Pessoas que saíram da torre: a construção do eu e de um lugar no mundo diante do rompimento religioso em dissidentes das Testemunhas de Jeová

Abstract

Given the closed nature of the Jehovah's Witnesses group in various contexts, such as social and cultural, this study discussed religious disaffiliation. The general objective was to understand the psychosocial impacts of breaking away from religious beliefs and the group. The secondary objectives were to describe the main beliefs and their implications for the lives of its members; to explore the factors that lead to breaking away from the group; to examine the social and emotional impacts resulting from the separation; and to analyze the strategies used by former members to reorganize their lives after the break. This is a quantitative and qualitative field study, using content analysis on the responses obtained through a questionnaire administered to ten former members of the religion in seven different states of Brazil. As a result, the internalization of rules was found with repercussions on identity and the imposition of barriers to external relations. Thus, leaving the group was marked by ostracism, weakening of close bonds, internal conflicts, guilt, social isolation and difficulties in interaction, which aggravated mental disorders or favored their emergence. Different forms of coping were observed, such as seeking psychological support, joining new social groups and recovering repressed identity aspects. Therefore, there was a process of reconstruction, with the reformulation of identity and worldview