No abstract

Some scholars have suggested that individual religiosity inhibits deviant behavior. Others have suggested thatbehavior is more responsive to the influence of religiously-oriented moral communities than to the religiosity of individuals. Still others have suggested that non-religious moral communities, such as sports teams or self-help recovery groups, are just as effective as religious moral communities. The current article examines the associations between addicts' reductions in drug and alcohol use and religiosity, increase in church attendance, and increase in addiction self-help recovery group attendance, following participation in publicly funded treatment programs. Results indicate that increase in self-help recovery group attendance and church attendance were independently associated with reduction in alcohol use. Only increase in church attendance was significantly associated with reduction in cocaine use. Self-assessed religious conviction was not associated with changes in drug use.Three decades have passed since the results of the Travis Hirschi -Rodney Stark (1969) "Hellfire and Delinquency" study shattered scholarly consensus on the relationship between religion and social deviance. Religious respondents in Hirschi and Stark's sample were found to be just as likely as non-religious respondents to commit delinquent acts. Their findings were supported by Burkett and White (1974) for most areas of delinquent behavior, but were at least partially contradicted by Albrecht and colleagues (1977). The question of the influence of religion on behavior has not been settled in the intervening decades. Some studies conclude that individual religiosity deters delinquent conduct (Peek, Curry, and Chalfant, 1985;Benda, 1994;Burkett 1993; Cochran, Wood, and Arnklev, 1994), while others suggest that religiosity has no independent effect on most delinquent behaviors Ross, 1994).Recently, Stark and William Bainbridge (1998: 70-71) have noted that the results of studies on religion and deviance are consistent within regions of the United States, but differ between regions. Specifically, they note that church attendance rates for the Pacific coast, where the null results studies were conducted, are far lower than for other regions of the country. They regard this regional variation as empirical evidence for Stark's (1987) "moral communities" hypothesis, which states that individual religiosity influences behavior only when it is reinforced by a cohesive religious community. The moral communities theory is directly supported by results from a few studies (Welch, Tittle, & Petee, 1991;Stark, Doyle, and Kent, 1980). Although these studies make use of ecological data, Stark and Bainbridge (1998: 64-65) and Evans and colleagues (1995)

Drug use is related to the environment in which drug users live. Using 32 economic, housing, crime, and health variables for 1990 census tracts in Houston, Texas, this study found four identifiable factors: social disorganization, economic success, threat of violence, and chronic disease. Narcotic offenses loaded strongly on one and weakly on two of the factors; this variable did not load on the economic success factor. These results suggest that a textured look at drug use environments finds them to be multidimensional. Urban dwellers must deal with the independent effects of social disorganization, economic conditions, chronic disease, and violence.

These findings suggest that Puerto Ricans who use drugs experience a higher risk of HIV infection than other Hispanic drug users. Research is needed to identify which economic, social, and cultural components account for this increased risk.

141 patient management decisions, changing of tests, or changing of therapy. Medical providers indicated that health sciences libraries were of value for a large variety of uses, including changing and confirming patient management decisions and reducing length of stay.