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This study extends the understanding of the relationship between religious homogeneity, that is, the extent to which formal religious groups are concentrated at the county level, and the rate of persons currently divorced in those counties. Linking the research question to Durkheimian precepts of religion as an integrative force in social life, the essential question is, "At the county level, does the rate of currently divorced vary inversely with more concentrated affiliation with formal religious organizations?" We investigate this relationship using data from the 1990 U.S. Census and from the Glenmary Research Center that encompasses 621 counties in the U.S., that is, a 20 percent random sample of counties from each state. As hypothesized, the divorced rate is inversely related to religious homogeneity, even after controlling for a series of factors that have been shown to be correlated with divorce in other studies.

This study examines the question Does the rate of currently divorced in counties in the United States vary inversely to the relative percentage of concentration of adherents of seven different religious denominational groupings-Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, conservative Protestant, moderate Protestant, liberal Protestant, and miscellaneous Protestant-within those counties? The analysis is based on data from the 1990 U.S. Census and the Glenmary Research Center that pertain to a 20% random sample of counties from each of the 50 states (i.e., 621 counties). The results show, controlling for other selected variables known to be associated with the likelihood of divorce, that higher divorced rates are significantly related to a lower concentration of moderate Protestants, miscellaneous Protestants, Catholics, and Mormons.

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