Citation

Schreck CJ, Burek MW, Clark-Miller J. J. Interpers. Violence 2007; 22(7): 872-893.

Affiliation

Rochester Institute of Technology.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260507301233

PMID

17575067

Abstract

This research investigates low religiosity as a predictor of violent victimization. The theoretical framework the authors present here posits that religiosity should help structure daily activities in such a way as to (a) limit exposure to offenders by encouraging contact with peers who are less deviant, (b) lessen one's target suitability by inhibiting grievance-causing delinquent activity, and (c) enhance guardianship by fostering stronger bonds with parents and school. Thus, although researchers expect religion to be a bivariate predictor of violent victimization, its influence should be indirect. The authors investigate these claims using two waves from the public-use version of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The results indicate that religiosity is a correlate of violent victimization. Consistent with these theoretical claims, the effect of religiosity is not direct, but instead occurs indirectly primarily through its influence on self-reported delinquency and peer deviance.

Language: en