Religious Commitment Influences Teen Behavior
Researchers Examine Relationship Between Religiosity and Delinquency

New York, November 13, 1998 - In a series of studies presented to the Manhattan Institute at the conference Faith-Based Community Programs: Good Works Make Good Cities, researchers explored an important but often overlooked variable in teen delinquency - the impact of religiosity on teen behavior. Two of the studies examined the impact of church attendance on the behavior of African-American adolescents living in inner-city environments, while a third focused on religious commitment as a an influencing factor in social learning.

The first study, Escaping From the Crime of Inner-Cities: Religiosity and Young Black Males, focused on the impact religious institutions had on the behaviors of African-American adolescents living in poverty. The results indicated that church attendance has: 1) a beneficial impact on delinquency, drug use and alcohol use, and 2) a positive influence on a juvenile behavior - producing socially desirable outcomes such commitment to education and a stable job record. The study also found that church attendance indirectly reduces delinquency by fostering stronger social bonds, good peer relationships and high involvement in productive social activities. These patterns remained even after the researchers controlled for background variables. Therefore, the researchers concluded, the church can be viewed as a remnant of social organization amidst the otherwise disorganized and troubled areas often found in inner-cities.

A second study, Black Churches and Youth Outreach, explored the impact of the African-American church on delinquency among black youth living in urban communities. Examining a national sample of urban black youth, researchers found that most delinquent acts were committed by juveniles who had low levels of religious commitment, while those juveniles whose religious commitment was in the middle to high levels committed few delinquent acts. Again, the researchers found these patterns remained even after controlling for background variables.

The final study, Does Religious Commitment Really Matter in Understanding Delinquency?, explored the relationship between religious commitment and delinquent behavior by reexamining preexisting survey data. The researchers found that the behavior of religiously committed teens was strengthened through:
1) learning from religious beliefs opposed to deviant behavior, 2) exposure to pro-social religious activities and behavioral patterns, and 3) modeling behaviors and attitudes of pro-social spiritual role models that youth like and/or respect. The researchers also found religiosity has significant, indirect effects on teen delinquency. Results from this study indicate that religious commitment has a positive influence on reducing delinquent behaviors and associations with delinquent peers.
According to Byron R. Johnson, Ph.D., director, Center for Crime and Justice Policy, and senior fellow, Vanderbilt University, "The findings from these three studies have theoretical, methodological and policy implications and provide evidence that religiosity can be seen as a relevant protective factor for urban youth."

The National Institute for Healthcare Research is a nonprofit organization committed to conducting and mobilizing research on the relationship between spirituality and physical, mental and social health. For more information, visit our webpage at www.nihr.org.