"Everything one does Should Honour God" : A Study of the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses's, Their Power Structures and Instruments of Power and Their Affect on Young Jehova's Witnesses in Sweden

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah’s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization. It is also quite clear that the youths internalize hegemonic ideals and that they therefore try to discipline themselves in order to achieve a self image as a good servant of God. The participants concede that they are constantly being surveyed by the congregation and they also express that God is constantly surveying them. Within the organization there is a reward/punishment system which’s purpose is to strengthen the will to follow the organizations rules. My investigation shows that there are power structures and instruments of power within Jehovah’s witnesses that strongly affect the world within which the interviewees live. The instruments of power identified in this thesis drill the participants’ mental and physical operating space. In the thesis I also differentiate power structures within the organization. Foucault’s diffuse concepts about “the power” are concretized using the organization of Jehovah’s witnesses. The ones who represent “the power” are the ones who gain an advantageous position within the organization, but “the power” also stems from the atmosphere, discourse, and hegemonic ideals that surround the organization