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This article reports and analyzes the results of surveys which indicate the extent to which parents' religiosity is related to the acquisition of religious and moral values by adolescents, and the extent to which parents' religious involvement is differentially related to marijuana and alcohol use by adolescents. The discussion focuses on two general propositions: First, the greater the extent of involvement in religious activities by both the child and his/her parents, the greater the likelihood that the youth will maintain religious beliefs which oppose the use of alcohol and marijuana. Second, to the extent that a child adheres to those beliefs the less likely he/she is to use these substances.

Empirical investigations of social control mechanisms are often limited to single sources of control, such as the efficacy of legal punishments. Because research has produced only moderate support for the hypothesis that perceived risk of legal punishments reduces the likelihood of nonconformity, some have searched sources of control that condition this relationship. such as the degree of moral condemnation individuals hold toward a criminal/delinquent act. However, relevant research has resulted in contradictory findings. Using cross‐sectional and panel data, we obtained results that show that moral condemnation of an act conditions the deterrent relationship and that findings from previous studies may have underestimated the effect of legal deterrents given the presence of those in the population who refrain from marijuana use because it is believed to be sin fur. Implications of the findings for the relative deterrability of serious versus minor offenses and the relevance of this distinction for issues of social control are discussed.

This study examines the impact of appearance in juvenile court on perceptions of self, associations with peers who use marijuana, beliefs that the law is morally binding on oneself, and fear of legal sanctions for the use of marijuana, and subsequent self-reported marijuana use. A basic model specifying relationships among these variables is derived from both labeling theory and the deterrence approach. Findings from panel data collected at, two points in time from high school students (n=378), and data from juvenile court records provide not support for the hypothesis of specific deterrence and only marginal support for labeling theory. Additional findings point to the group nature of marijuana use and indicate that with the group context the potential impact of appearance in juvenile court is largely negated. Finally, no support is found for the hypothesis that the fear of legal sanctions is an effective deterrent to use. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This paper examines the relationship between the religious factor and adolescent marijuana use. Using panel data from a sample of 264 high school youth, several three‐wave, four‐variable models derived from social learning theory and social control theory are estimated. Each model specifies causal links between measures of religious attitude and predispositions (religious commitment and an act‐specific religious belief), involvement with marijuana‐using friends, and self‐reported marijuana use. The results provide evidence that the impact of religion is indirect through its influence on the variable Peer Associations. The findings also show the emergence of a direct effect of the act‐specific belief on behavior over time. This effect is interpreted to be more a function of within‐group attitude‐behavior similarity due to social selection than to socialization to peer group standards. These findings extend rather than refute previous research which fails to control for the effects of peer influences.