Abstract

Being shunned from a tight-knit religious community, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, may be a traumatic event. The accounts of twenty-one participants, qualitatively analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, elucidate the extent to which religious shunning impacts an individual’s life. Two dominant themes stemmed from the data: ‘Losses due to Shunning’ and ‘The Rebuilding of Self post-shunning.’ This article will explore the impact that being shunned has on the lives of the participants, considering its psychological consequences and daily challenges. The article will then discuss the positive aspects which may characterise the experiences of those shunned from the Jehovah’s Witnesses community.