With fellow sociologist Theresa Krebs, Kent has written about instances of "when scholars know sin". In their book "Denying History", authors Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman note "Sociologists are aware of the problem of a researcher's 'co-option' by a group–a cult or New Age religion, perhaps– whereby the scholar, in entering a group and spending considerable time with its members, publishes a paper or book that is not as objective as he or she may believe." Shermer and Grobman cite Kent and Krebs' work, commenting "In fact, the sociologists Stephen Kent and Theresa Krebs have identified numerous cases of 'when scholars know sin,' where allegedly nonpartisan, unbiased scholars find themselves the unwitting tools of religious groups striving for social acceptance and in need of the imprimatur of an academic."