THE CORRELATION BETWEEN RELIGION AND

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

KIMBERLEY KATHERINE CLEWS

A Dissertation presented to the

Department of Criminology, Faculty for Social Wellbeing
in part fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor
in Criminology
at the University of Malta

May 2017
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 UNIVERSITY OF MALTA
FACULTY FOR SOCIAL WELLBEING
DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY

BACHELOR OF ARTS (Honours)

Declaration of Authenticity

Student’s I.D.: 229295(M)

Student’s Name and Surname: Kimberley Katherine Clews

Title of Dissertation:

The Correlation between Religion and Criminal Behaviour

I hereby declare that I am the legitimate author of this Dissertation and that it is my original
work.

No portion of this work has been submitted in support of an application for another degree
or qualification of this or any other university or institution of higher education.

I hold the University of Malta harmless against any third party claims with regards to
copyright violation, breach of confidentiality, defamation and any other third party right
infringement.

__________________________ __________________
Signature of Student Date

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The researcher would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the following people
without whom this dissertation would not have been possible.

To the research participants, whose contribution to this research gave a better

understanding to the subject of this study.

I would like to thank Rev. Dr Ray Zammit for allowing me the space and freedom I
needed to work and for guidance.

To my mother and father, for their patience, love and support throughout this
journey. I would like to show my appreciation for their encouragement and their
reminders to always accomplish whatever I set my mind to. Many thanks also go to
my older brother for bearing with my moments of stress.

To my closest friends, who eagerly gave a helping hand and expressed words of
encouragement whenever I felt like giving up. I would like to thank one of my closest
friends, Francesca, for her guidance and generous assistance.

Finally, to a very dear person in my life, who in a short period of time managed to
make me realise that ‘worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, but today
of its strength’. Also, success is not always the key to happiness but it’s uniquely
achieved by doing what you love most and by surrounding yourself with people who
care.

iii
DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this dissertation to our dearly departed, for the knowledge
and inspiration remembered through memories that will be cherished forever.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Error!

Bookmark not defined.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................iii

DEDICATION ......................................................................................................... iv

ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1

1.0 – Introduction ................................................................................................. 2

1.1 – Context ................................................................................................... 2

1.2 – Aims of study .......................................................................................... 3

1.3 – Research purpose and Key concepts ..................................................... 4

1.4 – Conclusion .............................................................................................. 5

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................... 6

2.0 – What is crime and criminal behaviour? ....................................................... 7

2.1 – What is Religion? ........................................................................................ 7

2.2 – Faith, Religion and Spirituality .................................................................... 8

2.3 – Religious Individuals and Justification ........................................................ 8

2.4 – Theories.................................................................................................... 11

2.5 – Deterrence ................................................................................................ 14

2.6 – Social Factors ........................................................................................... 14

2.7 – Faith based Prisons .................................................................................. 15

2.8 – Conclusion ................................................................................................ 16

CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 17

3.0 – Introduction ............................................................................................... 18

3.1 – Methodological Justification ...................................................................... 18

v
 3.2 – Sampling Procedure ................................................................................. 20

3.3 – Participants and Recruitment .................................................................... 21

3.4 – Setting ...................................................................................................... 22

3.5 – Data Collection and Procedure ................................................................. 23

3.6 – Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 24

3.7 – Limitations and Strengths ......................................................................... 25

3.8 – Research Framework ............................................................................... 26

3.9 – Conclusion ................................................................................................ 28

CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS .......................................................... 29

4.0 - Introduction ................................................................................................ 30

4.1 – Table of Themes ....................................................................................... 31

4.2 – Main Themes ............................................................................................ 31

4.3 – Types of Crime ......................................................................................... 32

4.3.1 – Types of Crime (according to religious effects) .................................. 33

4.3.2 – Deterrence and Justification ............................................................... 34

4.4 – Different Religions .................................................................................... 35

4.4.1 - Spirituality............................................................................................ 37

4.4.2 - Values ................................................................................................. 38

4.4.3 - Turning Points ..................................................................................... 39

4.5 – Social Aspect ............................................................................................ 41

4.5.1 - Reintegration and Rehabilitation ......................................................... 41

4.5.2 - Secularism and Politics ....................................................................... 42

4.5.3 - Religious Laws and Civil Laws ............................................................ 44

4.6 - Age ............................................................................................................ 45

4.6.1 - Different Generations versus Age Phases .......................................... 45

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 4.7 - Conclusion ................................................................................................. 48

CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................... 49

5.0 – Introduction ............................................................................................... 50

5.1 – Conclusion of the Study ............................................................................ 50

5.2 – Limitations................................................................................................. 51

5.3 – Recommendations .................................................................................... 52

5.4 – Concluding Comments ............................................................................. 53

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 54

APPENDIX A – RECRUITMENT LETTER ............................................................ 60

APPENDIX B – CONSENT FORM ....................................................................... 62

APPENDIX C – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .......................................................... 65

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ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between religion and criminal
behaviour. Information for this study was gathered through a literature review on the
subject as well as with the help of professional participants. A qualitative approach
was used and the researcher interviewed social workers, a school rector and a
police inspector. All the participants have professional backgrounds which include
interactions with offenders and because of this, their opinions were sought on what
they face every day at work.

The basic idea was to ask about the effect of religion on deterrence and
rehabilitation of offenders, but because the relationship between the two subjects
can be vague, the interview was semi-structured to guide the participants and raise
certain points. This is how the main themes emerged. These were: the types of
crime, different religions, the social aspect and age. During the interviews, these
themes were combined with both religion and crime in general, and in the analysis
could be described as the diverse factors that influence the effect of religion on
criminal behaviour.

Key words: religion, criminal behaviour, offenders, deterrence, rehabilitation.

viii
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.0 – Introduction

Why would an individual choose to behave in an eccentric way? Why doesn’t

everyone behave in the same manner? Is it the way that an individual is brought
up? Or is it solely the argument of the way the brain works? There are plenty of
reasons as to why an offender acts criminally, and this is the beauty of criminological
research. Being a social science, criminology infuses the social sciences together
with cognitive ones to try and explain the behaviour of a criminal.

This research study focuses on religion and the effects it has on both the offender
before the criminal offence as well as after the offence. Thus, it is a research study
that analyses the effect of religion on deterrence and rehabilitation. Scholars make
use of diverse theories in relation to religion and crime. Although most of the
theorists do not associate religion directly with criminality, religion is sometimes
used as a mode of thought and can be part of a thinking process towards the act
itself. Some of the existing literature implies a negative connotation between the
two, yet, researchers tend to apply control theories, learning theories and socialising
theories (Jang, & Rhodes, 2012).

1.1 – Context

While viewing the literature, the researcher focused on religion and crime in general.
However, a more in depth study with the aid of professional participants, was
contextualized for Malta. Maltese culture is rich of traditions most of which are
religious. This is why an individual having a Maltese upbringing and background,
generally speaking, has a very traditional way of applying religion to the everyday
lifestyle routine.

2
Nowadays, Malta is becoming more and more multicultural as a lot of foreigners are
residing on the island. This diversity brings along different ethnicities, cultures and
possibly traditions. It is interesting to observe how this effects the country’s mentality
in everything, including crime. Of course, with a mixture of culture comes along a
mixture of opinions and conflicts. Religion can nowadays be a means of justification
of crimes, as well as covering discrimination through religion, which will later be
discussed throughout this research. This multiculturalism gives rise to people not
sticking to their own religion at birth. In other words more individuals are turning to
spirituality alone, rather than spirituality as a part of religion.

Secularism is also on the increase and therefore, this will be further discussed both
through literature as well as with the help of the participants. The Church in Malta
used to have a great influence on the government and public matters. The Church
had a lot of power and was considered to be a leading entity. At present, however,
the Church has lost some of its powers, in fact some even choose to challenge it,
as well as challenge their religion, personally. This did not just change due to the
loss and gain of powers, but also due to the progressive perceptions of people’s
thoughts in general.

1.2 – Aims of study

The main objective for this research is to observe the effect of religion on criminal
behaviour and also whether there is a direct or an indirect correlation between the
two. The researcher understands that this can be a difficult correlation to make
simply because at first thought, the general conclusion would be that no religious
follower can act criminally because it goes against the concept of religion.
Nonetheless, it becomes interesting when more thought is put into it and one
actually starts realising that no person is a wholly religious individual and the same,
no person is always a law abiding citizen.

3
Studies of the sort can be an extremely helpful tool when it comes to rehabilitation.
Analysing what religion can put forth or instigate in a person is brilliant when it comes
to reconciliation of criminal activity. To clear things out, it always depends on the
person, the act and the circumstances of the case.

1.3 – Research purpose and Key concepts

The research purpose is to determine how religion intervenes with the criminal’s
behaviour, either as a deterrent, or as part of the rehabilitative process. This is done
through a semi-structured interview with professionals. The semi-structured
interview is put in use so as to have a free speaking participant, who may venture
to argue on various topics and issues.

The professionals participating in this research all have a different background, and
obviously different experience. This is an asset to the study, because the researcher
could have a better idea of what professionals come across with in their line of work
but at the same time contrasts come out.

