The correlation between crime and religiosity in forensic psychiatry service patients

Abstract

Aim: Religion has been perceived as a means of social control throughout human history, emphasizing the association between religiosity and crime. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between religious commitment and crime in forensic psychiatry service patients. Method: The study was conducted on 100 patients hospitalized in the forensic psychiatry service after committing a crime. Sociodemographic and clinical data form, Religiosity Scale (RS), Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale (IRMS) were administered to the participants. Results: The mean Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale, Religiosity Scale and sub-dimension scores of the patients were high. A significant difference was determined between the RS total and sub-dimension scores of the patients who committed murder, and the total score was lower when compared to the patients who were incarcerated for other crimes (p<0.05). The "Religious Knowledge" sub-dimension score of the patients incarcerated for theft was significantly higher (p<0.05). It was observed that there was a moderate and positive correlation between the mean IRMS and RS scores (r: .468, p<0.05). Conclusion: The study findings demonstrated that the religiosity levels of the forensic psychiatry service patients were high based on the scale scores, and religiosity differed based on the type of crime committed. Further studies are required to investigate the correlation between crime and religion.