Religious Affiliation and Juvenile Delinquency

The signif of religious affiliation as a key diff'iator of HB is emphasized. Religion & religious org function as sources of soc control. Hence, religious affiliation & soc deviance should be r'ed; but the literature bearing on the relationship between religion & JD'cy is on the whole inconclusive. Data from a larger study known as the Southern Calif Records Matching Project are used to probe into the diff's between SE characteristics of Protestant, Catholic, & Jewish JD's. The study pop consisted of 13,836 cases involving juveniles between 10 & 17, defined as 'official DEL's.' Data, in 4 tables, support the following conclusions: (1) Religion is an important diff'iator of JD'cy in terms of DEL'cy rate; Jews have the lowest rates & Catholics have disproportionately high rates. (2) Jewish JD's exhibit signif'ly diff characteristics when compared to Protestant & Catholic offenders. Proportionately more Jewish JD's come from intact fam's, reside in areas of lower DEL'cy & higher SE value, have less serious recorded offenses & are more often referred to the courts by community agencies other than police. (3) The Jewish-non-Jewish distinction in attribute does not appear to be a function of age, sex, or raceethnicity. This basic distinction is also maintained with controls for marital status of parents, SES as measured by income level of area of residence, & rates of official DEL'cy within that area. (4) Variations in the characteristics of Protestants & Catholics are minimal, & no consistent diff'ial pattern emerges. It is hyp'ed that the characteristics of the Jewish pop, the soc values which they share & their org'al structure lead (a) to lower rates of 'official' JD'cy; (b) to less serious recorded offenses; (c) to more agency referrals (including Sch's) ; & (d) to higher %'s of JD's from intact fam's, more favorable SE areas & lower DEL'cy environments. M. Maxfield.