The key concepts involved in this study will be the effect of religion on the different
types of crime, as well as the different type of cultures. Theories with regards to
criminal behaviour all argue about the notions of nurture and nature and which of
the two is the more important. The effect of religion will be tackled in the same
manner, because, scholars as well as participants, may argue that religion is
effective if a person is brought up in a certain way, while others may argue that
religion is effective is a person is biologically made up in another way. Apart from
the types of crime, age is also an issue with regards to an individual and how
important their religion is to their own self. Questions will be asked on the differences

4
between age understood as a number of years, and age understood as a particular
generation.

1.4 – Conclusion

To finish off the beginning, the researcher plans to gain an understanding of the
relationship between religion and criminal behaviour, at least from a professional
point of view. This will be done both through a review of literature, as well as through
the experiences of people working with criminals and addicts. The two concepts
together can be quite controversial, and this is what the researcher is interested
about; creating a dynamic where although two aspects can seem to be opposites,
the two can actually be used (and possibly misused) in collaboration.

5
CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW

6
2.0 – What is crime and criminal behaviour?

Defining crime is very straight forward: a crime is an act or omission which is

recognised as an offence by the law and is punishable by the same law ("Definition
of Crime", 2017). Criminal behaviour is merely the action done by the offenders
themselves. However, Hart, Andrews & Bonta (1995), categorised four main areas
that define better criminal behaviour: law, religion, social traditions and
psychological issues. Another point which is relevant for the purpose of this research
is that sometimes a distinction is made when referring to delinquency and criminal
behaviour. Delinquency is a behaviour that is somehow illegal, and not accepted by
the general public and usually it is associated with juveniles (delinquency, n.d.). In
other words, delinquency refers to acts that are judged upon or are in a way
punishable through social means and cultures, whilst criminal behaviour is
punishable by the state law. Generally, these four areas mentioned by Hart and
colleagues, collect both delinquency and criminal behaviour as within a society in
general, the distinction may not always be clear.

2.1 – What is Religion?

Religion is widely described as the belief and worship in a superhuman power that
controls the universe and is usually portrayed as a person or persons, God or gods.
There are several different religious cultures and each and every one entails diverse
values, myths, histories, attitudes, behavioural approach and ideology (Burrows,
2016). These characteristics of religion effect how a religious individual or religious
entities approach cultural, social, political, economic and ecological issues within a
particular society. Nowadays, one society includes a wider religious diversity than
past centuries. Thus, cultures and traditions have intertwined and are now living
together, whereas in recent years societies were more segregated.

7
2.2 – Faith, Religion and Spirituality

First and foremost, it is important to distinguish between faith, belief, spirituality and
religion, although they are generally linked or lead to one another. In the simplest
forms these terms can be defined as: faith, having trust in something or someone;
belief, accepting that a statement is true or that something or someone exists;
spirituality, concern about the human soul and spirit, as opposed is materialism;
and, religion, adhering to a set of religious laws. They are all capable of being
connected in a contextual manner; however each one is independent from the other.
Although religion is not a synonym of any of the other terms, it would not function
properly without the individuals’ faith, belief and spirituality, but every individual
handles belief, spirituality and faith in different manners.

The right measurement of religious commitment and spirituality have to be taken

into consideration when researching and understanding religion within the criminal
field (Johnson, De Li, Larson & McCullough, 2000). Johnson et.al (2000) have
categorised religious commitment into six categories which were: attendance to
church or synagogue; salience of religion in everyday life; denomination and
persuasion; prayer; Bible studies, and; religious activities and participation. This is
interesting because most studies on societies only use attendance to church as a
variable to measure the degree of religiosity.

2.3 – Religious Individuals and Justification

A religious individual or a ’religiously motivated actor’ refers to an individual following

“a set of beliefs or worldview, concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the
universe” (Bar, 2011). Obviously, there is no perfect, fully religious independent
individual, for no one is perfect and the human emotions sometimes take over and
cloud judgements. A religiously motivated actor would prioritise ’God’s will’ above
anything else, and the struggle between Good and Evil is usually also understood

8
through a perceived divine will, sometimes going against the individual’s internal
interest. Although politics and religion are distinct, choosing a political party to follow
may be influenced by a certain religious ideas as religion makes up a part of
everyday lives for a lot of people. This religiously infused political affiliation is more
evident in certain countries than others. This becomes more relevant when deciding
whether a state should be secular or not.

At times, religion is portrayed as a means of justification to an act. An example to

explain further this method of justification is used by Bar (2011): “the enormity of
damage that nuclear weapons can cause as evoked an almost religious ‘taboo’
against their use”. These nuclear weapons are perceived as a religious duty and
have a general connotation with a specific religion or better, an extremist group that
forms part of a religion. In 1982, the Church of England published a report with
regards to a British policy of nuclear deterrence and the religious legitimacy of such
deterrence (Bar, 2011). The issue was the morality or lack of it. Could the use of
nuclear weapons ever be justified by a country for its protection? Another thing is
that throughout history, in some cases conflict was religiously motivated while in
other cases religion was an excuse in a political way. In the Old Testament, for
example, one can mention the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, the conquest of the
land of Canaan and the struggle between David and Goliath. The moral of most of
the Biblical stories is that “the true believer should not be deterred by a stronger
enemy, as God will give him victory and hence in such situations, deterrence is not
a viable option.” (Payne, 2014).

Every religion has different characteristics, different traditions and different laws.
Muslim movements see to it that all religious, political and military issues are directly
derived from the Qur’an, Hadith and Shari’a decrees, no matter how modern an
issue might be. This is different from when Christians make reference to the Bible
when discussing matters of the state, as it is only considered as a point of reference
and not a definite rule, like the rule of law. Justification through religion becomes
9
clear when it comes to Muslim ideology of martyrdom and some consider it to be a
great honour to die in the name of their religion. This becomes problematic when
dying a martyr in the name of their religion, means that they end up murdering not
only themselves, but others around them.

This is not the only case where religion is used as a justification to commit a crime.
Some studies show that religion is an effective deterrent when it comes to crimes
such as gambling and drug use, which are considered to be non-victim crimes,
rather than crimes like murder and theft, where property and person are influenced
directly (Baier and Wright, 2001). This may be because of the lack of motive when
it comes to having non-victim crimes, as opposed to violent crimes for instance,
where rage and emotions in general, keeps a person from thinking straight. However
in the article “With God on my side” by Topalli, Brezina and Bernhardt (2012), street
offenders are examined in relation to religion. Questions such as “why are street
offenders so fearless?” and “why they are not deterred by lethal sanctions or assault
on the streets?” crop up. These street offenders live an economically stressful life
and live with what they find or what they can take from others. These offenders
seem to have neutralized the fear of the moment as well as the guilt that comes
afterwards. Some are helped with drugs and alcohol. Although religion and crime
are usually correlated through deterrence, certain offenders tend to manipulate the
religion and take it out of context, possibly mentioning the unconditional love and
forgiveness through the divine will of God. This usually counteracts the effect that
religion might have on deterrence, making it easier for an offender to behave in a
criminal way.

In the same study “With God on my side” (Topalli, et al., 2012), the street offenders
that were interviewed seemed to use a self-deception argument where they not only
justify and excuse their criminal actions, but also construct a spiritual reason for their
actions. Most of them believe in God, and one of them even said that he prays a lot,
because he knows he cannot pray in hell. These offenders manage to defend their
10
criminality. What the interviewers noticed as well was that the offenders’ religious
perceptions were somehow incomplete. In other words, their lack of comprehension
twists what the general public comprehends; making themselves believe in their own
version of religion. One of the interviewees, insisted that God forgives, and that the
world we live in presently is actually hell, and everyone’s afterlife is the same,
whether one spent one’s life killing people or helping people. Another also said that
hell is the present living place for humans and heaven is a destination. This is all a
matter of perception, as religious doctrine states that God (in a Christian context)
forgives every sin, and that everyone is God’s child and everyone is the same in
God’s eyes. However, these street offenders, and other offenders with the same
view, choose to interpret such religious statements differently, to justify their sins
through forgiveness, for instance. Apart from this, some of them even see
themselves as doing God’s bidding. To these offenders, the religious knowledge is
taken literally – “if God wasn’t forgiving, I wouldn’t be living”- and this makes them
think that if they are still alive, then God is probably protecting them. During this
study, the authors strongly suggested that one should keep in mind that the
offenders have a different background and lifestyle to that of the global society, but
it is interesting to notice how they manipulate or genuinely think in a different mode
and manner.

2.4 – Theories

In the article “If you love me, keep my commandments”, Baier and Wright (2001)
mention different theories as to how religion should deter criminal behaviour. The
first one is the idea of “Hellfire”, where those who indulge in wrong doings you will
pay through torture in the eternal afterlife. This hellfire theory is one of the primary
theories which emerged from the study “Hellfire and Delinquency” by Travis Hirschi
and Rodney Stark (1969). This study distinguished between ‘moral communities’
and ‘secularized communities’ and the authors predicted that religion would act as
a successful deterrent in communities which have strong morality principles. This

11
might be because having morality principles means that the community is built with
strong values.

