22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Religiosity and Attitudes toward Violence in Hispanic Gang Members
Josh L. Harris
Dr. G. Victoria Landrum and Prof. Joe Nedelec, Faculty Mentors
The purpose of this project is to determine if gang members consider religiosity, defined as devotion to religion, to be an important aspect of their daily lives in spite of harboring attitudes favorable to the commission of violent acts. Most research concludes that there is an inverse relationship between these two variables. However, the respondents' gang affiliation may lead to high levels of pro-violence attitudes despite factors that generally signal high levels of religious salience, such as low socio-economic status and having immigrated to the United States in the past two generations. Data collected via two Likert questionnaires measuring religiosity and attitudes toward the justification of engaging in violent behavior is analyzed and reported. Additional discussion of the relationship between these two variables is also provided.
Keywords: Religiosity, Gangs, Violence
Topic(s):Justice Systems
Philosophy & Religion
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 35-1
Location: VH 1424
Time: 1:15