Religion, Crime and Punishment An Evolutionary Perspective
This book provides a critical discussion of the way in which religion influences: criminal and antisocial behaviour, punishment and the law, intergroup conflict and peace-making, and the rehabilitation of offenders. The authors argue that in order to unde
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Religion, Crime and Punishment
Russil Durrant • Zoe Poppelwell
Religion, Crime and Punishment An Evolutionary Perspective
Russil Durrant Institute of Criminology Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand
Zoe Poppelwell School of Social and Cultural Studies Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand
ISBN 978-3-319-64427-1 ISBN 978-3-319-64428-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64428-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952555 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Getty images/Mabry Campbell Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
This is a small book on a big topic. Much has been written on the subject of religion from a diverse range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, political science, and religious studies. Somewhat surprisingly, as we shall argue, criminologists have had very little to say on the topic of religion. Our surprise is based on the fact that religion is intimately bound up with notions of morality: all major religious traditions provide either explicit or implicit guidelines about the ‘right’ way to live and many people believe that religion plays an important role in regulating social behaviour. We might expect, then, for religion to be a ‘variable of interest’ for criminologists in understanding both crime, and our responses to crime. Religion also plays a prominent role in the structuring of social groups and, although the role of religion in inter-group conflict is much contested, again it is clearly a relevant factor that should be of interest to those who s
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