Then there is the Social Control Theory, where all the social institutions, including
religious, family, friends and educational settings, help build a certain degree of self-
control, thus minimizing anti-social behavioural tendencies. This means that the
individual strengthens the bond with society in general, avoiding criminality, or even
the want to behave criminally because of excitement satisfaction. Using another
theory, the Rational Choice Theory and combining it with the degree of an
individual’s religious commitment, there should be a deterrent effect when it comes
to choosing logically and prudently to avoid shame and embarrassment from deviant
acts.

A study conducted by Richard Freeman (1986) amongst black, male, youth living in
poor conditions, reported less criminal behaviour from church attending youths and
more illegal acts from youths who did not attend church. This was an interesting
study as usually poverty is associated with criminal environments and behaviours,
while this study showed that although poverty was an issue in all cases, religion was
actually effective.

In the article “God, Nations, and Deterrence: The Impact of Religion on Deterrence”
(Bar, 2011), states that religion should act as a deterrence for four main reasons;
the individual should look forward to a “guaranteed victory” and pride in religious-
based identity; an individual with strong religious beliefs cannot be discouraged; the
‘religious leaders’ should act according to their religious authorities and not their own
will; and the deterrent effect through manipulation of personal religious beliefs.

12
Others, like Johnson and Jang (2010) state that “religiousness keeps individuals
from engaging in criminal behaviour… also the effects, if any, of faith-motivated
individuals, groups and organisations” help in keeping individuals away from crime
by promoting pro-social behaviour. Some argue that the main pillars for rational
thinking in the process of deterrence derive from culture, psychology, ideological
principles and history, and leave out religion, but at the same time they perceive
religion as a motivational organization because it has a contradictive role in certain
social conflicts. (Bar, 2011).

Religion sometimes seems to be left out as one of the factors that can effect
criminality among research and researchers. This could possibly be because of
studies that found no relationship between religion and crime or were inconclusive
of how and why this happens. Just like any other criminal behaviour factor, religion
and its effects on crime is dependent on the specific community and certain society.
However, as Johnson and Jung (2010), pointed out, there should be two areas that
require more research. Without forgetting that previous research on the topic is
mainly non-developmental, the relevance of religion in the criminology world should
be increasing and changing, for instance more research should be done on the
significance of religion when it comes to turning points for offenders, instigated
through spiritual conversions and religious issues. This will not necessarily mean
that they make use of this turning point for a genuine reason, however it is crucial
to debate on why an offender should turn to religion. Another area that should be
further researched is the youths in certain communities that take part in religious
activities and the relationship with criminal behaviour. Relationship is only
speculated and not factual: maybe church activities creates specific networks? Or
maybe the sense of commitment towards an organisation helps maintain a busy
lifestyle? Or is it because religion is linked to values and morality issues?

13
2.5 – Deterrence

“Religious motivation can, however, be potentially exploited to enhance deterrence.

Superstitions can induce courage and self-sacrifice but may also induce fear and
mass hysteria.” (Bar, 2011). When it comes to deterrence, religion can have both a
direct and an indirect effect. Direct deterrence, means that religion leaves an effect
on the individual or a leader, to adapt spiritual beliefs to the real life. This can give
an idea of choosing between wrong or right and accepting the sense of punishment
for the individual’s actions. Indirectly, religion can effect in the long run, which means
that religion takes time to get into a culture, and acts as a deterrent by means of
traditions and society in general.

Religion is assumed or predicted to act as a deterrent as religions focus on an

individual’s behaviour and choices, and puts forth guidelines through rules and
values (especially those in the Judeo-Christian tradition). Religions also define
consequences of wrong doings and makes the individual aware of the futuristic and
eternal punishments of committing crimes, which in most cases is enough for
deterrence.

2.6 – Social Factors

According to Cullen and Pratt (2005), the strongest variables of criminal activity in a
society structure are those social factors that are related to general disadvantage
when it comes to economic problems, race and family disruption. However, when
“examining cultural and civic institutions, including religious ones” (Harris, Bradley,
Handle and Worden, 2015), they seem to keep a community under control. This is
because religious organisations tend to boost social networks and social capital and
thus, maximise guardianship and connections in ways that reduce criminal activity.
Moreover, research has shown that communities or part of a community with a
substantial presence of religious followers have lower rates of juvenile homicide

14
(Lee and Barthowski, 2004). In addition, religion is perceived as a self-driving
regulatory system, boosting self-control and helping to set and achieve goals. This
type of self-regulation process serves as promoting social behaviour and enhance
higher self-esteem (Carver, Lawrence, & Scheier, 1999).

2.7 – Faith based Prisons

Do faith based prisons reduce recidivism? And how effective are they? (Johnson &
Jang, 2010). Till this day, generally speaking, not a lot of research has been done
on the effectiveness of these faith based prisons. In fact, in the article “Do Faith-
based prisons work?”, Alexander Volokh (2011), clearly states that not a lot is known
about these faith based prisons and that based on the research, “there is no strong
reason to believe that they [faith-based prisons] work... there is also little reason to
believe that they don’t work”. Within the faith-based prison programmes, the inmates
are taught the basic subjects that are thought within any other common prison, for
instance “ethical decision making and anger management” (Volokh, 2011), but with
a more religious background and reflections. Although there is no actual evidence
of their efficacy, these type of programmes continue to be further promoted as good
rehabilitative processes.

An issue with measuring how effective faith-based prisons are, is that a prisoner is
not put in a faith-based prison against his will, but chooses voluntarily to enrol in
such a programme. Having said this, choosing such a programme would mean that
the person is motivated to change, and whether it is faith based or not, it will work
in proportion with the determination of rehabilitation. Biases always arise when
research is done on faith-based prisons. For instance, Byron Johnson, used a prison
called Humaitá, a faith-based facility (Brazil), and apart from the prisoners
themselves applying for the prison facility, the prisoners are chosen by the prison
itself based on a sixty day assessment period (Johnson, 2012). Thus, the results
are biased by the self-selecting prisoner and the prison staff itself. In other words,
15
no one will be there against their own will, or the will of the staff. Also, the said
Brazilian prison, has good conditions in comparison to other prisons.

“Thomas O’Connor and his co-authors compared recidivism between

fifty-four inmates who participated in a master’s program in theology
at Sing prison and four hundred and two non-participants. Completion
of the ministry program was associated with a significantly lower risk
of re-arrest in the first twenty-eight months out of prison—only 9% of
participants were re-arrested, compared to 37% of non-participants.”
(Volokh, 2012)

This study was also tainted by biases, (apart from self-selection and prison
selection), such as only inmates with a college degree and also attaining a religious
commitment could enrol in the programme.

Apart from the fact that there might be other empirical problems, it might be that the
fact that inmates choose their programme of rehabilitation, whether it being faith-
based or not, it may be rehabilitative and reduce recidivism itself. Whether or not
they work as programmes based on faith, the process approached might be a useful
tool for other programmes regarding inmates and might be replicated. Also, each
and every single programme is different, and the wrong approach could have been
used, apart from the fact that research should be done with an open mind and
“expecting the unexpected” mind set.

2.8 – Conclusion

In conclusion, certain aspects to certain programmes do not give out clear

advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the relationship to criminal
behaviour. Therefore, more in depth research should be carried out on the different
programmes offered as part of a rehabilitation process.

16
CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY

17
3.0 – Introduction

In the previous chapter, the relationship between religion and criminal behaviour
was discussed through justification, rehabilitation and deterrence, for example. Faith
based programmes were mentioned as a tool for rehabilitation programmes, and
authors described how more research about the subject needs to be carried out in
order to comprehend their effectiveness.

A reminder that the main objective of this research is to analyse whether religion
has any effect on an individual about to commit or who has already committed an
offence. Professional opinion is what the researcher is after, in order to properly
portray the impact of religion on criminal or delinquent behaviour.

In this chapter, the researcher will explain the research approach chosen and the
recruitment of the participants based on certain criteria. Outline of the procedure,
the justification and the setting will be explained as it is important to understand the
whole concept before the interviews were conducted. Then the researcher will move
on to explain how the information was gathered, analysed as well as weighing the
strengths and limitations of the study.

3.1 – Methodological Justification

Research can be conducted both qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Thus, in

simple terms these two methods mean more detailed, professional knowledge
through less sources, against basic knowledge through more sources, respectively.
Both methodologies give good results when the specific method is adapted to the
specific research. For the purpose of the present research, the qualitative approach

18
was chosen, which means that the information was gathered through one to one
interviews.

There are mainly three types of interviews that can be applied: structured, semi
structured and an in-depth or unstructured interview (Britten N., 1995). Briefly a
structured interview consists of specific questions that require short answers which
give little to no space to deviate or to give a lot of explanation to an opinion. Some
questions of a structured interview may be questions which require a “yes” or “no”
answer such that the interview has the shape of a survey. A semi-structured
interview is based on open ended questions, which are specific to a topic but at the
same time leave room for personal interpretation. During a semi-structured
interview, questions with definite short answers are still used; however, the
difference from structured interviews is that usually the participant is told to specify
and explain the answer further (Crow and Edwards, 2013). An in-depth or
unstructured interview consists of one or two short questions which lead to long
detailed answers. In cases of an in-depth interview, the chosen subject is introduced
properly by the interviewer and the question asked is on a generic level, which can
be answered by anyone through common knowledge, but when answered by a
professional, the answer sheds a lot of light on the subject.

