Religion And Deviance

When someone mentions religion, words such as God, church, and purity most commonly come to mind. One must ask just how far religion affects the purity of its adherents. To put it in sociological terms, how far does religion go in reducing and eradicating deviance in those who practice? Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge, who is well-known for his work in the sociology of religion, has researched this theory in his essay “The Religious Ecology of Deviance” published by the American Sociological Association.

In the first paragraph of the article, he lists various forms of people and philosophy, and their views of the relationship between religion and deviance. Functionalists and Marxists support the theory that religion deters deviance. Functionalism is a philosophy which states that what makes something a characteristic of a mental state is dependent on its function to the cognitive mind. Marxism is the view and critique which is applied to capitalism and class struggle as the systemic economy changed during the 19th century. (Merton 1968, p.98).

Mr. Bainbridge explains how Tittle and Welch, who both play a role in criminology and provide important information on deviance itself, believe that other theories better explain why people act deviant. These theories include the following: control theory, differential association theory, and cognitive dissonance theory (Bainbridge 1989, p.288). Control theory states that people act normal because that is what is rational in society, but if given the chance to act without consequence, people would commit deviance and crime. Differential association theory states that people learn values, experience, techniques, and drive for criminal and deviant acts from reciprocal action with others....

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...n and led to the crime of rape. Larceny was also shown to be deterred by religion as it is the most common and the one with least violence towards other (Bainbridge 1989, p.292).

Therefore, religion cannot stop deviance but at the same time some relation with other deviance and religion cannot be said to just be social bond (Bainbridge 1989, p.294). One theory alone is not enough to explain said findings. It is true to state or theorize that the lack of religion may have increased suicide, based on how diabolical and unwelcoming the deviance was in older time. They tended to reject the burial of bodies that have committed suicide, now however, this is not the case, and churches tend to any human body. (Bainbridge 1989, p.294) It is to say that from the conclusion that religion’s power in society changes in time as society itself changes (Bainbridge 1989, p.294).