Narratives of Not Belonging: Role Exit and Religious Disaffiliation among Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women

Introduction
This study examines the life stories of women who disaffiliated from ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, using “Role Exit” theory as the analytical framework. Role exit describes the process of disengaging from a central social role and adopting a new identity, typically unfolding through doubt, exploration of alternatives, a turning point, and the reconstruction of self. In this study, the process was motivated by a profound sense of not belonging and otherness that participants experienced from early youth. Unlike most studies that emphasize external social exclusion, here the feeling of not belonging was primarily triggered by participants’ self-perceptions and critical questioning of community values and gender roles.

Goals and Methods
The goal of this research is to understand religious disaffiliation as a role exit process and to examine how experiences of otherness and non-belonging initiated and sustained disengagement. The study draws on ten in-depth narrative interviews with women who left ultra-Orthodox communities. Thematic analysis combined deductive coding based on role exit theory with inductive exploration of emergent themes.

Findings
Participants described a persistent sense of not belonging that generated doubts about community life and value systems. For many, role exit remains incomplete: although they adopted secular practices, they continue to feel culturally, linguistically, and intellectually marginalized. Their narratives reveal disadvantage, disconnection, and loneliness, yet also a conviction that disengagement was necessary. Several turning points marked their journeys, including experiences of forced marriage, exposure to secular habits in the workplace, higher education and the exteriorization of a secular physical appearance.

Conclusion
This study extends research on role exit and belonging by demonstrating how internalized feelings of not belonging, rather than external exclusion alone, can drive profound life transitions. It highlights the centrality of agency in enabling women to navigate disaffiliation, reconstruct identity, and pursue a more authentic sense of belonging.