Choice Review
The demise of the long-standing institution of Catholic convents in the US is the topic of this book. Ebaugh focuses on religious orders of women within the US and provides an in-depth case study of one order. The author hopes to contribute to the growing literature on organizational decline and draws a parallel between the growth and decline of religious orders and that of American business organizations. Ebaugh argues that the process of decline in religious orders does not follow the model of decline described in the literature. She cites several contributing factors, e.g., change in the structure and mission of religious orders (though not their relationship to the larger church), and the environment produced by the Second Vatican Council, which resulted in an organizational form that rejected the model of cloister and substituted identification of members with the outside world. Ebaugh develops a process model of exogamous factors that have led to the decline of these religious orders of women. Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. M. Klatte; Eastern Kentucky University
Library Journal Review
Sociologist Ebaugh ( Out of the Cloister , Univ. of Texas Pr., 1977, and Becoming an Ex , Univ. of Chicago, 1984) continues her studies of American Catholic nuns with this look at their approaching demise. Ebaugh zeros in on the pseudonymous Sisters of Service, representative of most contemporary orders in that as fewer women choose to enter convents, middle-aged members have departed, leaving the sisters with a median age of 70 in 1990. Ebaugh addresses the causes of this phenomenon, contrasting the Sisters' outward, participatory response with that of American corporations' tendency to grow more centralized and authoritative when threatened. Religious life has undergone sweeping changes in the last decades: Most younger members recognize that the order will probably cease to exist during their lifetimes, yet they continue to seek new social structures within which to work. Highly recommended for both organizational studies and religious studies collections.-- Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