The Semi-structured interviews were chosen for the present research. As Jennifer
Mason (2002) stated, the core features of a semi-structured interview are the
interaction between two people, a topic centred theme with flexibility for
argumentation and lastly, a specific context with diverse perspectives of the
common knowledge.

When it comes to analysing the correlation between religion and criminal behaviour,
it seemed better to take in consideration the perspective of professionals who have
worked, or work with, offenders and persons with such behaviour, rather than the
19
general public view. On the other hand, a quantitative approach could have still been
riveting, through a different point of view. This would have shown what people with
no set background, profession, and knowledge, think about the relationship between
religion and crime. Having said this, the research would have been based on
speculation and not facts through experiences. The general public targeted in a
quantitative research method, most probably, would have been non-criminals and
would have replied to questions in an everyday life wrong-doing encountering
mentality. Interviewing experienced professionals, would give answers based not
only on mentality and general speculation, but especially, through what they come
across in their line of duty.

3.2 – Sampling Procedure

Sampling refers to the fraction used in a research study in order to represent the
rest. With qualitative research and given that this research is part of social science,
probability samples are very rarely achieved (Gobo, 2007). It might be because of
the small numbers and also because different professions were chosen. Probability
sampling is mostly used when using the quantitative approach to research studies
because numbers are on a larger scale and the researcher can outline a
percentage. In fact, others refuse to use the word “sample” when it comes to a
qualitative approach to research as it is deemed to be inappropriate because it
revolves around processes rather than numbers (Crow and Edwards, 2013).

This is why the main feature of qualitative research is theoretically driven and can
be applied in sampling. In fact, the term ‘theoretical sampling’ was primarily brought
up by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss (1967) and has been used by researchers
everywhere, without necessarily using the same exact methods that Glaser and
Strauss recommended. The way many researchers use this type of sampling is by
selecting individuals who seem to be appropriate to the topic or topics concerned.

20
3.3 – Participants and Recruitment

Participants for the interviews were chosen from different types of professions:
social workers, a school rector and members of the Malta Police Force. These
professions were chosen since they can give a different perspective and variety in
the knowledge of the relationship between religion and criminal behaviour. Although
people from different jobs were chosen, all occupations were related to criminal
behaviour or delinquency amongst youths, in the case of the school rector.
Participants were all Maltese, and according to the understanding of the researcher,
they were all Roman Catholic. This was not a particular preference, but only a mere
coincidence.

For the purpose of recruitment of the interviewees, the permission of the directors
and persons in charge of the respective entities was asked for prior to contacting
the participants themselves. The entities concerned were the Malta Police Force,
Sedqa and Caritas. With respect to participants from the Malta Police Force, the
researcher asked the Community and Media Relations Unit (CMRU) for the
permission to interview three police officers from three different units, the Economic
Crimes Unit, the Criminal Investigations Department and the Vice Squad, so as to
gain the perspectives of officers in relation to different crimes. Subsequently, the
CMRU identified three officers whom the researcher could interview.

Department of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS) was contacted,
for the purpose of a social worker from the organisation Sedqa, and a specific ethics
approval form had to be filled in for consent. After approval, the organisation referred
the researcher to a social worker that is based on helping drug addicts. When
contacting Caritas, the researcher was referred to a social worker. The school rector
was contacted personally since he was the highest authority at the school.

21
After the institutions’ consent, a recruitment letter was sent to the participants via e-
mail. This recruitment letter included a brief introduction of the researcher, the
dissertation title and a brief overview of why their participation within the said
research would be beneficial to the researcher. Through a series of e-mails, an
appointment for the interview was communicated and most of the participants asked
for the questions beforehand. This gave time for the participant to prepare
themselves for the interview, avoiding participating blindly and possible hesitation.
However, this concept can be open to both positive connotations as well as
negative. Some may argue that giving out questions beforehand could obstruct
spontaneity or give way to biased conclusions. This being said, the researcher
preferred having prepared participants rather than having no information given
during the interviews, and apart from this point, it was also a participant’s right to
ask for the questions.

3.4 – Setting

As the Constitution of Malta states, “the religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic
Apostolic Religion” (The Constitution of Malta, Ch. 1, sub. Art. 2). Malta is well-
known for being a religiously devout country, with over three hundred churches and
chapels distributed throughout the Maltese Islands (www.visitmalta.com). In fact,
religious devotion is intertwined extremely well with the island’s culture and has had
a definite impact on legislative decision, for instance, when it came to passing bills
on IVF, euthanasia, abortion, civil unions and divorce. Some might consider Malta
as being quite a conservative country when it comes to these matters, because of
religion, perhaps. Malta was in fact the last European country to introduce divorce,
in 2011 (BBC News).

A lot of cultural traditions and traditional events in Malta revolve mainly around
religion. It is believed that it was St Paul who brought the Catholic faith to the Maltese
Islands, and his shipwreck is celebrated each and every year as a national holiday
22
in February. Apart from other national feasts, villages go full out in their village
feasts. “Rival band clubs centre their loyalties around the cult of saints and contend
bitterly for superior privileges on behalf of their respective patron saints” – (Kenny,
1966). This is a statement that can show two different aspects of the village feasts.
The first perspective is that the fanatics of the band clubs are actually so devoted to
the patron Saint that they take it very seriously in order to give praise and celebrate
the same Saint. However, another perspective is that the ‘religious devotion’ is
actually an excuse for the hype of the feast and instead of promoting peace and
actually thanking the patron Saint, it turns into fighting over the best fireworks and
competing with other band clubs creating conflict. This happens both within the
village and between one village and another, especially when the villages have the
same patron Saint.

Although in the present day, more and more different cultures and religions are
rooting themselves within Maltese society, a comfortable majority of citizens still
follow the Roman Catholic religion, with 88.6% of the population identifying as
Catholic according to a survey conducted in 2016 by Malta Today. It is safe to say
that most Maltese citizens although not necessarily going to church every Sunday,
are influenced by religion in the way they think and act, even just by the influence of
society itself.

3.5 – Data Collection and Procedure

The interviews conducted were the primary source of data collection. The semi-
structured interviews consisted of twelve open-ended questions and with the
consent of the participants, the whole interview was audio recorded. At the same
time, notes were jotted down for further understanding. The duration of the
interviews depended on how each interviewee decided to answer, but they all took
approximately thirty minutes.

23
“A pilot study can also be the pre-testing or ‘trying out’ of a particular research
instrument” (Baker, 1994). Pilot studies are used so that the researcher makes sure
that the research methods that are about to be used, work properly. Given that this
research was a qualitative one, and not a quantitative one, a pilot study was not
conducted. If a pilot study had been used, some questions might had to be changed
based on feedback.

The interview started first by asking the participants to describe their field of work
and its connection to delinquency or criminal behaviour. Then questions were asked
about the relationship of religion in general and criminal behaviour, as well as
different faiths and the impact of religion diversity on criminality. A reference to
secularism and religion varying with age was made in the questions, but this was
not the centre of the interview. Religious turning points and law abiding lifestyles
were the two topics that finished off the interview questions.

3.6 – Data Analysis

As stated before, the interviews were audio recorded and were later transcribed
word by word. Prior to interviewing, participants were asked whether they prefer
answering in Maltese or in English, even though the questions addressed to them,
as well as this dissertation are both in English. The researcher thought it fit that if an
individual speaks more fluently in their mother tongue, then the participant should
answer in that language, so that the information would be more informative. Hence,
the interviews were transcribed in the respective language. Obviously, when quoting
the participants in the dissertation, everything was translated in English.

Although the participants have different backgrounds, different perspectives, and

different approaches to their line of work, it is safe to say that the Maltese lifestyle is
very much effected by culture. In other words, all participants had thoughts that

24
probably for each and every Maltese persons, they are obvious, but for foreigners,
they are not.

3.7 – Limitations and Strengths

It would have been ideal, that apart from professionals working with criminals or in
an environment related to criminal behaviour, some participants in the interviews
would have been offenders themselves. This would have given an offenders’
perspective on how they picture religion and how it affects their behaviour, if at all.
This could not be done for the safety of the offenders themselves, as it could have
had ethical issues as well as possible traumatic effects. This is an undergraduate
dissertation, thus no professional level has been yet reached by the researcher.
Interviewing criminals should be carried out by professionals and not students,
especially without supervision.

An obvious potential participant for this study would have been the prison chaplain.
However, the anonymity clause was guaranteed to the interviewees for ethical
issues. Given that there is only one prison chaplain appointed at any time, the
anonymity clause would have been dropped, and the anonymity of the chaplain
would not have been guaranteed. As an alternative, the researcher planned to
contact a former prison chaplain, but the contact information was not available. A
prison chaplain would have been a key participant in this research. This is because
for obvious reasons, the prison chaplain is right at the centre of crime and religion.
It does not mean that the rest of the participant’s contribution to this research is not
as interesting and fruitful, just that this participant’s interview would have been
definitely intriguing.

