Religiosity, criminality and types of offences of Jewish male prisoners

The study examined whether the percentage of religious criminals was lower than the percentage of religious people in the population and whether the types of crimes committed by religious prison inmates differed from those committed by non-religious inmates. The 193 religious criminals studied consisted of all the religious male prisoners in the men's prisons in Israel. The percentage of religious criminals (3.7%) was found to be far below the percentage of religious people in the population (about 20%). In general both groups committed the same types of crimes. The exceptions were that religious criminals committed more sex and white-collar crimes and less security crimes than non-religious criminals.