RELIGIOSITY, RELIGIOUS CLIMATE, AND DELINQUENCY AMONG ETHNIC GROUPS IN THE NETHERLANDS

In this paper the effect of religiosity on delinquent behaviour is examined for Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese (subdivided into Hindustani, Creoles, and Javanese), and Dutch boys. It is proposed that religion can be considered as an element of the social bond. Next, the distinction between moral and secular communities introduced by Stark et al. (1982) is applied to the ethnic groups, leading to the conclusion that Moroccans and Turks live in moral communities, while the Dutch live in a secular community. The results show that there is a modest relation between religiosity and delinquent behavi... Mehr ...