provides comfort during poverty.”

Write:

“People experiencing poverty may feel marginalised and disprivileged. A sect may be particularly attractive because its distinctive religious beliefs can provide a theodicy of disprivilege and its fellowship may offer a supportive community.”

Examiner hint: The 2022 report says successful 10-mark answers needed to show how each explanation applied to sects in particular. Using a characteristic of sects to develop the explanation was one way to achieve this.

A useful structure is:

social factor → sect characteristic → reason for attraction

Examiner hint: For item-based 10-mark analyse questions, AQA states that answers need to use the specific prompts or “hooks” in the item. There is no need for an introduction or conclusion. Two clearly developed paragraphs are more useful.

Examiner hint: Do not confuse religious organisational categories. The November 2020 examiner report identified confusion between New Age movements, sects, cults and New Religious Movements.

Create a comparison table during revision so that characteristics remain distinct.

Examiner hint: AQA's general advice also warns students against reciting knowledge from individual words in a question. Read the whole question and explain the relationship it asks for.

For example, a question on social change and sect growth is not asking for a general description of sects. You must connect the two.

Common Mistakes ⚠️

Mistake: Treating sects and cults as the same thing

Why this is incorrect: AQA lists sects and cults as separate organisational categories, and its material associates them with different patterns of commitment.

How to improve: Remember the clearest contrast:

sect = potentially high commitment

audience/client cult = relatively less demanding

Mistake: Describing poverty without explaining sect growth

Why this is incorrect: The 2022 examiner report identified this type of general answer as a weakness.

How to improve: Complete the relationship:

poverty → disprivilege → sectarian religious explanation → increased appeal

Mistake: Describing uncertainty without using sect characteristics

Why this is incorrect: Uncertainty could potentially increase the appeal of many institutions, so the explanation is incomplete.

How to improve: Explain why a sect specifically might appeal:

uncertainty → need for certainty → doctrinally clear beliefs + fellowship → sect

Mistake: Saying everyone experiencing poverty is likely to join a sect

Why this is incorrect: AQA presents disprivilege as a sociological explanation of possible appeal, not as an automatic relationship.

How to improve: Use qualified language such as:

“Sects may appeal to some individuals experiencing disprivilege because...”

Mistake: Forgetting opposition to wider society

Why this is incorrect: AQA's specimen mark scheme specifically identifies opposition to wider society as a sectarian characteristic.

How to improve: Connect it with doctrinal purity and strong group identity.

Mistake: Assuming social change can only increase sect membership

Why this is incorrect: AQA's 2022 mark scheme recognises that high commitment may make sects less attractive under more recent social conditions.

How to improve: Evaluate both possibilities:

change may create uncertainty that increases appeal, but individualised contemporary life may make demanding commitment less attractive.

Mistake: Confusing cults with New Age movements

Why this is incorrect: AQA names them separately, even though its assessment material can discuss client cults within wider debates about New Age belief.

How to improve: Do not use all these labels interchangeably. Identify the exact organisational category required by the question.

Mistake: Inventing characteristics of cults

Why this is incorrect: The supplied AQA material gives only limited detail about cults, particularly audience and client cults.

How to improve: Stay with the supported characteristics: less demanding forms and, for client cults, techniques for this-worldly success.

Exam-Style Questions ✍️

Questions

1. Identify one characteristic of a sect.[1 mark]

2. Define the term doctrinal purity.[2 marks]

3. Explain one reason why fellowship may make sects attractive to some individuals.[4 marks]

4. Outline and explain two characteristics of sects as religious organisations.[10 marks]

5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.

Item A

Economic change has increased hardship for some people, leaving them feeling excluded from mainstream society. A religious group provides members with a clear explanation for their suffering and a strong community of fellow believers.

Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which social disadvantage may increase the appeal of sects.[10 marks]

6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.

Item B

Society is changing rapidly and some people feel that established beliefs no longer provide certainty. Other people prefer forms of spirituality that make fewer demands on their time and allow them to pursue goals within everyday society.

Different forms of religious organisation may appeal under these conditions.

