Influence of Ritual behavior on Religious Delinquent behavior Among youth: A Path Analysis Approach

This paper aims to report a study on the influence of ritual behaviour on the religious behaviour delinquency. Ritual behaviour consists of syahadah, prayer, fasting, giving alms and knowledge, while delinquent behaviour is divided into five categories: delinquency in religion, life, mind, heredity and property. Ritual behaviour is expected to abstain one from indulging in delinquent behaviour from religious point of view. Research questionnaires were developed consisting of items on ritual behaviour and delinquent behaviour forms. About 600 respondents from eastern part of peninsular Malaysia participated in the study through the multi-stage stratified sampling method. Data were analysed using path analysis. Results indicated that prayer (β=-0.415) followed by fasting (β=0.171) significantly influence all five forms of delinquent behaviour. This suggests that prayer is the most influential preventive measure in abstaining one from delinquent behaviour.