The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Crime Prevention and Justice

Publication Date: April 1999

Publisher:

Author(s): Edmund McGarrell

Research Area: Culture and religion; Justice

Type: Report

Abstract:

Research on the relationship between religion and crime has tended to fall into three categories. The largest of these are studies that focus on individual beliefs and practices and their relationship to involvement in deviance and crime. A second category is based on ecological studies that consider whether religious practice at the community level influences levels of crime. In effect, these studies ask whether relatively more religious communities, in contrast to secular communities, have less crime. The third group of studies involve research on the effect of faith-based programs to reduce crime and deviance.