Mediating role of religious orientation and moral character for the relationship between parent and peer attachment and delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is a worldwide phenomenon. Magnitude of juvenile delinquency has evoked interest of researchers in scientific and empirical studies on causes, prevention/control, and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquency. The present study therefore proposes and examines a path model to explain delinquency by addressing the role of parents and peers attachment in determination of religious orientation leading to moral character. The objective was to develop an understating of the underlying mechanism of protective factors including interpersonal relations, and religious orientation in shaping morality against an undesired social behavior. Adolescents (N = 706) with mean age of 17.01 (sd = 0.98) years reported their attachment to parents and peers, religious orientation, moral character, and delinquency on self-report measures. Results showed that both parent and peer attachments are negatively related to delinquency. Extrinsic religious orientation is positively whereas moral character is negatively related to delinquency. Although extrinsic religious orientation mediated the relationship between both (parent and peer) attachment and delinquency yet the mediation was stronger for peer attachment than parent attachment and delinquency. Concluding the present research, secure parent attachment is more related to intrinsic religious orientation than extrinsic religious orientation which is further related to an increase in moral character that further resulted in a significant decrease in delinquency. For peer attachment both dimensions of religious orientation played similar role and strengthen the moral character resulting in a decrease in delinquency. The study will be useful for the policymakers, law enforcing agencies and civil society.