Impacts of Sociological Factors on Amish Communities

CHCLD514B Analyse impacts of sociological
factors on clients in community work and
services on the group of Anabaptists – The
Amish.
REBECCA DIXON

Identify relevant social and cultural institutions and their functions including:
Basic concepts of cultural, institutions, social structures, and power.
Families in Australian society.
Gender roles especially in relation to workforce.
Major social and cultural institutions in Australian society.
 The Amish people in America are an old religious sect, direct descendants of the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century
Europe. Anabaptist Christians challenged the reforms of Martin Luther and others during the Protestant
Reformation, because this group rejected the idea of infant baptism, since an infant doesn’t yet have the
knowledge of good and evil therefore, rejecting infant baptism in favour of baptism (or re-baptism) as believing
adults. They also taught separation of church and state, something unheard of in the 16th century. The Amish
had not yet settled in Australia.

 Later known as the Mennonites, after the Dutch Anabaptist leader Menno Simons (1496-1561), a large group of
Anabaptists fled to Switzerland and other remote areas of Europe to escape religious persecution.
 During the late 1600s a group of devout individuals led by Jakob Ammann broke away from the Swiss
Mennonites, primarily over the lack of strict enforcement of Meidung, or shunning - excommunication of
disobedient or negligent members. They also differed over other matters such as foot washing and the lack of rigid
regulation of costume. This group became known as the Amish and, to this day, still share most of the same beliefs
as their Mennonite cousins. The distinction between the Amish and Mennonites is largely one of dress and
manner of worship.

 Amish Settlements in America
 The first sizeable group of Amish arrived in America around 1730 and settled near Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, as a result of William Penn's 'holy experiment' in religious tolerance. The Pennsylvania Amish are
not the largest group of U.S. Amish as is commonly thought, however. The Amish have settled in as many as
twenty-four states, Canada, and Central America, though about 80% are located in Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Indiana. They had not yet settled within Australia.

 Amish in Australia: There don't seem be any actual Amish in Australia, but there are non-conformist Anabaptist
communities that are very similar. The Bruderhof community in New South Wales is one. Another is the Rocky
Cape Christian Community in Tasmania, which consists of Hutterites. They are similar to Amish and to
Mennonites.
 Members of a Christian-based religious group living as a community in northern NSW are being threatened
with deportation by the Federal Government.
 The 80-strong Bruderhof community, founded at Inverell (NSW) in 1999 and now a thriving part of the local
business community, has appealed for help to stop forced deportations.
 About 30 Bruderhof members have already been deported to their original homes in the US and Britain.
 "The members don't fit the very restrictive criteria being operated by the immigration authorities,"
 The communities in Australia are accepting of the modern world.

Locations of the Amish in Australia.
Armidale: A university town of 20,000 in an area known (for its climate) as
Australia’s “New England,” Armidale has been home to a Bruderhof house since
2005.
Inverell: A cluster of residential houses in a
small town, Inverell Community opened in
2005 as an outpost of nearby Danthonia.
Danthonia: Established in 1999 on a farm in the Northern Tablelands of
New South Wales, Australia, the Danthonia community is located twenty
kilometres east of Inverell.

 Amish Orders
 By some estimates, there are as many as eight different orders within the Amish population, with the majority
affiliated with one of five religious orders - Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Andy Weaver Amish, Beachy
Amish, and Swartzentruber Amish. These churches operate independently from each other with differences in
how they practice their religion and conduct their daily lives. The Old Order Amish are the largest group and
the Swartzentruber Amish, an offshoot of the Old Order, are the most conservative.
 In Australia there are Rocky Cape Christian Community form an Anabaptist (Hutterite) community along with
the Bruderhof community.

 The Ordnung (Social structure & power)
 Amish lifestyle is dictated by the Ordnung (German, meaning: order), which differs slightly from community to
community, and, within a community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one community may not be
acceptable in another.
 Bearing children, raising them, and socializing with neighbours and relatives are the greatest functions of the
Amish family. All Amish believe large families are a blessing from God.
 All aspects of Amish life are dictated by a list of written or oral rules, known as Ordnung, which outlines the basics
of the Amish faith and helps to define what it means to be Amish. For an Amish person, the Ordnung may dictate
almost every aspect of one's lifestyle, from dress and hair length to buggy style and farming techniques. The
Ordnung varies from community to community and order to order, which explains why you will see some Amish
riding in automobiles, while others don't even accept the use of battery-powered lights.

