Program on Prosocial Behavior

For decades a great deal of government funding has been dedicated to studying the causes of social problems like crime and delinquency. Much of this work has focused on why people commit deviant acts or the many factors that put people at-risk for the commission of illegal behavior. As a consequence, criminological research has historically focused on the negative outcomes stemming from anti-social behavior and how we might better predict future crime and illegal activities. With its focus on negative outcomes, criminological research offers little promise for the future and understandably discourages and frustrates the public as well as policy and key decision-makers.

The Program on Prosocial Behavior approaches the study of behavior from a different starting point. Led by Byron Johnson, Rodney Stark, and Christopher Bader, as well as a number of scholars from Baylor and other universities, the Program on Prosocial Behavior will be dedicated to identifying and studying the factors associated with pro-social or conventional behavior. Put simply, we propose to launch an unprecedented initiative that intentionally focuses on the positive and seeks to answer questions such as:

Why is it that so many people are law-abiding?
What factors not only inhibit illegal or anti-social behavior, but promote positive behavior?
What motivates people to stay out of trouble and also protects them from deleterious outcomes?
How do people from disadvantaged communities "make it" in spite of living in bad places?
What are the mechanisms that not only help people to be resilient or to cope with adversity, but to desist from crime and choose positive behavioral trajectories or paths?
What role does religion, religiosity, or faith-based organizations play in fostering prosocial behavior?

We believe the answers to these questions are extremely important and worth pursuing. Working closely with a number of different academic departments and units at Baylor, we believe ISR's Program on Pro-Social Behavior will be able to provide research support for faculty as well as engage graduate students from many different disciplinary perspectives.

There a number of possible funding outlets within the federal government as well as private foundations and philanthropic organizations that will embrace the work and focus of this new field of research.