title: He sends rain upon the wicked: a panel study of the influence of religiosity on violent victimization.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminal Justice, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schreck
authors.forename: Melissa W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Burek
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clark-Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*