Jenny Trinitapoli

Race/Ethnicity, Religious Involvement, and Domestic Violence:

The authors explored the relationship between religious involvement and intimate partner violence by analyzing data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households. They found that: (a) religious involvement is correlated with reduced levels of domestic violence; (b) levels of domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; (c) the effects of religious involvement on domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; and (d) religious involvement, specifically church attendance, protects against domestic violence, and this protective effect is stronger for African American men and women and for Hispanic men, groups that, for a variety of reasons, experience elevated risk for this type of violence.

Religious teachings and influences on the ABCs of HIV prevention in Malawi

This study examines the relationship between religion and HIV risk behaviors in rural Malawi, giving special attention to the role of religious congregations, the organizations with which rural Africans have most immediate contact. It draws on 2004 data from a household survey in 3 districts (N=3386), and quantitative and qualitative data collected in 2005 from 187 leaders of religious congregations previously identified in the survey. The first aim is descriptive--to identify overall patterns and variations in what religious leaders in rural Malawi teach about HIV and about sexual behavior in light of the epidemic. The second aim is to assess how religious organizations impact the behavior of individual members. I examine three outcomes that correspond with the ABCs of HIV prevention: abstinence (for never married persons), fidelity (for married persons), and condom use (among sexually active persons). Multi-level models reveal that religious affiliation and involvement are not correlated with the sexual behavior of congregation members, but that beliefs about appropriate sexual behavior and particular congregational characteristics are associated with adherence to A, B, and C. Individuals belonging to congregations led by clergy who 1) frequently deliver formal messages about HIV, 2) monitor the sexual behavior of members, and 3) privately encourage condom use report greater adherence to the ABCs of HIV prevention, suggesting that religious congregations are relevant for the sexual behavior of members and for better understanding the forces shaping individual behavior in the context of the African AIDS epidemic.

US religious congregations and the sponsorship of health-related programs

Despite consistent evidence that religious congregations provide health-related programs for their members and residents of the local community, little is known about the distribution of congregation-based health programs across the United States. Using a nationally representative sample of US congregations (n=1230) we employ bivariate analysis and logistic regression to identify patterns in the sponsorship of health-related programs by religious congregations; we then propose and test various explanations for these observed patterns. Our findings contradict the impressions given by case studies and the program evaluation literature and suggest: a) that congregation-based health programs may not be serving the neediest communities; and b) that congregations are not taking advantage of mechanisms intended to facilitate the provision of health-related services by religious congregations.

“I KNOW THIS ISN'T PC, BUT . . .”: Religious Exclusivism among U.S. Adolescents

Despite the growing pluralism of American society, the proportion of Americans who maintain exclusivist religious beliefs is sizable. This study focuses on adolescence—a period when independent religious lives are forming—examining the social, familial, and denominational correlates of exclusivist beliefs and the ways in which exclusivist adolescents reconcile their beliefs with the cultural mores of a pluralistic society. Using new data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, this study involves the analysis of both survey data and in-depth interviews. Logistic regression results show that Mormons and evangelicals are more likely than mainline Protestants to hold exclusivist beliefs. High levels of parent religiosity and dense religious peer networks also strongly predict exclusivism. Yet the interview data show that exclusivists have not resisted pluralism but have internalized messages of religious diversity. They modify their beliefs in response to pluralism and articulate them carefully so as not to be perceived as intolerant.