 Gender roles of the Amish:
 Amish society is patriarchal. Although school teachers are generally women, men assume the helm of most
leadership roles. Women can nominate men to serve in ministerial roles but they themselves are excluded from
formal church roles; however, they can vote in church business meetings. Some women feel that since the men
make the rules, modern equipment is permitted more readily in barns and shops than in homes. In recent years
some women have become entrepreneurs who operate small quilt, craft, and food stores.
 Although husband and wife preside over distinct spheres of domestic life, many tasks are shared. A wife may ask
her husband to assist in the garden and he may ask her to help in the barn or fields. The isolated housewife is
rarely found in Amish society. The husband holds spiritual authority in the home but spouses have considerable
freedom within their distinctive spheres.

Amish Women
 Amish women cannot serve as bishops, preachers, or deacons.
 The standard for Amish women is to make family, church, and community needs a priority, even before their
own needs. Accordingly, Amish women are responsible for managing the home, cooking, tending to clothing,
and helping neighbours in need.
 Amish women take on a fairly subservient role with respect to their husbands. In public, women traditionally
heed their husband’s decisions.

Describe ways relevant social and cultural institutions can impact
the selected client group.
 Traditions, Customs and Beliefs:
 The word Amish evokes images of buggies and lanterns. At first glance Amish groupings across North America
appear pressed from the same cultural mould. A deeper look reveals many differences among Amish groups.
Some affiliations forbid milking machines while others depend on them. Mechanical hay balers widely used in
some areas are taboo in others. Prescribed buggy tops are grey or black in many affiliations but other groups have
white or yellow tops. Buttons on clothing are banished in many groups, but acceptable in others. The dead are
embalmed in one settlement but not in another. Some bishops permit telephones in small shops, but others do not.
Artificial insemination of livestock is acceptable in one district but not in another. In some communities virtually
all the men are farmers, but in others many adults work in small shops and cottage industries. In still other
settlements Amish persons work in rural factories operated by non-Amish persons. Practices vary between
church districts even within the same settlement.
 The Australian cousins of the Amish are more accepting of the modern world but still believe living and caring of
the land to make a sustainable life as much as possible.

Amish Education
 Amish children attend one-room schools run by the community and they attend school only through the eighth
grade (this was deemed acceptable by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling). School classes are in English and focus
on the basics of reading, writing, and math, along with Amish history, farming techniques and homemaking
skills.
 The Amish operate one-room parochial schools that are taught by teachers with an eighth-grade education.
 Although Amish families stop sending their children to school after eighth grade, the society itself acts as a
vocational school. Children learn how to be farmers, homemakers, carpenters, and tradesmen. By the time they
are teens, Amish girls know how to cook a full meal and boys understand farm operations.
 There is no reference in regards to the communities within Australia.

Examine aspects of inequality that may be experienced by the client group and
identify the possible effects and consequences of conditions and experiences of
inequality.
 Interaction with others.
 Amish culture and religion stresses separation from the world. Galvanized by European persecution and
sanctioned by scripture, the Amish divide the social world into two pathways: the straight, narrow way to life,
and the broad, easy road to destruction. Amish life embodies the narrow way of self-denial. The larger social
world symbolizes the broad road of vanity and vice. The term world, in Amish thinking, refers to the outside
society and its values, vices, practices, and institutions. Media reports of greed, fraud, scandal, drugs, violence,
divorce, and abuse confirm that the world teems with abomination.
 The gulf between church and world, imprinted in Amish minds by European persecution, guides practical
decisions. Products and practices that might undermine community life, such as high school, cars, cameras,
television, and self-propelled farm machinery, are tagged worldly. Not all new products receive this label, only
those that threaten community values. Definitions of worldliness vary within and between Amish settlements,
yielding a complicated maze of practices. Baffling to outsiders, these lines of faithfulness maintain inter-group
boundaries and also preserve the cultural purity of the church.

