Georgetown University LogoGeorgetown University Library LogoDigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • McCourt School of Public Policy
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    • View Item
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • McCourt School of Public Policy
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Violence and Religious Conviction, Strength, and Influence: Do Countries with Strong Religious Beliefs and Higher Religious Participation Rates Experience Higher Rates of Violent Crime?"

    Cover for Violence and Religious Conviction, Strength, and Influence: Do Countries with Strong Religious Beliefs and Higher Religious Participation Rates Experience Higher Rates of Violent Crime?"
    View/Open
    View/Open: Golubski_georgetown_0076M_11778.pdf (2.0MB) Bookview

    Creator
    Golubski, Christina Marie
    Advisor
    Bednarzik, Robert
    Abstract
    This paper analyzes the relationship between violent crime and the intensity of religious beliefs across countries. In particular, it examines whether religion in itself or its provided opportunity to help its congregations forge social bonds deter violent crime. This study tests the hypothesis that strong religious conviction and participation within a country will contribute to lower homicide rates. While current literature has investigated the relationship between crime, both violent and nonviolent, and religion, most studies have been conducted within developed countries, used individual-level data, and focused on minor crimes or teenage delinquency. In addition, most studies have also defined religiosity in a purely Christian context. This study will expand upon those investigations by taking a cross-national perspective, incorporating non-Christian religions, and focusing on violent crime.
     
    This study will look at religiosity in a three-fold way: First, through self-identification as a "religious person"; second, through frequency of religious service attendance; and third, through membership in a religious organization. Differences in the results of these regressions may tease out what the literature refers to as the "moral communities hypothesis": The idea that religious communities have lower crime rates not because of religious conviction, but because of the social bonds formed through religious participation.
     
    This study will apply four Ordinary Least Squares regressions to test the hypothesis. Data on religiosity come from consecutive waves of the World Values Survey and the European Values Survey, while data on homicide rates come from the World Health Organization. The models will control for economic and social factors that the literature has shown to affect the homicide rates within a country, which include inequality, economic development, urbanization, religious pluralism, and age structure.
     
    In the end, only one of the three measurements of religiosity, frequency of religious service attendance, has a negative and statistically significant relationship with violent crime. The other two measurements, self-identification as a religious person and membership in a religious organization, both have positive and statistically significant relationships with violent crime. The combination of these three relationships suggests that active participation in religious services may create the social capital that helps to dissuade violent crime. Higher proportions of the faithful may not be enough to deter violent crime. Religious activity and positive participation can create a welcoming environment, which encourages outsiders who may turn to violent crime to instead become a part of the community. The results also show that other factors, including community participation, economic development, equality, and education, strongly influence violent crime. Overall, policies that can increase active community participation, decrease inequality, promote education, and create economic opportunities will reap more than just economic benefits.
     
    Description
    M.P.P.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/557890
    Date Published
    2012
    Subject
    religion; social capital; violence; Public policy; Public policy;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    66 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Cover for The Relationships between Permissive and Restrictive State Immigration Laws and Violent Crime Rates in Big Cities

      The Relationships between Permissive and Restrictive State Immigration Laws and Violent Crime Rates in Big Cities 

      Lopes, Harrison (Georgetown University, 2014)
      Traditionally a responsibility of the federal government, immigration policymaking has become more common in state legislatures. The majority of new state laws addressing immigration have been restrictive in the sense that ...
    Related Items in Google Scholar

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2023 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility
     

     

    Browse

    All of DigitalGeorgetownCommunities & CollectionsCreatorsTitlesBy Creation DateThis CollectionCreatorsTitlesBy Creation Date

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2023 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility