RELIGION… Its good for you

• What makes a happy and fulfilling marriage? Research consistently reveals that the number one predictor of marital stability and satisfaction is church attendance ¹ and religiosity.²
• A happy and moral family? A summary of sixty years of research - 1930 to 1990 - finds that highly religious families enjoy more success and happiness and are less likely to divorce and engage in substance abuse.³

… good for your teenager

• Individuals who attend regular religious services are four times less likely to commit suicide.⁴
• Other research concludes that the most important predictor of black, male youths escaping the "inner-city poverty tracks" is attendance at church.⁵
• A 1998 study cited over 12 studies that indicated an inverse relationship between religiosity and adolescent drug use and then added to this empirical data still more evidence that participating in a religious organization deters drug use.⁶
• Religious students generally do not have close friends who use drugs.⁷
• Parental bonding with adolescents and monitoring of adolescents is positively associated with religiosity and results in the reduced likelihood of adolescent drug use.⁸
• Religious involvement significantly decreases sexual promiscuity.⁹
• In a study of the religious life of alcoholics, results showed that the majority who abuse alcohol do not have a religious commitment; 89% of alcoholics surveyed in the study stated they lost interest in religion during their teenage years.¹⁰
• "…The more religious a person may be, the less likely he or she is to violate societal norms, values and laws… Religion opposes antisocial values; emphasizes responsibility and accountability; advances nondeviant over socially deviant behavior; promotes reconciliation; seeks to mediate conflict; and champions social support and comfort for those in need."¹¹
• Among juveniles, a positive relationship is found between higher religious commitment and less delinquency.¹²

… good for your community

• There is growing evidence of a beneficial relationship between communities and high church attendance. The city with the highest church attendance in the nation, Provo, UT, is also recognized to have one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. Inversely, crime is rampant on the west coast where church membership is 50% less.¹³
• Various studies have shown that religion helps make prisons more manageable. A 1992 study found that inmates who were religious had "lower rates of depression and committed fewer disciplinary infractions than other inmates."¹⁴
• Regarding recidivism, a 1990 study conducted by Prison Fellowship found that highly religious prisoners committed fewer crimes after their release.¹⁵ Similarly, studies in ’92 and ’96 by Prison Fellowship validated previous research, finding lower rates of re-arrests among highly religious, former inmates.¹⁶

ENDNOTES

1. Glenn, N.D. & Weaver, C.N., "A Multivariate, Multi-Survey Study of Marital Happiness," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40 (1978): 269-282
2. Schumm, W.R., Bollman, S.R., & Jurich, A.P., "The ‘Marital Conventionalization’ Argument Implications for the Study of Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction," Journal of Psychology and Theology, 10, no. 3 (1982): 236-241
3. Jenkins, K., "Religion and Families" in Bahr, S.J., Family Research: A Sixty Year Review, 1930-1990, 2 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1991) 1:235-288
4. Comstock, G.W. & Partridge, K.B., "Church Attendance and Health," Journal of Chronic Disease, 25 (1972): 665-672
5. Freeman, R.R., "Who Escapes? The Relation of Church-going and Other Background Factors to the Socioeconomic Performance of Black Male Youths from Inner-city Poverty Tracks," working paper no. 1656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, (June 1985) as cited by VanDenBerghe, E., "Religion and the Abundant Life," Church of Jesus Christ Official Magazine- Enzyme/Endtime
6. Bahr, S.J., Maughan, S.L., Marcos, A.C. & Li, B., "Family, Religiosity, and the Risk of Adolescent Drug Use," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, no. 4 (Nov. 1998): 979-992
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Thornton, A. & Camburn, D., "Religious Participation and Adolescent Sexual Behavior and Attitudes," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51 (Aug. 1989): 641-653
10. Larson, D.B. & Wilson, W.P., "Religious Life of Alcoholics," Southern Medical Journal, 73, no. 6 (1980): 723-727
11. Johnson, B.R. & Larson, D.B., "The Faith Factor," Corrections Today Laurel, 60, no. 3 (Jun. 1998): 106-110
12. Ibid.
13. Day, J.M. & Laufer, W.S., editors Crime, Values and Religion (Ablex Publishing Corporation: Norwood, NJ: 1987) 113 as cited by Maginnis, R.L., "Religion and Crime: Age-Old Enemies," Insight for Family Research Council
14. Riverburg, R., "Faith in the System," Los Angeles Times, (11 Oct. 1994): E-1
15. O’Connor, T.P., "Should Psychologist Study Religion in Prisons More Extensively?" The Correctional Psychologist, 26, no. 4 (Oct. 1994) as cited by Maginnis, R.L., "Faith-Based Prison Programs Cut Costs and Recidivism," Insight for Family Research Council
16. Johnson, B.R., Larson, D.B. & Pitts, T.C., "Religious Programming, Institutional Adjustment and Recidivism Among Former Inmates in Prison Fellowship Programs," Research funded by The John Templeton Foundation, Radnor, PA as cited by Maginnis, R.L. Ibid.
17. O’Connor, T.P., "The Impact of Religious Programming on Recidivism, the Community and Prisons," The IARCA Journal on Community Corrections, 6, no. 6 (Jun. 1995): 13-19

This page was last updated on 01/23/00.