Religion and social control theory: An expansion of Hirschi's social bond (Travis Hirschi)

Informal social controls have long been thought to impact deviant behavior; either as suppressors or as possible precursors. Hirschi's social control theory is founded upon the belief that informal controls influence such behavior. As one of the most frequently tested theories in criminology, social control theory places importance on the relationships that a child develops with various institutions such as the family, school, and conventional belief in social rules in constraining various forms of deviant behavior. However, religion is one area of informal social control that remains unclear in its effects on deviance. As Hirschi's theory does not include the effects of this institution on delinquency, I present a revision that includes religion as an additional measurement arena of the social bond. More specifically, this project includes maternal religious attachment and religious commitment as possible inhibitors of destructive behavior.; Further, this project also seeks to address criticism in the literature that pertains to methodological problems and limited number of behaviors that the theory has been applied to. More specifically, this study seeks to examine the effects of the revised social bond indicators on three forms of deviance (minor delinquency, drug use, and violence). In addition, in an attempt to address criticism in the literature pertaining to research design, this study examines behavior as adolescents age by utilizing three separate cross-sectional designs and by constructing hypotheses similar to Thornberry (1987)'s developmental interaction theory.; Finally, results are presented that indicate that the effects of the social bond on various forms of deviant behavior may change as an adolescent ages in a fashion similar to Thornberry (1987)'s model. More specifically, traditional elements of the social bond such as maternal and school attachment and school commitment are significantly related to several forms of deviance across developmental stages. Further, the element of religious commitment essentially performed as other studies that have included religion have; that is religious commitment has a small inverse effect on minor forms of behavior at particular developmental stages.