The Relationship Between Religiosity and Deviance Among Adolescents in a Religiously Pluralistic Society

Abstract

Most empirical studies of religion and deviance have employed samples from Western countries, especially the United States, where one predominant religion-Judeo-Christianity-is an embedded fixture of the mainstream culture. By comparison, research conducted in East Asia, where religious pluralism is the norm rather than the exception, is extremely scarce. Moreover, a large proportion of the population in East Asia professes themselves to be atheists. Given the drastically different religious climates between East and West, it thus remains an important empirical question whether the research findings on religiosity and deviance garnered from Western samples can be generalizable to East Asia. Given this background, the current study assesses the linkage between religiosity and deviance using a sample of adolescents in South Korea, where secular social controls emanating from Confucianism are potent. The results of the study show that religiosity's deviance-constraining effects are considerably weaker in South Korea. In addition, many of the Western findings do not apply to the South Korean context.

East versus West: psychology of religion in East Asian cultures

“…These differences in sociosexuality may be explained by the fact that sexuality in Buddhism is not formally associated with sin [46]. More recent studies have found that, in South-Korea, Buddhist religiosity does not prevent morally deviant behaviors such as delinquency or drinking [47].…”

"Judaism Intertwines with Worldly Good": A Qualitative Study on Religious Rehabilitation Programs in the Israeli Prison Service

“…Much has been written about the link between religion and crime, and the widespread assumption is that religiosity may decrease or prevent criminality, while strengthening pro-social behaviors (Dodson et al, 2011;Harris et al, 2017;Sturgis and Baller, 2012;Yun and Lee, 2016). Overall, the religious framework may provide released prisoners with social support systems, help them to reenter society and renew their social ties, and assist them in finding a job, home, and so on (Stansfield et al, 2017b).…”

“…Throughout the history of corrections, religion and its institutions played a key role in shaping punishment and rehabilitation of offenders (Clear, Hardyman, Stout, Lucken, and Dammer, 2000;Johnson, 2004;Morag and Teman, 2018;Ronel, 2015;Ronel and Ben-Yair, 2017;Schaefer, Sams, and Lux, 2016;Wilson, 2016;Yun and Lee, 2016). Within this perspective, offenders are viewed as morally flawed, and the pursuit of moral and spiritual correction of their souls through atonement, work, obedience, and prayer -are common practices in the rehabilitating of offenders (Dodson et al, 2011;Ronel and Ben-Yair, 2017;Schaefer et al, 2016).…”

On how religions could accidentally incite lies and violence: folktales as a cultural transmitter

“…Subsequent studies tend to fall along two lines, either confirming the irrelevance of religion and deviance (Cochran & Akers, 1989;Tittle & Welch, 1983;Welch, Tittle, & Grasmick, 2006), or pointing out certain inhibiting effect of religiosity depending on the types of religious contexts (Benda, 2002;Corcoran, Pettinicchio, & Robbins, 2012;Evans, Cullen, Dunaway, & Burton Jr, 1995;Rohrbaugh & Jessor, 2017). Additional studies have looked at religious contexts beyond the WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) countries such as in South Korea and China but also reached inconsistent results on the religiosity-deviance relationship (Wang & Jang, 2018;Yun & Lee, 2016).…”