As previously mentioned, the participants were all Maltese with a Roman Catholic
religious background and upbringing. Moreover, they all presently work in Malta,

25
and the majority of criminals they encounter are Maltese. It would have been
interesting however to interview a person or persons from a different culture or
different religion. Nonetheless, the aim of this study is to inquire information about
the relationship between religion and crime in the Maltese situation.

Another limitation was that not all participants that were originally contacted, could
make it to the interviews. However, the researcher understands that the participants
were all on a professional level, and so were involved in other important
commitments.

3.8 – Research Framework

This research being based on interviews, a thematic approach has been applied.
The significance of a thematic approach within a qualitative method is highlighted
by Braun and Clark (2006) who continue to further explain that to bring out the
themes of the interview, the researcher has to keep in mind six phases or processes.
The analysis of the themes should not be rushed, in fact “it is more a recursive
process, where you move back and forth as needed, throughout the phases. It is
also a process that develops over time” (Ely et al., 1997). The phases mentioned by
Braun and Clark (2006) are the following:

Familiarisation of Data: after collecting the data, which in this case, the data were
the interviews, repeated reading of the interviews should be done. With the help of
the transcription of the interviews, data was attentively read, and so, the researcher
grasped a proper understanding of the data.

26
Generation of Initial Codes: this refers to grouping keywords together, and being
able to group a concept with the other. Basically, this phase outlines different ideas
and possibly, opinions.

Searching for Themes: this is the phase where the coded ideas are grouped
together into themes, based on the themes the researcher brought up in the
literature review and which are present in the research title in general. Other themes
could have been brought up by the participants; themes which were not necessarily
mentioned by the researcher.

Reviewing the Themes: within this phase, themes are chosen with relevance to the
research involved. Although some themes and ideas may have not been mentioned
prior to the interviews, the researcher may choose to further elaborate a theme if it
seems to be valid and explains the research subject better.

Defining and Naming Themes: after choosing the relevant themes, the researcher
expands the knowledge and why the ideas chosen are relevant. Also a comparison
between the literature review and the answers of the participants can be done.

Producing the Report: after the complete analysis of themes and data, the
researcher puts the information into a flowing report. This report is crucial and its
main objective is to convince the reader of the validity of the interviews for this
research.

27
3.9 – Conclusion

To sum up, this chapter has given an overview of how the researcher chose to get
the information needed for strengthening and verifying the data collected from the
literature review. It is also very important, that apart from the method and processes,
the strength and weaknesses or limitations are implemented, in order for
amelioration or simply keeping an eye out for various options.

28
CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

29
4.0 - Introduction

This chapter shall outline the main themes, as well as other themes that were
brought up during the interviews. Thematic analysis was used as a framework to
rule out the themes, and apart from putting major focus on what the professionals’
answers were, a relative comparison to the literature review was made. No names
will be used for the confidentiality of the professionals, as well as their clients.
However, for the purpose of this chapter and wherever the participants are to be
mentioned, School Rector, Police Inspector, Social Worker 1 and Social Worker 2
will be used.

With regards to the participants and their backgrounds the four interviewed
professionals all have a different role and come from different sectors. The two
social workers both work with clients with addictions, one alcoholic addictions and
the other drug addictions. The social worker working with drug addicts has a lot of
experience with prison inmates as they used to be part of a faith-based rehabilitation
programme for inmates. The School Rector has had a lot of encounters with troubled
youths and the Police Inspector deals with and investigates theft of property and
theft from property. As the fields vary, so does their perception of the concept of the
association of religion with crime. However, as pointed out in the previous chapter,
all participants are Maltese, brought up in a Christian Catholic culture, and this is
conveyed through certain similar answers.

30
4.1 – Table of Themes

Main Themes Sub-Themes

Types Of Crime Types of Crime (according to religious
effect)
Deterrence and Justification
Different Religions Spirituality
Values
Turning Points
Social Aspect Reintegration and Rehabilitation
Secularism and Politics
Religious Laws and Civil Laws
Age Different Generations Versus Age
Phases
Table 1: Table of Themes

4.2 – Main Themes

The interviews were approximately half an hour long (the shortest one being 23
minutes, and the longest one being 31 minutes). They were all recorded, with the
permission of the participant, and later transcribed. Transcriptions were done in
Maltese as all the participants felt more comfortable using their mother tongue. The
major themes that were brought up by the professionals were the following:

 Types of Crime

 Different Religions

 Social Aspect

 Age
31
Each participant focused more on a particular theme than another participant, and
this was affected by their line of duties and their experiences. After outlining these
main themes, the other recurrent themes were categorized into sub-themes, with
the researcher’s aim being to leave nothing out.

4.3 – Types of Crime

In general, when studying the types of crimes, four main types come up in the
literature. These are: crimes against the person, crimes against property, crimes
against the state, and crimes against religion (“Types of Crime”, 2017). Each and
every crime can be motivated by different aspects, different social behaviours and
different life circumstances. When it comes to religion and the effect it has on crime,
the effect varies with the diversity of the crime. The three main types of crime
mentioned in the interviews were delinquency (by youths), crimes related to
addictions and theft, and so, only two types of four categories are involved: crimes
against the person and crimes against property. Crimes against the state did not
come up during the interviews, however a reference was made to blasphemy, which
is a form of crime against religion. To define blasphemy in simple terms, it is the act
to offend or to show disrespect to God, directly or indirectly (Definition of blasphemy,
2017). Yet, as the Police Inspector mentioned, cursing and swearing in the Maltese
culture is almost “the norm” and no matter how good a person is, Maltese culture
and swear words are very much intertwined. This was brought up in the argument
whether a person can or cannot be a true, exemplary religious person, and as the
Inspector very well put it, “I don’t believe that there is a single person in Malta that
adheres totally to religion”.

32
4.3.1 – Types of Crime (according to religious effects)

The School Rector works with troubled youths. When it comes to troubled youths
and the crimes committed by these youths, the rector mentioned petty crimes, such
as petty thefts, and crimes of vandalism. These crimes are mostly connected to
childhood delinquency. The important role that religion plays in a troubled youth’s
life, is not the actual religious concept, but, mainly, a religious centre for youths that
keeps them away from committing certain crimes. The rector continued to explain
that keeping a youngster busy, makes it almost impossible for the individual to feel
bored and engage in criminal or delinquent behaviour. In fact, this concept of
boredom resulting in crime is discussed by some scholars, such as Jeff Ferrell
(2004) who said that “boredom seems to have emerged over the past few decades
as some sort of subterranean motif, an experiential and conceptual context for
activism and critique, a thread of politics pulling the past close to the present”. This
means that boredom can very easily be used as a motif for criminal activity and with
the fast pace that the world today is changing, some may argue that the young
generation is bored quicker than the older generation, which seems to be more
submissive.

When it comes to defining addiction, a researcher needs to be cautious, as not all

definitions are well researched, especially drug addiction. Addiction is basically an
intense pathological state in which possessing, consuming and recovering from a
drug, turns into a loss of control of behaviour. This leads to the expense of other
activities as well as consequences, both legally and socially (Altman et al., 1996).
In acute forms, addictions are not only habits but they become a physiological need
to the person; addicts become dependent on the substance or else they feel sick,
both psychologically as well as physically. With regards to this, Social Worker 1
(drug addicts), when asked about the relationship in general between religion and
criminal activity, bearing in mind drug addiction, had this to say: “When you put

33
religion against the force of drugs, and the physiological need of a drug user, religion
is not enough.”

While religion can act as an effective deterrent for certain individuals and certain
crimes that involve temptation, but when it comes to drugs, it is very difficult for
religion to stop the individual from abusing the substance.

4.3.2 – Deterrence and Justification

Justifying one’s action is very common with offenders as they tend to look for a
reason for their actions. Some offenders choose to justify their actions through
religion and religious beliefs. Social Worker 2 (alcohol addicts) explained how
sometimes they take phrases from the Bible out of context to satisfy their
circumstances, one that was mentioned was “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth”. To the general public, this would mean that no one should take more than
others, or that no one should pay more than others. In a different, wrong context,
some individuals understand, that everyone needs to pay for their actions, and
revenge is the way to go, and justify their crimes as a just dessert. The social worker
working with drug addicts also mentioned suspension of beliefs.in other words
people that follow religion to a certain extent, and commit crime, have their religion
on hold during the action; possibly because their emotions took over or also because
at the time the criminal act seemed to be more important than their religious values.

A participant spoke about an experience with a Muslim body packer. Body packing
is a form of drug trafficking. This happens when the individual swallows illicit drugs
and travels with them in the body, to avoid getting detected in the airports ("Medical
Definition of Body packer", 2017). In this incident, the Police Inspector came across
a body packer who when stripped down for a search, they found the individual
holding an religious figure in his hands and giving praise to their god. This is because

34
the offender believed, that whatever is happening, the reason behind their actions
is god’s will. The Police Inspector continued to explain that this individual when
repeatedly asked to speak the truth, said that “a good Muslim does not lie”. This
implied a scenario where the Muslim, in this case, portrayed himself as a very
devoted religious person and that in his perception the intentions where good
religiously, no matter how socially unacceptable they really are.

