NCJ Number
108039
Journal
Social Forces Volume: 65 Issue: 1 Dated: (September 1986) Pages: 87-105
Date Published
1986
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between 2 dimensions of religiosity (church attendance and religious influence) and 12 measures of delinquent behavior in 1975 data for a national sample of 1,121 male and female adolescents, aged 13-18 years.
Abstract
Bivariate results suggest that church attendance and religious influence are strongly related to each of the offenses examined, so that frequent attenders and those reporting considerable religious influence have significantly lower odds of being a frequent offender with respect to each act than nonattenders or rare attenders and those for whom religion has no influence. For all offenses, except truancy, the two religiosity variables exerted an equal and additive effect. Thus, a measure of religiosity combining both measures is a potent device for distinguishing nonoffenders, frequent offenders, and occasional offenders, and these effects persist even after the introduction of a series of controls. 7 tables and 19 references.