Examine aspects of inequality that may be experienced by the client group and identify the possible
effects and consequences of conditions and experiences of inequality.
 Politics and Government
 The Amish view government with an ambiguous eye. Although they support and respect civil government, they
also keep a healthy distance from it. On the one hand, they follow biblical admonitions to obey and pray for
rulers and encourage members to be law-abiding citizens. On the other hand, government epitomizes worldly
culture and the use of force.
 When civil law and religious conscience collide, the Amish are not afraid to take a stand and will obey God
rather than man, even if it brings imprisonment.
 However, as conscientious objectors many have received farm deferments or served in alternative service
programs during times of military draft.
 The state and local laws apply to the Amish. However, they also have religious laws and customs they follow and
enforce among themselves.

Identify impacts of long term unemployment and associated issues on the client group
including:
Potential effects of unemployment on people’s lives.
Range of outcomes of unemployment on society.
How employment can impact on a person’s health and well-being.
 “An Amish millionaire is not something unheard of.”
 But there’s one thing you might not realise: The Amish are great with money. In fact, they’re a lot better at
managing their money than the rest of us.
 the Amish will do whatever it takes to make ends meet and are a very resourceful bunch.
 For example, a construction worker who lost his job during the recession might have learned how to build
gazebos instead. Or a woman might gather flowers from her garden and sell them at a farmer’s market to earn a
few extra dollars if her family comes up short at the end of the month.
 The Amish make sure they buy things that are built to last, and don’t often buy something because of a splashy
marketing campaign. “They always have their eye on the big picture and the long-term,”

Identify impacts of long term unemployment and associated issues on the client group
including:
Potential effects of unemployment on people’s lives.
Range of outcomes of unemployment on society.
How employment can impact on a person’s health and well-being.
 Many of the Amish who choose not to farm go into skilled trades like furniture building, construction, and metal
parts manufacturing, so these products are often sold to those outside the Amish community. This also includes
the women's hand crafts and they will also set up shops and stalls to sell to Amish or non Amish as they call them
“The English.”
 The Amish aren’t recession-proof and the recent economic downturn did hurt many of those working off the
farms. But Amish businesses benefit from an “in-born brand,” since people appreciate the quality that comes
with Amish products. These tradesmen are in demand, as skilled trades are some of the most difficult to fill
nationwide.
 In general, the Amish reject commercial health insurance because they believe that members of the church have
a Christian duty to care for each other in every way. Some churches have informal programs to assist families
with sizeable bills, others take offerings as needed, and most of them host various "benefit" auctions, meals or
other projects to raise money for exorbitant medical treatment.

In relation to the client group identify factors associated with:
The way they form their own micro culture or sub culture.
Societal perceptions of the group.
Various social stratifications and ways stereotypes and beliefs develop.
Positive way the group contributes to our society.
 An important feature of Amish life that has traditionally kept them separate from the rest of society is their
focus on agriculture and a rural lifestyle as the best means to foster a family and community-based society. In
addition, according to the Amish, farming maintains a relatively egalitarian community and brings one closer
to God through hard work that does not foster individualism. Farming was not traditionally practiced in the
pursuit of profits, but rather “it was a worldview and a way of life – the social hammock for family, church, and
community [… it was] bestowed, not strategized – a way of being that wove individuals into a seamless fabric
of tradition, church, family, and community” While this may feel a bit idealized, and probably is, it is true that
the Amish worldview seems to be best supported and is most certainly shaped by an agricultural existence;
because tradition is so important in Amish life, the desire to remain a “people of the plow” is a strong force in
their society.

 The Amish are perceived as being anti-progress. Unlike the current trends in Australia.
 People who live in communities surrounded by the Amish either love them or hate them — there does not appear
to be much middle ground. The haters see nothing good about them. All they do see is a people they're convinced
they are getting away with something.
 They're bothered by the fact that the Amish have no jobs they hate, no retirement they're aching for, no nursing
homes, no extravagant health-care costs. This is opposite to how Australia is.
 Amish life is rooted in the soil. Ever since European persecution pushed them into rural areas, the Amish have
been farmers. The land has nurtured their common life and robust families. Since the middle of the twentieth
century, some of the older and larger Amish settlements in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have shifted to
nonfarm occupations because of the pressure of urbanization. As urbanization devoured prime farmland, prices
soared. Land, for example, in the heart of Pennsylvania's Lancaster Amish settlement sold for $300 an acre in
1940. In the 1990s, the same land sold for $8,000 to $10,000 an acre. If sold for development, prices can double
or even triple.

