Up to the wirter - Admission/Application Essay Example

Amish population Amish subculture roots back in 16th century Europe. Intolerant with the rate of Protestant Reformation, young reformers in Switzerland angered religious authorities when they began baptizing one another in January 1525.Thus 1993 marked 300 years existence of Amish way of life. Extinct in their Zurich, Switzerland homeland, today they exist in over 456 settlements in 22 American states as well as Ontario, a Canadian province. The Amish, primarily are one of the most colorful and distinctive cultural groupings across the continuum of American pluralism.

The Amish have a culture lag and shun automobiles, utilize horses in drawing their farm machinery as well as ensuring social control by dressing distinctively, things that set them apart from modern America material culture. Just 2 decades ago, several sociologists were predicting that the Amish population in the U.S would be shrinking by now, instead it is growing. In addition, a recent census found out that the Amish population is rising faster than ever thought. Currently, there are almost 251,000 Amish population in Canada and America; which is more than twice the approximated population of 1989 which was around 100,000.

The new estimates predict that this population will double again to nearly 500,000 within 20years.There are several social factors that have contributed to this. Some of them are as discussed below; normally Amish do not vigorously evangelize, and there has been very little or no diffusion in their culture, however, they do welcome foreigners, with very few making the cultural leap. In some settlements membership doubles around every 2 decades. The population growth rate is fueled by a vigorous birth rate that commonly averages 7 children per household.

On the other hand defection rate differs by settlement, and in most cases is normally less than 20%.This is therefore to say that 6 out of every 7 children remain Amish, something that further fuels the increase in the population (Giddens, 2013).The Amish ethnic group has a retention rate of around 85% of their young adults who usually have the choice of remaining in the church. In addition, the Amish do get married within their community which is another factor fueling their growth. Almost 50% of the Amish comprises of young people, meaning that the community’s key focus is mostly on young people as well as schools.

The other factor that is causing this explosion is the fact that Amish children are sticking to their religion after baptism beginning their own extremely fertile families. A lead researcher and professor of rural sociology, Joseph Donnermeyer claims that 90% of sons and daughters are baptized Amish, starting families henceforth; a number that has been steadily increasing since WWII (Giddens, 2013).In addition, the Amish co-exist in tiny groups of 20-30 families commonly referred to as settlements.

Donnermeyer’s group has proved that these settlements are rapidly increasing. For instance there were 179 settlements in 1990 in the US and by 2012, there were 456 settlements, comprising of a handful in Canada as counted by Donnermeyer and his team. Growth in settlements means growth in geographic reach. Traditionally, the Amish lived in such places as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (26,270) and Holmes County, Ohio (17,654).Since then, the Amish have scattering to other regions of the country from Missouri to New York and Wyoming.

Nebraska has 3 settlements and Montana has 4 settlements. Because Amish favor settlements of just a few dozen households, the entire growth in population has accelerated this spread.Works citedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHQYXiPixSchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixGAz4CFX9AAntony, Giddens. Introduction to Sociology. New York: Norton,W.W. & Company,Inc, 2013.