AN EXAMINATION OF A RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGIOSITY AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF DELINQUENCY WITHIN A THEORETICAL-MODEL

This study of 1,093 adolescents from six public high schools does not support the argument that property crimes, crimes against persons, and use of alcohol and other drugs are behavior manifestations of an inte rrelated constellation or syndrome of delinquency. A factor analysis c learly shows that the various forms of delinquency studied load on thr ee distinct factors. In addition, whereas the hypothesized theoretical model does explain considerable variation in frequency of alcohol use and of criminal behavior (22 percent and 24 percent, respectively), i t does not account for much variance in drug use (6 percent). Whereas there are reciprocal relationships between religiosity and drug use an d religiosity and crime, only the feedback effect of religiosity on al cohol use is significant. These latter findings suggest that future st udies need to examine reciprocal relationships and that the relationsh ip between alcohol we and religiosity needs to be reexamined conceptua lly and empirically in future studies.