 How the Amish contribute to society: Not only hard workers but take pride in their work.
 The Amish pay federal and state income taxes, sales taxes, real estate taxes, and personal property taxes.
Indeed, they pay school taxes twice, for both public and Amish schools. Congressional legislation, passed in
1965, exempts self-employed Amish persons from Social Security. Amish persons employed in Amish
businesses were also exempted by congressional legislation in 1988. Those who do not qualify for the
exemption, Amish employees in non-Amish businesses, must pay Social Security without reaping its benefits.
Bypassing Social Security not only severs the Amish from old age payments, it also closes the spigot to
Medicare.
 The Amish object to government aid for several reasons. They contend that the church should assume
responsibility for the social welfare of its own members. The aged, infirm, senile, and disabled are cared for,
whenever possible, within extended family networks.
 They have a long history of taking care of their own members. They do not have retirement communities or
nursing homes; in most cases, each family takes care of their own, and the Amish community gives assistance
as needed." As only a portion of the population in Australia care for family, but Australians society accept aid.

Identify factors associated with social, cultural and economic background and their impact on the client group including:
The relationship between environmental factors and the general health and well-being.
Impact on individuals, families and communities.
Influence of government policy decisions.
Health promotion initiatives.
Issues related to policy decisions and workplace legislation and regulations.
 HEALTH ISSUES: Contrary to popular misconceptions the Amish use modern medical services to some extent. Lacking
professionals within their ranks, they rely on the services of dentists, optometrists, nurses, and physicians in local health
centres, clinics, and hospitals. They cite no biblical injunctions against modern health care nor the latest medicine, but they do
believe that God is the ultimate healer. Despite the absence of religious taboos on health care, Amish practices differ from
prevailing patterns.
 The Amish generally do not subscribe to commercial health insurance. Some communities have organized church aid plans
for families with special medical costs. In other settlements special offerings are collected for members who are hit with
catastrophic medical bills. The Amish are unlikely to seek medical attention for minor aches or illnesses and are more apt to
follow folk remedies and drink herbal teas. Although they do not object to surgery or other forms of high-tech treatment they
rarely employ heroic life-saving interventions.
 In addition to home remedies, church members often seek healing outside orthodox medical circles. The search for natural
healing leads them to vitamins, homeopathic remedies, health foods, reflexologists, chiropractors, and the services of
specialized clinics in faraway places. These cultural habits are shaped by many factors: conservative rural values, a preference
for natural antidotes, a lack of information, a sense of awkwardness in high-tech settings, difficulties accessing health care,
and a willingness to suffer and lean on the providence of God.

Identify factors associated with social, cultural and economic background and their impact on the client group
including:
 Marriages within stable geographical communities and the influx of few converts restricts the genetic pool of
Amish society. Marriages sometimes occur between second cousins. Such intermarriage does not always
produce medical problems. When unique recessive traits are common in a closed community certain diseases
simply are more likely to occur. On the other hand, a restricted gene pool may offer protection from other
hereditary diseases.
 A special type of dwarfism accompanied by other congenital problems occurs at an exceptionally high rate in
some settlements. Higher rates of deafness have also been found.
 Another condition, Crigler-Najjar syndrome, occurs more frequently among the Amish and the Mennonites
than in the general population. The condition is difficult to treat, and can result in brain damage and early
death. The Amish have worked eagerly with researchers who are studying a new type of gene therapy for the
treatment of this disease. In 1989, the Amish community united, barn raising style, to build the Clinic for
Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, a facility that treats Crigler-Najjar patients.
 There have been no records to verify this is happening within the Australian Amish Communities as the
communities are much newer to their cousins around the world.

