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Religion, Nonreligion, and Deviance: Comparing Faith's and Family's Relative Strength in Promoting Social Conformity
Whitney DeCamp1, Jesse M Smith2
1Department of Sociology, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA. whitney.decamp@wmich.edu.
Journal of Religion and Health
|April 27, 2018
Summary
Religious identification does not appear to protect adolescents from deviant behavior. Other protective factors show a stronger influence than religious affiliation in preventing delinquency among youth.
Area of Science:
- Sociology of Religion
- Criminology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Societal views suggest religion offers moral guidance and social support, potentially reducing adolescent deviance.
- A common expectation in religious nations like the USA is that religious youth engage in less deviant behavior than nonreligious peers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between religious affiliation, non-religiosity, and various forms of deviance among American adolescents.
- To determine if religious identification serves as a protective factor against deviant behaviors in youth.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from over 10,000 American middle and high school students.
- Employed statistical analysis to examine correlations between religious labels, non-religiosity, and deviant acts, controlling for protective factors.
Main Results:
- Adolescents identifying with a religious label were not found to be less likely to engage in deviant acts compared to nonreligious youth, after controlling for other variables.
- The influence of certain protective factors on reducing deviance was found to be more significant than the effect of religious affiliation.
Conclusions:
- The study challenges the assumption that religious identification alone is a significant protective factor against adolescent deviance.
- Other socio-environmental and individual protective factors appear to play a more substantial role in mitigating deviant behaviors in youth.
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