4.4 – Different Religions

When asked about what different types of religions they crossed paths with, all
participants mentioned that they mostly worked with Roman Catholics and Muslims.
Nevertheless other religions such as Anglican, Orthodox and Hindu were
mentioned. One of the Social Workers also mentioned River of Love as a strong
religion of certain clients. According to a survey conducted in 2016 by MaltaToday,
about 88% of the Maltese population follows the Roman Catholic religion and
around 3% are Muslims, however the latter percentage is believed to be in actual
fact higher. All the participants claimed that each and every religion teaches values,
good moral values. Ideally and at first glance, religion and crime do not go together,
however it is safe to say that a lot of people claim to be religious, but do not exercise
religion in their everyday actions; in other words they drift away from religious
beliefs.

Social Worker 1 (drug addicts), argued that the difference in religion is relevant when
it comes to incarceration. Followers of the River of Love seemed to be more
persuasive and determined to share their religion with other inmates. While
explaining their attitude, the professional almost implied the term ‘brainwashed’,
however, these followers make a connection between their religion and criminal
actions and believe that their religion will keep them away from relapsing. With
regards to Muslims, bearing in mind the different countries and different types of

35
Muslim, the inmates that Social Worker 1 (drug addicts) encountered, almost each
and every one of them felt ashamed to report to their families that they were
incarcerated. Crime and punishment within certain Muslim cultures, is looked at in
an extremely bad way and also punished severely. Another participant added that
Muslim religious believers have a perception of black and white, right or wrong, while
Christians have other shades, which might make it more humane as a religion on
the whole.

With regards to different crimes compared to different religions, the Police Inspector
explained how Muslims for instance can be more violent and are ready to attack
instantly with a pocket knife. Also, though hitting women is considered to be abuse
in Maltese Law, to Muslims hitting a woman is normal and is done to show
dominance between the two genders. The same participant also said that although
domestic violence happens in all religions, when it is a Muslim family which is
reported through educational institutions, the family prefers to stay behind closed
doors as they perceive it as a private matter in which even the police has no the
right to intrude. Incidentally, one can mention that this was Malta prior to 2006, when
the Domestic Violence Act was introduced (Domestic Violence Act, Chapter 481,
2006).

For the purpose of this chapter, the notion of extremism will be considered as
another type of religion so as not to make an association with any religion.
Extremism can be conveyed as extreme fanaticism, and when it comes to religion,
all the four participants agreed that extremism is not a healthy religion within a state.
The School Rector stated that extremism is not a religion, and although the Muslim
religion was mentioned, the catholic faith in the past was mentioned as well, in the
light of extremism. This happened when the Bible was interpreted in a
fundamentalist way, and ‘holy war’ was justified. It was made clear by the participant
that not all Muslims have an extremist mentality, where the women are not respected

36
and crimes are brutally punished; as well as there is a distinct mode of practice when
it comes it Muslims in Tunisia for instance, and Muslims in Saudi Arabia.

4.4.1 - Spirituality

“In popular usage, that which is spiritual is defined in diverse ways, usually in
distinction from material reality as experienced by the physical senses” (Thoresen
& Harris, 2002). Most of the scholars agree that spirituality is part of religion. This
does not mean that they are equal to each other; a type of religion usually comes
with a set of rules; while spirituality is the knowledge or belief in something or
someone supernatural, not necessarily a god. They are undoubtedly related but do
not have the same meaning.

“A lot of emphasis today is made on the difference between religion and spirituality,
as if they are both against each other.” Social Worker 2 (alcohol addicts) had this to
say about spirituality and religion and further explained that if religion is portrayed in
a traditional, devotional way it can be against spirituality, because the concept is lost
through materialistic culture and celebrations, for example. However, the social
worker said that religion as it is supposed to be helps in the spirituality of a person
and vice versa. If this type of religion is incorporated in the programmes used for
rehabilitation, the individual has more chance to be led on the right path. Earlier in
another chapter, reference to the ‘religious motivated actor’ was made, and the
statement of religion as it is supposed to be raises further questions. How is religion
supposed to be understood and be used? There is no definite and right answer to
that, however for the purpose of the context, the social worker referred to religion as
a spiritual faith and not only materialistic culture, like going to mass every Sunday
and attending church events, but rather to the holistic and supernatural belief in a
greater good.

37
One of the participants mentioned another type of spiritual community, which is the
cultural creatives. As the School Rector described, it is a community which is very
spiritual but not necessarily religious; people within this community base their
lifestyle on great respect towards spirituality and great respect towards one another.
Cultural creatives is actually a term to describe a large segment of the Western
World that emerged to spiritually separate themselves from the modernists, the
progressives, traditionalists and conservatives (Ray & Anderson, 2001).

4.4.2 - Values

Values may be defined as “desirable, trans situational goals, varying in importance,

that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives” (Schwartz & Bardi, 2001). Some
scholars continue to explain that religious people highlight or emphasize certain
values, and put in the shadows other values. At a point during the interview, all four
participants mentioned the fact that being anti-social or having an anti-social
behaviour can easily lead to crime. As stated before, they all agreed that religions,
no matter what type, try to teach values and morality to their followers. Social Worker
1 (drug addicts) spoke about how the inmates taking up the faith based programme,
are firstly reminded of their values and of how their criminal action went against
another person’s or their own wellbeing. After they realize this and are told
constantly to keep these values in mind, it is at that time that the aspect of religion
is introduced. However, the social worker mentioned that, if a person has antisocial
traits, it is extremely difficult for religion to work, and even more difficult for the
concept of values to work. This is because values in a human’s cognitive function
are essential to understand the harm that can be done to another human being. If
the understanding of the harm caused is absent, or the ability for empathy is not
present, the individual will simply not understand the consequences pushed down

38
on the victim, and whether they act criminally or not, will not affect how they feel
emotionally and how they behave.

A different, interesting concept was mentioned by Social Worker 2 (alcohol addicts),

who said that religious values clashed with individuals’ criminal activity, and so they
had to give up one or the other. The fascinating thing was that the social worker said
that he actually had cases where they tried to accommodate both religious values
as well as criminal activity. The social worker made it clear that these were few in
numbers, and that the crimes involved were petty (at least to the perpetrator), and
the individual’s religion was on a very basic, traditional level. This really shows how
certain individuals portray their religion as something which is a lifestyle habit, rather
than a religion based on beliefs.

“When a person ends up in prison, to me they hit rock bottom, and so

it is at that point where existential questions start to be made,
especially if the person is young. When you offer religion to these
persons, religious values in favour of life and respect to others, I
believe that this is a great tool for a person to rehabilitate and reinstate
themselves in society”

This is how important the School Rector believes religious values are to a person
that wants to change for the better lifestyle. The will of the person and the sense of
community are the two main point that the rector specifies for rehabilitation.

4.4.3 - Turning Points

Religious turning points that can also be referred to as religious conversions are not
something of the new world. In fact, in an article about religious conversions that
was written in 1973, the author, Max Heirich, explains how and why the turning point
in a person’s life is done, religiously. In the article “Change of Heart: A Test of Some
Widely Held Theories About Religious Conversion”, he mentions three reasons why
a religious conversion occurs. The first one is “religious conversion as a fantasy

39
solution to stress” and in brief terms, this means that when a person is experiencing
difficulty, they turn to God to pray hoping to be given a magical solution. The second
reason according to Heirich (1973), is “religious conversion as the culmination of
early socialization”. This refers to the primitive socialisation an individual gets from
school for instance. Having learned throughout one’s life about religious beliefs
might trigger a sudden devotion at a specific period in life. The third and last reason
according to the author is “religious conversion as encapsulation”. The latter
reasoning or theory is a bit more complex as it refers to an individual finding a new
identity. This can be through a fresh social encounter which turns into dependency,
for example a relationship, or else due to a fresh exposure of knowledge of a new
concept. This is very interesting as it can be connected to individuals who were
never introduced to a religious culture in their life, and when they are, some concepts
become intriguing and start to adhere to a religion.

The article itself is called “A Change Of Heart” and really it is self-explanatory.

Having a turning point after having committed a criminal action is seen to be
expected in a way. It is especially relevant when it comes to analysing inmates. As
Social Worker 1 (drug addicts) commented, the few who manage to have a religious
turning point will find it easier to rehabilitate. However, it is easier to rehabilitate
inside prison. This is because a prison society is a completely different society from
that which is found outside the closed walls, and it is easy to turn to God inside the
prison, but once freedom is in your hands and rules are no longer defining your life,
it is a whole other story. The social worker continued to emphasize that turning to
religion on its own, is not enough, and it can only be fruitful if the ex-inmate is
monitored, not necessarily by professionals, but also by a strong social network.
Social workers who work with inmates of the sort, stress that they have to keep
coming for sessions even after their release, because internal frustrations and
problems need to be handled professionally in order to reduce relapse into criminal
activity.