including:
 If you are one of the lucky Amish who hasn’t been born with a genetic mutation or disease (and you actually
survived childbirth) – you have the benefit of reduced rates of cancer which may be attributed to their distinctive
clothing which includes head coverings. It is also likely that their healthy lifestyle (which includes very little
alcohol or tobacco) is a contributing factor. Furthermore, the Amish have suicide rates that are far lower (one
third) the rate of non-religious people and 50% lower than other religious people.
 8-Year Amish Study: Cleaner Living = Healthier Lives 1.54
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jksFLkzQoqc

including:
 The Amish and the Law
 The Amish believe in the separation of church and state.
 The Amish prioritize the Word of God over the rule of the government.
 The Amish view government with an ambiguous eye. Although they support and respect civil government, they
also keep a healthy distance from it. On the one hand, they follow biblical admonitions to obey and pray for rulers
and encourage members to be law-abiding citizens.
 One serious criticism of Amish groups has been for using internal church discipline to handle infractions that are
in fact serious violations of the law. In 2009, Amish in Missouri drew criticism and faced charges for failing to
report child abuse in their community. At the same time, not all Amish would take this approach, and many do
report actual crimes when they occur. There are no statistics available for the Australian communities.

including:
 Government subsidies, or what the Amish call handouts, have been stridently opposed. Championing self-sufficiency
and the separation of church and state, the Amish worry that the hand which feeds them will also
control them. Over the years they have stubbornly refused direct subsidies even for agricultural programs
designed for farmers in distress. Amish farmers do, however, receive indirect subsidies through agricultural
price-support programs.
 In 1967 the Amish formed the National Amish Steering Committee in order to speak with a common voice on
legal issues related to state, and especially, federal government. The Steering Committee has worked with
government officials to resolve disputes related to conscientious objection, zoning, slow-moving vehicle
emblems, Social Security, Workers' Compensation, and the wearing of hard hats at construction sites. Informally
organized, the Steering Committee is the only Amish organization which is national in scope.

Beard Cutting Attacks
 Because men must grow their beards unrestricted and women their hair, it makes those two things prime targets
for violence within or amongst differing Amish communities. The attacks involve cutting off the hair of beard of
the person to be punished. This is not a lawful form of punishment in the Amish and even though the person
being punished may not be guilty of anything in the eyes of his own community, the loss of hair causes great
shame and shunning (not the excommunication type – just the social embarrassment type). Most recently an
Amish sect leader Samuel Mullet (above) coerced 15 of his followers to attack other Amish communities in this
way. They were found guilty of the crimes and are facing 15 years in jail each for violation of hate crime laws.

including:
 The church forbids membership in political organizations and holding public office for several reasons. First,
running for office is viewed as arrogant and out of character with esteemed Amish values of humility and
modesty. Second, office-holding violates the religious principle of separation from the world. Finally, public
officials must be prepared to use legal force if necessary to settle civic disputes. The exercise of legal force mocks
the stance of non-resistance. Voting, however, is viewed as a personal matter. Although the church does not
prohibit it, few persons vote. Those who do vote are likely to be younger businessmen concerned about local
issues. Although voting is considered a personal matter, jury duty is not allowed.

Amish Demographics
 There are over 280,000 Amish people living in over 28 states.
 About two-thirds of the Amish live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, but they continue to spread west,
particularly into the Midwestern corn belt.
Year Pop. ±%
1920 5,000 —
1928 7,000 +40.0%
1936 9,000 +28.6%
1944 13,000 +44.4%
1952 19,000 +46.2%
1960 28,000 +47.4%
1968 39,000 +39.3%
1976 57,000 +46.2%
1984 84,000 +47.4%
1992 128,145 +52.6%
2008 235,355 +83.7%
2013 281,675 +19.7%

Amish on marriage
 There is no exchange of rings in an Amish marriage.
 After a wedding, the groom begins to grow his beard.
 An Amish engagement is generally kept secret within the family until it is announced in a Sunday church service by the
community bishop, usually four to six weeks prior to the wedding. The announcement is called "publishing the
engagement."
 Once the engagement is made public, the engaged couple must personally hand-deliver wedding invitations to each
potential guest.
 For most rural Amish communities, weddings are seasonal and take place in the spring or fall when harvest is over.
 It is Amish custom that the bride sews her own wedding dress.
 Strict Amish communities require the wedding dress to be blue, but some allow the bride to choose her own colour.
Shades of blue and purple are the most common colours for Amish wedding dresses.
 Sometimes an Amish wedding celebration is used as an opportunity for matchmaking between teenagers who are over
the age of 16 and are assigned specific seats before the evening meal in order to bring them closer together.

