IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v99y2018i1p377-389.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Katie E. Corcoran
  • David Pettinicchio
  • Blaine Robbins

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Katie E. Corcoran & David Pettinicchio & Blaine Robbins, 2018. "A Double‐Edged Sword: The Countervailing Effects of Religion on Cross‐National Violent Crime," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(1), pages 377-389, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:99:y:2018:i:1:p:377-389
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.12408
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12408
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.12408?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blaine Robbins & David Pettinicchio, 2012. "Social Capital, Economic Development, and Homicide: A Cross-National Investigation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(3), pages 519-540, February.
    2. Groves, W. Byron & Newman, Graeme & Corrado, Charles, 1987. "Islam, modernization and crime: A test of the religious ecology thesis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 495-503.
    3. Lederman, Daniel & Loayza, Norman & Menendez, Ana Maria, 2002. "Violent Crime: Does Social Capital Matter?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(3), pages 509-539, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Blaine Robbins, 2013. "Cooperation without Culture? The Null Effect of Generalized Trust on Intentional Homicide: A Cross-National Panel Analysis, 1995–2009," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-8, March.
    2. Arturo Galindo & Alberto Chong & César Calderón, 2001. "Structure and Development of Financial Institutions and Links with Trust: Cross-Country Evidence," Research Department Publications 4251, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    3. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Asante, Augustine, 2023. "Neighbourhood crime and obesity: Longitudinal evidence from Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    4. Baomin Dong & Peter H Egger & Yibei Guo, 2020. "Is poverty the mother of crime? Evidence from homicide rates in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, May.
    5. Demombynes, Gabriel & Ozler, Berk, 2005. "Crime and local inequality in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 265-292, April.
    6. Paolo Buonanno & Daniel Montolio & Paolo Vanin, 2009. "Does Social Capital Reduce Crime?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(1), pages 145-170, February.
    7. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Hayward, Mathew & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2023. "Crime, community social capital and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Australian communities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    8. Mauricio Cárdenas, 2007. "Economic Growth in Colombia : a reversal of "fortune"?," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 25(53), pages 220-259, January.
    9. Özbay, Özden, 2008. "Does social capital deter youth from cheating, alcohol use, and violence in Turkey?: Bringing torpil in," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 403-415, September.
    10. Viviana García Pinzón, 2023. "Containing Violence in El Salvador: Community Organization, Transnational Networks and State–Society Relations," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(1), pages 192-219, January.
    11. Dean S. Karlan, 2005. "Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1688-1699, December.
    12. Patricia Justino, 2022. "Revisiting the links between economic inequality and political violence: The role of social mobilization," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-19, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Felix Adam & Sara Grobbelaar, 2022. "Education- and Income Inequality as Drivers of Violent Property Crime in South Africa: A System Dynamics Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, October.
    14. Xavier Giné & Pamela Jakiela & Dean Karlan & Jonathan Morduch, 2010. "Microfinance Games," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 60-95, July.
    15. Jeremy Horpedahl & Jeremy Jackson & David Mitchell, 2019. "Is Economic Freedom the Hidden Path to Social Justice?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 34(Winter 20), pages 55-74.
    16. KASHIWAGI Yuzuka & TODO Yasuyuki, 2021. "How Do Disasters Change Inter-Group Perceptions? Evidence from the 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake," Discussion papers 21082, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Ding, Zhujun & Au, Kevin & Chiang, Flora, 2015. "Social trust and angel investors' decisions: A multilevel analysis across nations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 307-321.
    18. Yamamura, Eiji, 2009. "Formal and informal deterrents of crime in Japan: Roles of police and social capital revisited," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 611-621, August.
    19. Marcel Fafchamps & Christine Moser, 2003. "Crime, Isolation and Law Enforcement," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 12(4), pages 625-671, December.
    20. Peri Giovanni, 2004. "Socio-Cultural Variables and Economic Success: Evidence from Italian Provinces 1951-1991," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:99:y:2018:i:1:p:377-389. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.