A Double‐Edged Sword: The Countervailing Effects of Religion on Cross‐National Violent Crime

Abstract

Objective. There has been a growing interest in the relationship between culture and crime in recent years, but there is little research investigating the role of religion. To clarify this empirical cleavage, we propose a Durkheimian model of the countervailing effects of religion on violent crime. Methods. We test our propositions with robust linear models and a large country sample (N = 100). Results. We show that religious intensity and belief in an active God are not significantly associated with intentional homicide. However, religious intensity is positively and significantly associated with assault. We also find that belief in an active God is negatively and significantly associated with assault and has a stronger effect than several structural variables. Conclusion. The findings provide partial support for our Durkheimian model and suggest that cultural factors are important for predicting certain types of violent crime.

National Culture on the Cross‐National Variation of Homicide: An Empirical Application of the Inglehart–Welzel Cultural Map

“…Analyses in this study show that the cultural effect on homicide rate variation across nations is most notably expressed by the interaction of the two dimensions of national culture. The rejection of Hypotheses 1 and 2 (i.e., the effects of the stand‐alone Traditional‐Rational Values Index and the Survival‐Self‐Expression Index) in this study affirms previous research documenting mixed findings of the cultural effects of traditional institutions such as religion on homicide (Chon 2017; Corcoran et al 2018; Fernquist 2002; Jensen 2006; Lederman et al 2002). The significant effect of the interaction term as well as the quadrant dummies, in contrast, reveals that it is perhaps the acute tension between traditionalism and an increasing appreciation for individual and political freedom, experienced by countries in Quadrant 4, that is homicidogenic.…”

“…Chon’s (2017) recent study switched the focus of this literature on individual religiosity to explore national religious affiliation and found that Muslim majority countries experienced the lowest homicide and suicide rates. Most recently, Corcoran and her colleagues (2018) hypothesized and tested for countervailing effects of religion on cross‐national violence. They found that how religion was operationalized had a significant impact on the direction of the relationship.…”

“…The literature reviewed in the previous section also provides empirical evidence that excessive attachment to traditional institutions, as indicated by religious intensity (Corcoran et al 2018), for example, should predict higher homicide rates. In contrast, secular values have potentially protective effect against homicide as they weaken interpersonal bonds in industrial societies.…”

“…Although limited compared to structural explanations, extant research has explored various aspects of culture such as religiosity (Corcoran et al 2018; Fernquist 2002; Lederman et al 2002), religious cosmology (Jensen 2006), national religious affiliation (Chon 2017), regional difference (Neapolitan 1994; Pridemore 2002; Tuttle et al 2018), collectivism (Fernquist 2002; Pampel and Gartner 1995), decommodification and material success goals (Altheimer 2008; Hövermann and Messner 2019; Jensen 2002), and culture of honor (Altheimer 2013; Corcoran and Stark 2018) on cross‐national homicide rates. However, as we will demonstrate in the next section, there remain many conceptual as well as methodological gaps in the literature on culture and cross‐national homicide.…”

Religion and Crime Studies: Assessing What Has Been Learned

“…It is not surprising when reformers of later eras invented the penitentiary, probation, and parole, they structured their inventions as vehicles where offenders could go to atone for their sinful ways and embrace a spiritually right life (Clear and Sumter 2002;Sumter 1999;Sumter and Clear 2002). Hence, throughout the following centuries, including the 20th century and well into 21st century, many sociologists have nurtured the belief that attachment to and participation in religious events tend to suppress criminal behavior (Adamczyk et al 2017;Brauer et al 2013;Clear and Sumter 2002;Corcoran et al 2017;Desmond et al 2011;Ellison and George 1994;Hirschi and Stark 1969;Hoskin et al 2017;Johnson et al 2001Lee 2006;Petts 2009;Regnerus 2003;Roberts et al 2011;Schroeder et al 2017;Sturgis and Baller 2012;Ulmer and Harris 2013;Sumter 1999). Eventually, the suppression of criminal behavior by religion became a focal point of empirical scholarship.…”