Unique Customs
 The Amish have retained the custom of having faceless dolls, which appeal to their critical perspectives on pride
and vanity.
 Land, which is traditionally kept within families, is usually passed on to younger sons rather than to older sons,
or daughters

Amish Fashion
 Amish clothing is plain and humble, harmonious with their simple and separated lifestyle. Amish clothing is
homemade from simple fabrics and most commonly in dark colours.
 For men, straight-cut suits are void of collars, pockets, and ornamentation. Pants are void of pleats, cuffs and belt
loops, as belts are not permitted.
 Unmarried men remain clean-shaven. Married men are required to grow their beards out, but moustaches are not
allowed.
 Traditionally, Amish women wear long sleeves, full, solid-coloured skirts, and aprons. Women wear their hair in a
braid or bun covered by a small bonnet. They are not permitted to wear jewellery or patterned clothes.
 Specific Amish communities might dictate the exact length of a skirt or width of a seam.

Rumspringa
 When Amish children turn 16, they are encouraged to experiment and explore. For this limited time period, called
Rumspringa , they are allowed to break the tenets of the Amish community.
 For many Amish teens, Rumspringa is just a token venture: going to the local movie theatre, or driving lessons.
 At the end of this period, Amish young adults are expected to find a spouse and be baptized. But in accordance
with Anabaptist doctrine, this must be a free and personal decision. At this point, some young people choose not to
join the church and instead live the rest of their lives in a different community or wider society. If a young man
joins a Mennonite church or other less exacting religion, the Amish will often say “he got his hair cut.” If a young
person abandons the faith altogether, they say that person “went English.”
 Some communities will actively shun those who decide to leave the community, even those going to a different
Amish congregation with different doctrines. Still other communities practice hardly any shunning, keeping close
family and social contact with those who leave.

Shunning
 Shunning (Meidung , "avoidance") was the practice that set the Amish apart from the Mennonites several centuries
ago, and it remains the fundamental way in which the community deals with disobedient members. Amish differ
considerably from community to community in the severeness and strictness of the shunning, but in light of the
closeness of the community and separation from the outside world, it is invariably a painful experience for the
one shunned.
 An Amish person may be shunned for a variety of offenses, ranging from major moral offenses to using improper
technology. In accordance with the teachings of Jakob Amman, an Amish person in good standing may not buy
from, sell to, eat with or sleep with a shunned person, even if the person is one's spouse or close relative.

Language
 Most Old Order Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and refer to non-Amish as "English", regardless of ethnicity.
Some Amish who migrated to the United States in the 1850s speak Bernese German or a Low Alemannic Alsatian
dialect. According to one scholar, "today, almost all Amish are functionally bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and
English; however, domains of usage are sharply separated. Pennsylvania Dutch dominates in most in-group
settings, such as the dinner table and preaching in church services. In contrast, English is used for most reading
and writing. English is also the medium of instruction in schools and is used in business transactions and often, out
of politeness, in situations involving interactions with non-Amish.

Shunning
 Shunning, or Meidung means expulsion from the Amish community for breaching religious guidelines --
including marrying outside the faith. The practice of shunning is the main reason that the Amish broke away
from the Mennonites in 1693. When an individual is subject to Meidung, it means they have to leave their
friends, family and lives behind. All communication and contact is cut off, even among family members.
Shunning is serious, and usually considered a last resort after repeated warnings.

Amish and Recreation
 The Amish may be reserved and humble, but they are not always solemn and enjoy common pastimes and games.
Volleyball and softball are popular with many Amish families, but they are played strictly for enjoyment and not
in a spirit of competition. Flower gardens, if kept simple, are also permissible. Once the daily chores are finished
and the schoolwork completed, Amish families will often read or sing together in the evenings, before turning in
early.

