When someone mentions religion, words like God, church, and purity most commonly come to mind. One must ask to what extent religion affects the purity of its adherents. To put it in sociological terms, how far does religion go in reducing and eradicating deviance in those who practice it? Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge, known for his work in the field of sociology of religion, studied this theory in his essay “The Religious Ecology of Deviance” published by the American Sociological Association. In the first paragraph of the article he lists various forms of people and philosophies and their opinions on the relationship between religion and deviance. Functionalists and Marxists support the theory that religion discourages deviance. Functionalism is a philosophy that states that what makes something a feature of a mental state depends on its function for the cognitive mind. Marxism is the view and critique applied to capitalism and class struggle as the systemic economy changed during the 19th century. (Merton 1968, p.98). Bainbridge explains how Tittle and Welch, who both play a role in criminology and provide important insights into deviance itself, believe that other theories better explain why people behave deviantly. These theories include the following: control theory, differential association theory, and cognitive dissonance theory (Bainbridge 1989, p.288). Control theory states that people behave normally because this is what is rational in society, but if given the opportunity to act without consequences, people would commit deviance and crimes. Differential association theory states that people learn values, experiences, techniques, and drives for criminal and deviant acts from reciprocal action with others...... middle of paper ......leading to crime of rape. It has also been shown that theft is discouraged by religion since it is the most common and the one with the least violence towards others (Bainbridge 1989, p.292). Therefore, religion cannot stop deviance but at the same time some relationships with other deviances and religions. it cannot be said to be simply a social bond (Bainbridge 1989, p.294). A single theory is not enough to explain these results. It is true to say or theorize that lack of religion may have increased suicide, based on how evil and inhospitable deviance was in ancient times. There used to be a tendency to refuse the burial of the bodies of suicides, but now this is no longer the case, and churches take care of any human body. (Bainbridge 1989, p.294) That is, from the conclusion that the power of religion in society changes over time as society itself changes (Bainbridge 1989, p..294).