Religion and Delinquency: the Ecology of a "Lost" Relationship

Abstract

Confusion has developed in the literature over whether religious commitment decreases delinquent behavior. In this paper we show that conflicting findings stem from variations in the religious ecology of the communities studied. In communities where religious commitment is the norm, the more religious an individual, the less likely he or she will be delinquent. However, in highly secu larized communities, even the most devout teenagers are no less delinquent than the most irreligious. This is why the initial studies found no religious ef fects on delinquency. Each was based on highly secularized West Coast com munities, and the results generalize only to similar communities in that area. Elsewhere in the nation, studies have found strong religious effects on delin quency. Using a national sample of sixteen-year-old boys from eighty-seven high schools, we show there is a very substantial negative relationship between religious commitment and delinquency in the great majority of schools-those schools in which religious students are a majority. But the relationship vanishes in the most highly secularized West Coast schools. The theoretical implications of these marked ecological effects are assessed.