40
Another participant claimed that when it comes to addiction and religious turning
points, it becomes an internal struggle for the individual. At a point in their recovery
and rehabilitation they will have a relapse over and over again. Social worker 2
(alcohol addicts) continued to describe how although some of them really put an
effort into turning their life around, with the help of religion, the force of the addiction
is always greater. This does not mean that they do not come out of it completely,
but the social worker believes that the old habit and internal need for the crime to
happen will remain a struggle for years, if not for ever.

The most interesting remark about religious turning points was the one made by the
Police Inspector. While acknowledging that he had met few criminals who had made
turning points, particular criminals were mentioned; frauds. Having not more than a
handful of cases, the Police Inspector said that the few were frauds who had these
religious turning points. Keeping in mind that a white collar criminal lives on twisting
people’s interests to their own satisfaction, it is not wise to believe that a fraud has
made a religious conversion. Their charismatic character in luring the public’s
sympathy is possibly a continuation of their deceiving act.

4.5 – Social Aspect

4.5.1 - Reintegration and Rehabilitation

Having a criminal record, or even worse, having been in prison, stamps a huge label
on an individual’s stigma. Many argue that this stigma is part of the consequence
that they have to carry for having committed a crime. However when putting in focus
the reintegration of an offender back in society this is an extra heavy burden that
they drag with them. According to Social Worker 1 (drug addicts), people who give
offenders another chance when finding a job for instance, do exist, but the main
issue with reintegration, are the offenders themselves. Their demotivation is what
41
pushes them away from society. It is not easy having people judge you from head
to toe with just one look, and this may lead to the relapse in criminal activity.

The same social worker mentioned that a religious presence can actually help in
providing the individual with relief of the burden: “They give in to God, and this helps
them in their rehabilitation process, as they perceive it as lifting the burden and
giving it to God”.

4.5.2 - Secularism and Politics

“Secularism is a principle that involves two basic propositions. The first is the strict
separation of the state from religious institutions. The second is that people of
different religions and beliefs are equal before the law.” (National Secular Society,
2017). The opposite of a secular state would be a confessional state. Secularism
promotes coexisting and multiculturalism. Apart from this, some secularism in a
state, where the law and the legislators do not base their decisions on the state’s
main religion, promotes progressivity and inclusion, not only within races and
religions but within different ethnicities, gender orientations and cultural differences.
A state which is solely dependent on church entities, tends to be conservative and
not adaptable to change.

When speaking about criminal activity in a secular state, Social Worker 2 (alcohol
addicts), stated that if by secular state one understands a separation of state and
religion within the structure themselves, than no, the effect of secularism on crime
is not expected. Nevertheless, the structures, meaning mainly the government, are
the state’s pillar and without any doubt, some effect will reflect in values of the
society in general, when change is brought about. On the other hand, the same
social worker mentioned the Netherlands and how the country progress to such an
extent that they have open prisons that work wonders. In fact in a study that was

42
conducted in 2015 around 70% of the population of the Netherlands confirmed that
they have no affiliation to religion whatsoever (Bernts, & Berghuijs, 2016). Generally
though, the social worker’s perception was that secularism in a state has a negative
effect on society.

A participant made reference to Habermas’ interpretation of modern society and the

stages it went through. The School Rector explained how society went from
modernism, to post-modernism, to secularism and, in present times societies in
general are going through a post-secular era. In other terms this means that at first,
society started separating religion bit by bit until it lead to a total rejection, and now
religion and religious entities are starting to crawl back in. Religion will never be like
it used to be, having the main voice when it comes to laws and general mentality.
However, it is starting to regain weight in legislations and leaderships of state,
always according to the participant’s research of the German philosopher and
sociologist. The Cultural Creatives mentioned previously, comes in again here.
Scholars have divided these cultures into two segments, the core cultural creatives
and the green cultural creatives; one segment being more educated and socially
active and the other segment being more secular and following others, respectively
(Ray, & Anderson, 2001). The participant expressed that although part of this
community is secular, this does not necessarily have a negative connotation, further
explaining that according to his own opinion, a society which is dominated fully by a
particular religion is not ideal, as people in general have the right to follow their
beliefs. At the same time, secularism should not be taken to an extreme, and the
participant made it clear that, for instance, when a catholic is not allowed to live
catholic faith, this becomes an act of discrimination and injustice.

According to the Police Inspector, it is ideal to have a secular state, so that politically,
the church does not influence decisions taken by the government. Speaking about

43
progressivity, the participant explained that if it were to be a completely secular
state, the Maltese government would not have introduced bills on divorce, civil
unions, child adoptions and other LGBTIQ rights for example. This would have made
the whole Maltese society stuck in a conservative bubble. The Inspector stated that
although for a lot of people the right decision was made, the church’s say and stand
on matters as such is understandable. Mentioning populist decisions is what made
politics come in the argument. The participant rightfully stated that a lot of decisions
taken by the government, he was not referring to any government in particular, are
made neither ethically, nor researched specifically on. Usually, what wins is the
majority of the citizens’ opinions, and again, usually not on the matter itself, but
opinions in favour of a party or another.

4.5.3 - Religious Laws and Civil Laws

At the end of the interview, participants were asked whether they think that someone
could adhere to civil laws if one is not able to adhere to religious laws and vice versa.
All participants had similar opinions on the matter.

All agreed that certain actions are prohibited both by religious laws as well as by
civil laws, for instance prohibition against murder and theft. This means that
obviously if someone does not obey one type of law, they are automatically not
obeying the other type. However reference was made to not wanting other people’s
things for example, or to love unconditionally your mother and your father. These
prohibitions are more religious than civil, and however unethical they might be in a
society, they are not punishable by law, and they are not connected directly to
criminal activity.

44
Another reference with regards to this issue was made to fraudsters and other
illegalities that are generally not looked upon in a violent criminal manner by the
society.

4.6 - Age

As an introduction to the age theme, Lee Ellis (1987), mentioned a scale of

“boredom with church services” as the theory was that young adults and teenagers
subsequently need something to satisfy their free time. According to the same
author, in the perspective of young adults who start experiencing freedom, a fine
line between finding comfort and security within a church entity and seemingly
boring compared to other communities starts to build up. This is how they start
finding something exciting and thrilling, and as Ellis explains, arousing, to commit,
and this is where unfortunately crime steps in. Obviously this is a general statement
or merely a reason to determine a connection between delinquency and youth
period.

4.6.1 - Different Generations versus Age Phases

Diverse arguments arose when age and religious beliefs were concerned. Some
participants perceived it in a difference in the age itself rather than generations and
the change in general of the religious cultures. For instance, Social Worker 1 (drug
addicts) made a distinction between an older individual, who starts contemplating
their life against a young adult who just began to live independently and these
thoughts about life contemplation do not even cross their mind. The social worker
continued to explain that it is not necessarily because an older person starts thinking
about the possibility of death approaching, but more of the concept that if they
survived for so long, something or someone must have been there to guide them,
and without even making a great effort, the person would start growing closer to
God.

45
The only reference made to a different generation as a result of a different era was
by the Police Inspector, where a contrast was made to an earlier, more religious
society as opposed to a more modern society today. Mass was relatively more
regular than it is in the present, and when asked if going to mass on Sundays
determines whether you engage in criminal activity or not this was the reply:

“Going to church and criminal activity might not be directly related…

then again going to church and participating might get you a dose of
good teaching. Sometimes, at least a phrase is remembered and
leaves and impact, and other times nothing is absorbed. Personally, I
go to mass because I feel that I have to go, at least I try”

The participant further explains that today’s younger generation are exposed to
more rights and knowledge about their rights. This is evident in the lack of respect
they show to higher authority, possibly even including the police.

In a previous theme, the notion of the older generation being more submissive was
mentioned. This was made clear by Social Worker 1 (drug addicts), who said that
when the offenders or inmates were offered the possibility of going to mass, the
older lot agreed straight away, whereas the younger lot rebelled and refused to
participate along with the others.

Social Worker 2 (alcohol addicts) contradicted this idea, saying that the perception
of a rebellious young generation was present, against their not such religious
parents. The social worker emphasized that this is a personal view, where the
middle generation (mostly parents), do not adhere to religion as such, but their
children are turning to religion and to the religious practice. The fact that there is a
common possibility that young adults start questioning their beliefs and whether God
exists or not, was also mentioned with the social worker saying that it is normal and
everyone goes through it.
46
The School Rector continues to imply that this phase is natural and stated:

“Certain children start with a good upbringing, obedient, attending

mass (as part of culture) but then, growing up they go through a crisis
where they abandon everything and lose interest. They start saying
that they are Atheists. Parents worry when their children go through it.
But it is natural.”