Electricity
 The use of electricity is fervently avoided by Amish, because it is a prime connection to
the world that could lead to temptations and worldly amenities detrimental to the
community and family life. There are occasional exceptions to this general ban, such as
adding electric flashers to buggies when required to drive legally and certain types of
farm equipment such as milking equipment and electric fences to contain cattle.
 Bottle gas is often used to operate appliances, even barbecue grills, and gas-pressured
lanterns and lamps might be used for indoor lighting. Amish buggies may also be
equipped with such modern conveniences as heaters, windshield wipers, and
upholstered seats. The New Order Amish permit the use of electricity, the owning of
cars, and telephones in the home.

Transportation
 Travel by horse and buggy is the prominent mode of transportation, naturally limiting travel, and therefore,
interaction with the non-Amish world. This also prevents the erosion of geographically-organized local church
districts, because members cannot simply drive to the congregation of their choice. While owning a car is not
permitted, being a passenger is no compromise to the beliefs of the PA Amish. Accepting rides from neighbours or
hiring a driver is a way for the Amish to use cars as a means of transportation to social functions on the outskirts
of the settlement, but not disrupt the Amish culture or social structure. Amish businessmen often have
agreements with non-Amish persons to haul materials as needed, or hire a non-Amish employee who provides a
vehicle.

Amish Funerals
 As in life, simplicity is important to the Amish after death as well. Funerals are generally held in the home of the
deceased. The funeral service is simple, with no eulogy or flowers. Caskets are plain wooden boxes, made within
the local community. Most Amish communities will allow the embalming of the body by a local undertaker
familiar with Amish customs, but no makeup is applied.
 An Amish funeral and burial is typically held three days after death. The deceased is usually buried in the local
Amish cemetery. Graves are hand dug. Gravestones are simple, following the Amish belief that no individual is
better than another. In some Amish communities the tombstone markers are not even engraved. Instead a map is
maintained by the community ministers to identify the occupants of each burial plot.

Barn Raising
 Barn raisings are a cherished tradition in the Amish culture. They symbolize acts of selflessness and assisting
one’s family, neighbours, and community.
 Barn-raising has had a significant impact on the Lancaster Amish community—each barn increasing the
prosperity of the surrounding area. It is also a social event that strengthens the community bond, and brings the
community together in times of crisis—rebuilding after fires and various other disasters.

Technology
 They selectively use technology—choosing the types that serve their community rather than debilitate it. The
rules for what is accepted are largely determined by the local church, so there is a wide variation on what is
permitted. In general, the Amish accept some new technology such as chain saws and inline skates, and reject
computers and television. Most groups modify technology to fit their cultural values. Some, for example, place
steel wheels on tractors and put electric turn signals on their carriages

Amish Cuisine
 Amish have a reputation for good food. Numerous tourist restaurants feature “Pennsylvania Dutch” and “Amish-style”
cooking. Amish food typically is very filling, and not low-fat.
 In addition to home-grown and homemade foods, many Amish buy some pre-packaged foods in stores, and some
may eat out in restaurants, sometimes as a treat, or more frequently if one’s occupation requires travel (as in the
case of builders or market stand owners).

References
 http://www.wandabrunstetter.com/amish-life/amish-facts/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish
 http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/amish.htm
 http://listverse.com/2012/10/29/10-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-the-amish/
 http://www.padutchcountry.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-lifestyle.asp
 http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amish_2.htm
 http://www.everyculture.com/multi/A-Br/Amish.html
 http://amishamerica.com/why-dont-amish-serve-in-the-military/
 http://people.howstuffworks.com/amish2.htm
 http://www.businessinsider.com.au/money-secrets-of-amish-people-2014-4
 http://www.kon.org/urc/v9/bailey.html
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11164344
 http://www.experience-ohio-amish-country.com/amish-survive.html
 http://www.bruderhof.com/en/international-directory/australia

Impacts of Sociological Factors on Amish Communities

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Impacts of Sociological Factors on Amish Communities