Individuals with stronger beliefs in Christian nationalist ideology are significantly more likely to oppose reallocating police funding to social services such as mental health, housing, and other areas, according to new research published in Sociology of Religion. The study underscores the deep ideological divides influencing public opinions on policing and social welfare policies.
The motivation behind the study stems from an ongoing debate over the role of policing in America, particularly in the wake of high-profile cases of police violence and the emergence of the Defund the Police movement. This movement argues for a shift in funding from police departments to social services, proposing a transformative approach to addressing social issues.
Researchers aimed to explore how Christian nationalist beliefs, which intertwine Christian faith with American national identity, influence views on this issue. The backdrop of this inquiry is a criminal justice system often criticized for perpetuating racial and class hierarchies, with policing at its forefront.
“We’re each interested in the proliferation of Christian nationalism in the United States and specifically how this ideology shapes political and social attitudes. One of the hot-button topics in America recently has been policing and so exploring the relationship between attitudes about police funding and Christian nationalism seemed like an interesting and timely thing to study,” said study author Derek Lehman, an assistant professor of sociology at Tarleton State University.
The study utilized data from the 2021 General Social Survey (GSS), a broad and historically biennial survey of U.S. adults. This iteration of the survey was conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing a mail-to-web methodology to gather 4,032 responses from December 2020 to May 2021.
The survey asked participants about their stance on reducing police funding in favor of increasing support for mental health, housing, and other social services. Additionally, the survey measured adherence to Christian nationalist ideology through questions about the role of God in the success of the United States, the government’s promotion of Christian values, and the influence of religion on the country.
The analysis revealed that individuals scoring higher on the Christian nationalism index were about 37% more likely to oppose the reallocation of police funds to social services. This finding was consistent even after controlling for a variety of factors, including political and religious orientations, demonstrating the powerful influence of Christian nationalist ideology on this issue.
The study also highlighted the role of political identity, with Republicans and those identifying as politically conservative showing significant opposition to funding shifts. However, Christian nationalism emerged as the strongest independent predictor of opposition.
“Debates about police funding are really debates about what tools we should use to respond to social problems,” Lehman told PsyPost. “We show that Americans who subscribe to Christian nationalism are more likely oppose moving funds for policing to other social services and, connecting this finding to other research, we argue that’s because policing is a mechanism to maintain a social and cultural order that ascribes power to white Christians.”
Interestingly, the study found no evidence to support the hypothesis that the effect of Christian nationalism on attitudes toward police funding would vary significantly across racial groups. This suggests that Christian nationalist ideology influences views on policing and social spending across the racial spectrum. Furthermore, the study showed that individuals who perceive racial inequality as a consequence of personal failings were more likely to oppose reallocating police funding, highlighting the interplay between racial ideologies and policy preferences.
“We were surprised to find that the effect of Christian nationalism on opposition to reallocating police funding was not mediated by race,” Lehman explained. “Other researchers have shown that, particularly for Black Christians, Christian nationalist attitudes can engender support for social justice causes. We found that, across racial groups, Americans who embrace Christian nationalism were more opposed to redistributing funds for policing.”
The research, while illuminating, is not without its limitations. The use of a web self-administered questionnaire and address-based sampling, a shift from the traditional in-person data collection method due to the pandemic, raises questions about the comparability of this survey wave to previous ones. Additionally, the significantly lower response rate in 2021 compared to past years suggests potential biases in the data. The researchers also acknowledged the need for further refinement in measuring and conceptualizing Christian nationalism, indicating areas for future inquiry.
Despite the insightful findings, there are some caveats. “We discuss our research in the context of the Defund the Police movement, but it’s important to note that the survey question doesn’t say anything about that specific movement,” Lehman noted. “Because of that, we aren’t sure how or if respondents’ perception of the movement affected their responses. We hope that future research can parse that out.”
Despite these challenges, the study provides a crucial window into how deeply held ideological beliefs shape public attitudes toward policing and social policy, emphasizing the need for ongoing research to navigate the complexities of these debates.
The study, “Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Reallocating Police Funding to Other Social Services“, was authored by Jessica Liberman, Derek Lehman, and Atsuko Kawakami.
