Religiosity and Crime Revisited: Accounting for Non-Believers

ABSTRACT

Research generally shows a negative relationship between religiosity and specific forms of offending. In the current study, we advance an alternative conceptualization of the relationship between religiosity and offending that accounts for the unique nature of religious non-belief. Drawing from social identity theory, we contend that criminological theorizing of the relationship should move beyond social control theory postulations and account for the unique experiences of non-believers. Using data from the College Religious Belief and Empathy Survey, findings reveal that atheists and agnostics offend at a rate similar to committed religious believers. Implications for the religiosity and crime relationship are discussed.

Notes

¹ The term “non-believers” is used throughout the paper to refer to the collective experience of atheists and agnostics. Although there are clear differences between atheists and agnostics (see Baker and Smith 2009), the terms atheist and agnostic are traditionally used together to identify non-believers (see Greeley 1993).

² It must be noted that several other major theoretical perspectives also theorize a role of religion in the offending processes (see Johnson and Jang 2012). For example, social learning theory suggests that religious individuals tend to have prosocial associations with groups that reinforce conventional behavior. Regardless of the theoretical perspective and mechanism responsible, the prediction is the same across several different theoretical perspectives; namely, that there should be a negative relationship between religiosity and crime.

³ These additional analyses are not shown here but are available upon request from the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ryan D. Schroeder

RYAN D. SCHROEDER is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Louisville. His research interests include desistance processes, with a particular focus on the role of emotional development, family functioning, drug use, and religious process.

Erinn J. Broadus

ERINN J. BROADUS is a criminal justice researcher based in Washington, DC. She graduated from Florida State University with dual master’s degrees in Criminology and Public Administration. Her interests include criminal justice reform, specializing in sentencing and drug reform, public policy, and reentry services.

Christopher Bradley

CHRISTOPHER BRADLEY is an associate professor of sociology at Troy University. His current research interests include the intersections of social psychology and religiosity, with specific focus on how empathetic responses vary as a function of religious affiliation.