Understanding Deconversion: Exploring Why and How People Leave a High-Control Religion and Develop Alternative Worldviews

In a society that is increasingly secularizing, understanding why and how individuals’ worldviews change is important; yet those processes remain only partially understood. Developing deeper insights into worldview dynamics has the potential to improve both our understanding of secularization and the support offered to people experiencing the challenges associated with deconversion. This study used Reflexive Thematic Analysis to explore data from 20 semi-structured interviews with ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses in the UK, investigating why participants left the organization and how their worldviews changed during their deconversion. We found participants left due to the cumulative effects of intellectual doubts, social experiences, and identity conflicts. The deconversion process was usually slow, difficult, and painful; it was also complex, idiosyncratic, and embedded in the participants’ social and cultural contexts. To help understand these processes of worldview change, a systemic stage model was developed by drawing on the wider academic literature. This model suggests that individuals experiencing crises sometimes perform existential exploration that can lead to various forms of resolution (including deconversion, when conflicts cannot be adequately reconciled within one’s existing religious group) that often have long-term consequences for both them and others. These findings suggest that individuals struggling with various forms of spiritual crisis should be supported sensitively as they explore the existential beliefs available to them and their potential consequences. Researchers studying secularization, deconversion, and other types of spiritual transformation should also be sensitive to both the complexity and heavily contextualized nature of these processes for the individuals experiencing them.