Claiming that this is not a wrong turn in life, the participant said that it can serve as
a challenge to a young adult’s religion and helps to confront certain questions,
puzzling questions, which arise from a religious context when faced with certain
circumstances. However, the School Rector said that guidance from the right role
models and social groups is always of aid in avoiding delinquency and crime. With
regards to challenging their religion, the participant continued to say that a forty year
old individual can have the same infantile level of religion due to never challenging
it and always following religion through culture. When comparing religion to crime,
the same participant stated that they would not put it down to just religion. It is more
of a collective social concept which the children are now being brought up in.
parents’ separation and lack of role models were mentioned as having key
importance to an example to a child growing up. Apart from this, the School Rector
mentioned child neglect as a prime source for delinquency behaviour. In fact, the
rector continued to mention how the majority of motives of criminals all link to
childhood issues and experiences, because a traumatic incident has double the
traumatic effect on a child as it has on an adult.

47
4.7 - Conclusion

This chapter outlined the most significant themes that emerged throughout the
interviews. The four main themes that were used to explain the relationship between
religion and criminal behaviour were different types of crimes, the different religions,
the effects of the social aspect and the age difference. These themes were used to
explain how religion is different in its impact of crime deterrence and rehabilitation,
according to the circumstances of each individual.

48
CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

49
5.0 – Introduction

This final chapter will sum up the resulting thoughts of the research. This conclusion
will be based on the findings and analysis together with the literature on the subject.
Recommendations will be included for further research, both as the topic concerned
as it is, as well as the topic amalgamated with other topics. A general closing
comment will also be included with regards to the research itself.

5.1 – Conclusion of the Study

Criminal behaviour, is generally known to be affected by several factors, and while

some argue about the concept of Nurture versus Nature, conclusions often show a
mash up of both. Religion or religious beliefs can be one of these factors affecting
criminal behaviour, be it directly or indirectly; a motivator or a deterrent. The
research shed a light on the subject by gauging professionals’ opinions based on
their experience on their line of work and their observations with regards to the effect
of religion on crime.

Four professionals were interviewed and their fields of duty were all diverse.
Although two of them were social workers, one of them worked with alcohol addicts
having criminal records and violent behaviour, and the other worked with drug
addicts, mostly with inmates who had drug related issues. With regards to the police
inspector, the experiences were more related to the theft of property and from
property. Then there was the school rector, which was more familiar with devious
acts of delinquency coming from youths and young adults.

With regards to relevance of the participants to the research, the police inspector
gave information about a conventional or a common crime, so to speak, as theft is

50
a major problematic crime on the island and also one of the most mentioned. The
participants who spoke about addictions gave an interesting outlook on the subject
of addiction-based crime in relation to religion. Although satisfying an addiction
leads to the crime, the addiction itself is a physical and psychological problem. They
both argued that the devotion to a religion is nowhere near the addiction to a
substance. Addiction becomes a need that no religion can satisfy. One of them even
mentioned that when it comes to fighting off the addiction (after the crime was
committed), it becomes an interior struggle and it is there that religion comes in.
They both agreed that if religion is not effective as a deterrent to drug and alcohol
misuse (for the purpose of this research), religion is effective in the rehabilitation
process. The school rector’s relevance to the study was highlighted through age, as
one of the main themes of the interviews was in fact age. This participant, although
not presently working with convicted criminals or addicts for instance, deals a lot
with children who are transitioning from dependence on their parents into a more
dependant lifestyle. The feeling of freedom is what may trigger indifference to
religion as well as questioning religion and its relevance to life.

Although all of them said that religion is a great tool for the process of rehabilitation,
they all agreed that having no religious affinity does not directly mean engaging in
criminal activity. What can be inferred is that spirituality is directly connected to
morality and values, which was another strong theme that came out of the
interviews.

5.2 – Limitations

The researcher understands that professionals in these fields are extremely busy,
and have a restricted schedule. This is why, only four of the six professionals who
had accepted to be interviewed managed to be interviewed. However, the
information obtained was sufficient as well as fruitful. Another limitation was that
with regards to ethics, inmates themselves and the present prison chaplain could
51
not be interviewed, for obvious purposes. A focus group would have been more
interesting as questions asked would have been discussed and argued instantly,
because as a researcher, remarking during the interview was not ideal. On the other
hand, during a focus group, opinions can be contaminated between one participant
and another.

5.3 – Recommendations

Further information on the subject can be obtained through directly asking

perpetrators, if a study were to be conducted by professionals themselves. This
would bring out what actually drives an individual to behave criminally as well as
whether religion is present during the act, after the act, or in their life in general.

The questions could also be more focused on a particular theme for more detailed
account of the same thing. Having more specific questions in an interview will bring
out further the differences between participants and would be more targeted towards
the same thing. However, the way the questions were put in this interview, helped
in bringing out more themes, and participants could speak more freely about what
they think on the subject.

52
5.4 – Concluding Comments

This study was conducted in order to obtain professional information with regards
to religion in correlation to criminal behaviour. The number of participants was
limited, as this was an undergraduate research. Having said this, the opinions
obtained are not to be taken as a sample for the general professionals. Nonetheless,
the participation of the professionals gave a better explanation to the researcher as
well as the information could be compared to literature already written on the
subject.

Although assumptions are present in the construction of a hypothesis for research,

results may or may not have cleared these assumptions. Different perspectives from
different fields of studies can be beneficial to an individual’s thoughts. However,
when it comes to rehabilitation, more than assumptions, the benefit of the doubt is
to be given as experience can show that religion although not always a deterrent,
can be a significant part of a rehabilitative process.

53
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APPENDIX A – RECRUITMENT LETTER

60
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am currently reading for a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology at the University of

Malta and as part of my dissertation, I am conducting a research study about the
relationship between religion and crime through the perception of professionals
working in the criminal field. My interest is to observe whether religion acts as a
deterrent to crime and if it has any effect in a society vis-a-vis criminal activity and
rehabilitation. This study is being done under the supervision of Rev. Dr Ray
Zammit, a senior lecturer in Professional Ethics at the University of Malta.

Your experiences and views gained through your field of work is of fundamental
importance to my research and so I would like to invite you to take part in an
interview, concerning the relationship of religious beliefs and criminal behaviour.
The interview session will not take more than an hour and the venue will be
discussed at a later stage. Your participation in this study will help me view this
debated argument through your direct experience with individuals engaging in
criminal behaviour.
All the information given during the interview will remain strictly confidential, and
shall only be used for the sole purpose of this research.

I thank you in advance for your help and cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Kimberley Katherine Clews

3rd Year Student
B.A. (Hons) in Criminology
Faculty for Social Wellbeing
Department of Criminology
University of Malta
kimberley.clews.13@um.edu.mt

61
APPENDIX B – CONSENT FORM

62
Consent for participation in a Research Interview

I agree to participate in a research project conducted by Kimberley Katherine

Clews, reading for a Degree in Criminology at the University of Malta.

The study is entitled “The Correlation between Religion and Criminal Behaviour”
and focuses on the impact that religion has on offenders and criminal activity
within a society. This research is aimed at retrieving information through the
experience of professionals that work with criminals and persons with criminal
environments. The purpose of this document is to specify the terms of the
participation of the interview in this research project.

1. Sufficient information has been given about the research project and the
purpose of the interview has been made clear.

2. The participation of the interview is voluntary. There was no explicit or

implicit coercion whatsoever.

3. The interview will be carried out by Kimberley Katherine Clews and will last
approximately 30 minutes.

4. The researcher may take down notes during the interview: Yes No

5. The researcher may record (by audio) the interview: Yes No

6. The interviewee has the right not to answer any question. If uncomfortable,
the interviewee may choose to withdraw from participating in the interview.

7. Guarantee has been given that the interviewee’s identity will remain
anonymous and secure, and the purpose of the interview is solely for the
research project.

63
 8. All terms were read and understood, and all questions by the interviewee
has been answered to the latter’s satisfaction.

9. A copy of this consent form has been given to the interviewee co-signed by
the interviewer.

Participant’s Signature

Researcher’s Signature Date

Supervisor’s Signature

Kimberley Katherine Clews

kimberley.clews.13.@um.edu.mt
99546237

64
APPENDIX C – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

65
Questions

1) Please state area of field of work and previous/current experience with

individuals having criminal behaviour.
2) Explain briefly your role in this field and how it is different from working in
other fields.
3) In your opinion, do you think there is a strong relationship between
religion and criminal activity in general? If yes, how? If no, why?
4) In your opinion, can religion act as a deterrent? Can it be used as part of
a rehabilitation process? Are faith-based programmes in prisons
effective?
5) What different religions have you crossed paths with?
6) Do you notice any differences between one religion and another when it
comes to the relationship between religion, crime and rehabilitation?
7) What, in your opinion, is a secular state? Do you think secularism has an
effect on criminal activity in a society?
8) How does the effect of religious beliefs vary with age? (A 16 year old
versus a 40 year old, for instance)
9) With regards to young offenders versus adult offenders, do you think
religion is a different concept to the two parties? Did change in religious
beliefs and degree of devotion effect criminal behaviour in young
offenders?
10) How do criminals reconcile their crime with their religion? Do criminals
justify their criminal behaviour by their religion?
11) Are religious turning points important in relation to crime analysis and
rehabilitation progress?
12) Do you think that if an individual does not adhere to religious laws and
practice, they do not adhere to the law in general? Is there a direct
relationship between the two?

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