ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by briefly outlining some of the common elements of conversion theories. Theories of conversion cannot gain substance without data obtained by analysing actual processes of conversion. Such data are usually acquired retrospectively, because a person’s conversion to another religion is rarely recorded by external observers or otherwise documented in contemporary sources. The potential convert must somehow know the group in question before the actual conversion. James A. Beckford’s conclusion was a much needed warning against an uncritical trust in using converts’ own accounts as sources for the analysis of conversion. Sociologists have established a sociology of love, courtship and marriage patterns without disturbing themselves with a need to explain individual cases of love and marriage. The chapter concludes by proposing that when formulating sociological theories on the basis of conversion accounts, it may be productive to draw parallels with sociological studies of other important re-orientations in personal life.
