Is Religion Inversely Related to Deviance in China? An Empirical Study on the 2010 China General Social Survey

• In Event: Perspectives on Workplace Crime, Pathways to Terrorism, Organized Religion and Deviance, and the Impact of Segregation on Drug Offenses

Abstract

While the religion-crime relationship is well documented, it is based largely on research in the United States or European contexts, where the influence of Judeo-Christian religion is dominant. To address this imbalance, we examine the relationship between religion and deviance in a non-Western context: China, where religion is embedded in a secular tradition and regulated by an atheistic state. We analyzed the 2010 China General Social Survey data to estimate relationships between different types of religion (organized or instituted versus folk religion) and deviance (illegal and norm-violating behaviors, licit drug use, and favorable attitudes toward unconventional sex). Specifically, we estimated models of OLS, logistic, and negative binomial regression, controlling for criminological predictors of deviance as well as sociodemographic variables. The results are mixed. First, survey respondents who had religion were no different from those without religion in law and norm violation. Second, the followers of instituted religion were less likely to report daily drinking and smoking than those with no religion, although followers of folk religion were not different from their no-religion counterparts. Finally, respondents of folk religion were favorable to unconventional sex compared to those with no religion, whereas only Muslims were significantly unfavorable among followers of instituted religion.

Authors

• Xiuhua Wang, Baylor University

• Sung Joon Jang, Baylor University