The View From The Border

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The View from the Border is a book that was written by John Kotre. It is a study that looks at the membership and ex-membership of the Catholic Church from the perspective of young adults who have been raised within the Catholic educational system. Kotre uses a questionnaire to collect data from 100 graduates of Catholic colleges and he interviews one hundred of them. The results of the study show that the attitudes of both the ins and the outs are not influenced by their Catholic upbringing so much as by their primary group relationships. This book is a must-read for professionals in the fields of psychology, sociology, theology, and religion.

In this unique psychological study, John Kotre provides some startling answers to the questions Catholics are now asking about those who abandon the church, those who remain in it, and those who attempt to create a new church within the church. A detailed examination of the borderline between membership and exmembership in the Catholic Church, as perceived by young adults reared within the Catholic educational system, the book provides an impressive substantive contribution to understanding not only of the modern church, but of organizational change in general. In this unique psychological study, John Kotre provides some startling answers to the questions Catholics are now asking about those who abandon the church, those who remain in it, and those who attempt to create a new church within the church. A detailed examination of the borderline between membership and ex-membership in the Catholic Church, as perceived by young adults reared within the Catholic educational system, the book provides an impressive substantive contribution to understanding not only of the modern church, but of organizational change in general.Kotre, himself a product of the Catholic educational system, positions himself amid the tension and ambiguity between those who consider themselves in and those who consider themselves out of the Catholic Church. He designed a systematic questionnaire covering four hundred variables about each subject's beliefs, values, perceptions of parents, and reasons for being an insider or an outsider. Using this questionnaire he individually interviewed one hundred graduates of Catholic colleges. The surprising results of this important research show that, in spite of sixteen years of formal Catholic education, the attitudes of both the ins and the outs are not influenced by their Catholic upbringing so much as by their primary group relationships.Recent research has shown that adult Americans are leaving their childhood faiths at ever increasing rates and that the Catholic Church is suffering the greatest losses. Kotre's book offers an insightful psychological perspective on this dramatic movement. It is a must-read for professional psychologists and sociologists, theologians, and people interested in the psychology and sociology of religion.