The influence of the Catholic Church on criminal behaviour amongst youths in Malta

Abstract

The influence of the CATHOLIC CHURCH on CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR will be discussed in this dissertation. The focus will be on YOUTHS who are between 18 and 21 years of age. The study is quantitative and questionnaires were used. The data was collected from two main areas. The main sample comes from a post secondary school, a comparative sample was also used and it came from two religious groups, one consisting of male members and the other of female members. The effect of the Catholic Church on youths is seen on the individual youths, the influence of the family is examined and the pressure of peers is also taken into consideration. The results have shown that there is a link between victimless crimes; such as drug abuse and excessive alcohol consumption and the influence of the Catholic Church. This influence also increased with the severity of the crime. Religiosity of the parents was also important; those with two religious parents were more likely to be positively influenced by the Catholic Church than those with one religious parent. Peers were also very influential in the youth's religious beliefs, which in turn led to an influence on crime levels. There is not much research on this topic in Malta; more research needs to be carried out to understand better the relationship between the Catholic Church and crime and how it can help lower crime levels.