Régis Dericquebourg
Régis Dericquebourg is a French sociologist of religions.
Life
Education
Dericquebourg studied psychology at the University of Lille. He holds a doctorate in psychosociology with his thesis on Jehovah's Witnesses entitled Les Témoins de Jéhovah dans le Nord de la France. Dynamique d'un groupe religieux minoritaire et rapports à l'institution at the École pratique des hautes études, under the direction of Jean Seguy. He holds and a postgraduate degree DESS in clinical psychology from the Paris Diderot University. From 1999 he holds the Habilitation to Supervise Research earned with the thesis La construction d'un objet de recherche : les religions de guérison at Paris, Sorbonne, under the supervision of Jean Séguy and Philippe Laburthe-Tolra.Research
He then turned to the study of religious movements that practice spiritual healing, and has published articles and a book about them. Although some of these movements have been considered sects, he prefers to speak of healing churches.Dericquebourg's "participant observation" sociology differs from that of the media and anti-cult associations, whose alarmist treatment he judges. He took part in a collective work on Scientology, sponsored and published by Scientology itself, with contributions from international academics.
He is a member of the Group for the Study of Religions and Secularity at the National Center for the Scientific Studies in Paris, and a professor at the Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III.
He published five books, many sociological articles in collective books, encyclopedias, and journals and regularly participated in conferences of sociology. His contributions are mainly on Jehovah's Witnesses, healing in religion, and new religious movements.