Citation

Soltero J, Saravia R. Sociol. Relig. 2003; 64(1): 1-19.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Association for the Sociology of Religion)

DOI

10.2307/3712266

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper tests the relevance of social stratification and anomie theories on individuals' decisions of religious affiliation to Catholic, Protestant, and other non-Christian churches, or to remain non-affiliated to any religious group in El Salvador. These objectives are pursued by using a sample of Salvadorans living in poor suburban areas of fourteen cities, one from each state of the country. Based on this sample, several logistic regression models are estimated. The results show that access to medical care, if not available within the community, increases the likelihood of joining Protestant churches; younger individuals are more likely to join Protestant or other churches rather than the Catholic one; unemployment increases the probability of individuals joining non-Christian churches; international return migration compels people to break away from Catholicism and join Protestant or other non-Christian churches; and the presence of community organizations increases the odds that individuals would become Protestant.