Spirituality and punitiveness: An exploration of Christian, Buddhist, and non-religious attitudes towards crime

Wing Hong Chui, Kevin Kwok Yin Cheng, Lok Ping Wong

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studies measuring religious views towards crime and punishment have mainly focused on Christianity and its denominations in a western setting. They have also used measures that are exclusive to the Christian faith. Other major religions have largely been ignored. This study attempts to rectify this by exploring the attitudes of Christians, Buddhists and those identifying themselves as non-religious towards crime. The results indicate some apparent contradictory findings as the more spiritual Buddhists are, the more they attribute crime to both individual and environmental causes as well as greater support for both coercive and social intervention measures. When compared to the Buddhists, Christians and the non-religious are more supportive of assistance towards the treatment of offenders in this study.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Law, Crime and Justice
Volume41
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Assistance
  • Attitudes towards crime
  • Punishment
  • Religion
  • Spirituality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Political Science and International Relations
  • Law

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