Applying material from Item B, analyse two differences between the appeal of sects and less demanding cults.[10 marks]

7. Outline and explain two differences between sects and churches or denominations.[10 marks]

8. Read Item C and answer the question that follows.

Item C

Some sociologists argue that social change encourages the growth of sects because uncertainty and disadvantage increase people's need for religious certainty and fellowship. However, contemporary individuals may prefer less demanding and more individualised forms of belief.

Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate the view that social change necessarily leads to the growth of sects.[20 marks]

Answers and mark scheme

Question 1

Award 1 mark for one appropriate sect characteristic identified in the AQA material, for example:

• doctrinal purity;

• opposition to wider society;

• high commitment;

• security and fellowship.

Question 2

Doctrinal purity refers to a strong emphasis on maintaining particular religious teachings or beliefs as correct or authentic.

Award credit for recognising both:

• clear religious doctrine;

• emphasis on preserving or following that doctrine.

Question 3

A possible answer:

Fellowship may make sects attractive because membership can provide a strong sense of community and belonging. This may be particularly important when individuals feel socially isolated or when rapid change weakens other sources of certainty and community.

Credit should be given for connecting:

fellowship → belonging/security → increased sect appeal

Question 4

Two developed characteristics are required.

Characteristic 1: doctrinal purity

Sects may place strong emphasis on maintaining particular religious doctrines. This can create clear expectations of members and distinguish the group's beliefs from those of wider society.

Characteristic 2: opposition to wider society

Sectarian beliefs may conflict with values in wider society. This can strengthen group boundaries and make commitment and fellowship within the sect particularly important.

Other supported characteristics include:

• high commitment;

• security and fellowship.

Evaluation is not required.

Question 5

Two developed item applications are required.

First way: disprivilege

Use the reference to hardship and exclusion. Economic disadvantage may create feelings of marginalisation and disprivilege. Sects may provide a theodicy of disprivilege, giving a religious explanation for suffering and therefore making the organisation more attractive.

The chain is:

hardship → disprivilege → religious explanation → sect appeal

Second way: fellowship

Use the reference to a strong community. People who feel excluded from mainstream society may find security, belonging and fellowship within a sect.

The chain is:

social exclusion → need for belonging → sectarian fellowship → stronger attraction

A high-level answer will explain why these features apply specifically to sects, rather than religion generally.

Question 6

First difference: certainty versus lower commitment

Use the reference to lost certainty. A sect may provide strong doctrinal beliefs, giving individuals greater certainty in a changing society. This may require high commitment.

By contrast, AQA identifies audience and client cults as relatively less demanding.

Second difference: relationship with wider society

Use the reference to pursuing everyday goals. Sects may oppose wider society, while client cults may provide techniques connected with this-worldly success, allowing participation to remain compatible with goals in everyday social life.

Strong answers will make both sides of each comparison explicit.

Question 7

Possible differences include:

Sectarian doctrinal purity versus traditional organisation

Sects may emphasise doctrinal purity and define themselves partly through opposition to wider society. Churches and denominations, in contrast, are associated in AQA material with established or traditional religious belief.

Commitment versus formal hierarchy

Sects may require high commitment and provide strong fellowship. AQA's material on churches and denominations instead emphasises formal or hierarchical religious authority.

Students should develop two comparisons, rather than writing one paragraph on sects followed by an unrelated paragraph on churches.

Question 8

Indicative content may include:

Arguments that social change may increase sect growth:

• poverty;

• marginalisation;

• disprivilege;

• theodicies of disprivilege;

• uncertainty;

• anomie;

• declining traditional religious certainty;

• social atomisation;

• security and fellowship;

• clear doctrine;

• opposition to wider society.

Arguments against the view:

• social change does not affect everyone in the same way;

• high levels of commitment may reduce the attraction of sects;

• less demanding audience and client cults may fit contemporary preferences better;

• individualised belief may compete with demanding sectarian membership;

• declining traditional religious participation does not necessarily produce sect growth.

A strong response should focus on the word “necessarily”.

A reasoned conclusion might argue that social change can create circumstances in which sects become more attractive, particularly where individuals experience disprivilege, uncertainty or weakened community. However, these conditions do not automatically produce sect growth. The high commitment associated with sectarian religion and the availability of less demanding forms of belief mean that social change can also reduce the relative appeal of sect membership.