Escaping from the Crime of Inner Cities: Church Attendance and Religious Salience Among Disadvantaged Youth

• NCJ Number: 183241
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: June 2000 Pages: 377-391
• Author(s): Byron R. Johnson; David B. Larson; Spencer De Li; Sung Joon Jang
• Date Published: June 2000
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examines the hypothesis that individual religiosity helps at-risk youth escape from drug use and other illegal activities.

Abstract

With the theoretical backdrop of social disorganization and “resilient youth” perspectives, the study tests the hypothesis that individual religiosity is protective in helping at-risk youths such as those living in poor inner-city areas to escape from drug use and other illegal activities. The study drew data from an interview survey of 2,358 black male youths from tracts in poverty in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia in 1979 and 1980. The frequency of attending religious services had significant inverse effects on nondrug illegal activities, drug use, and drug selling among disadvantaged youth. The effects persisted even with controls for background and nonreligious or secular bonding and learning variables. Religious salience (the perceived importance of religion in one’s life), however, was not significantly linked to reductions in juvenile delinquency. The study provides new evidence that the effect of religiosity on deviance for disadvantaged youth is neither spurious nor simply indirect. Notes, tables, references, appendix