ABSTRACT: This special issue on new religions and second-generation members brings together three articles, two Field Notes essays, and one Perspective essay. The authors draw on a variety of methodologies and disciplines, including history, religious studies, sociology, and psychoanalysis. Particular attention is paid to Unificationism and the Church of Scientology, but also to larger historiographical, methodological, and ethical concerns germane to the study of both children and second-generation adults (SGAs). Many groups classified as “new religions,” even those originating in the early or mid-twentieth century, now have third, fourth, or more generational bases of membership, underscoring the contested and nebulous nature of “newer” versus “older” forms of religiosity. After situating the state of scholarship and summarizing the issue’s articles, this introduction concludes with an interdisciplinary call for further research into second-generation members, arguing that this line of research should include current and former members as well as both adults and, when possible, children.

ABSTRACT: This perspective essay draws on the author’s previous research and data recently collected during a five-year research project (2018–2023) on children in minority religions. Its purpose is to address l’etat de la question regarding the academic study of children in new religious movements. Issues that are fiercely debated by scholars and members of the public include whether children are cherished in alternative spiritual communities or abused in “cults,” and whether they are indoctrinated, held captive, or free to choose to stay or leave (when they are old enough). Despite the paucity of research data on childrearing in new religious movements, strong negative opinions are expressed in the mass media, family courts, and anticult literature. Value-free fieldwork on children in new religious movements is important to finding out what is actually going on in relation to children in groups, and learning about group characteristics likely to affect child-rearing practices, in order to convey research conclusions to social workers, law enforcement agents, and members of the media so they can make informed and unbiased decisions about constructive actions to protect the welfare and rights of children, as needed, while respecting the rights of parents.

ABSTRACT: In this field notes essay, the authors report on findings from their interviews with second-generation members of the Church of Scientology in Hungary. Despite increased academic attention to Scientology in recent years, there has been relatively little qualitative attention on the attitudes of second-generation adult Scientologists. Eight interviews were conducted in Hungary to help fill this lacuna. Four subcategories of interviewees emerged: the “ones who were left behind,” the “technicians,” the “inspired,” and the “religious ones.” Among other information, the interviews reveal a “born-into effect,” in which interviewees sometimes had difficulty responding to questions because of the ways in which the Scientology worldview had become ingrained due to their upbringing. This observation ought to factor into how researchers of Scientology, and other new religious movements, design and conduct interviews and surveys among second-generation adults.