Finding Freedom in Confinement: The Role of Religion in Prison Life

by Kent R. Kerley Ph.D.

Overview

What is the nature and impact of faith and religion in prison? This book summarizes contemporary and cutting-edge research on religion in correctional contexts, enabling a scientific understanding of how prisoners use faith in their everyday lives.

Religion long has been a tool for correctional treatment. In the United States, religion was the primary treatment modality in the first prisons. Only since the 1980s, however, have social scientists begun to study the nature, extent, practice, and impact of faith and faith-based prison programs. Bringing together the knowledge of scholars from around the world, this single-volume book offers readers a science- and research-based understanding of how prisoners use faith in everyday life, examining the role of religion in prison/correctional contexts from a variety of interdisciplinary and international viewpoints.

By considering the perspectives of professionals actually working in corrections or prison settings as well as those of scholars studying religion and/or criminal justice, readers of Finding Freedom in Confinement: The Role of Religion in Prison Life can gain insight into the most contemporary research on religion in correctional contexts. The book contains data-driven, conceptual, and policy-oriented essays that cover major religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam within correctional environments. It also addresses subject matter such as the roles of prison chaplains and correctional officers and the relationships between religion and common aspects of prison life, such as drug abuse, gangs, violence, prisoner identity, rights of prisoners, and rehabilitation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440850318
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/25/2018
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.55(w) x 9.55(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Kent R. Kerley, PhD, is professor and chair in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at Arlington.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction Kent R. Kerley xv

Part 1 Perspectives on Religion in Prison Settings

Chapter 1 Faith and Service: Pathways to Identity Transformation and Correctional Reform Byron R. Johnson Grant Duwe Michael Hallett Joshua Hays Sung Joon Jang Matthew T. Lee Maria E. Pagano Stephen G. Post 3

Chapter 2 Religion and Desistance: Working with Sexual and Violent Offenders Christian Perrin Nicholas Blagden Belinda Winder Christine Norman 24

Chapter 3 Religious Rites and Rights of Prisoners in the United States Janet Moreno Kent R. Kerley 42

Chapter 4 "We Serve Forgotten Men": Structural Charity versus Religious Freedom in Serving Ex-Offenders Michael Hallett Megan R. Bookstaver 58

Chapter 5 A Theological Critique of the "Correctional" System Andrew Skotnicki 73

Part 2 Religion in Prison in the United States

Chapter 6 Religion and Prison Violence Benjamin Meade Riane M. Bolin 93

Chapter 7 The Effects of Religion on the Prisonization of Incarcerated Juveniles in Faith-Based Facilities Lonn Lanza-Kaduce Jodi Lane Kristen Benedini 120

Chapter 8 Religion Postprison: Roles Faith Played in Colson Scholars' Convict-to-Collegian Transition Judith A. Leary 145

Chapter 9 Prison, Religion, and Conversion: The Prisoner's Narrative Experience Malcolm L. Rigsby 171

Chapter 10 Reading Scripture in Exile: Favorite Scriptures among Maximum-Security Inmates Participating in Prison Seminary Programs Joshua Hays 193

Chapter 11 Backgrounds and Motivations of Prison Chaplains Andrew S. Denney 214

Chapter 12 Restrictions on Inmate Freedom of Religious Practice: A National and International Perspective Jason Jolicoeur Erin Grant 244

Part 3 Religion in Prison outside the United States

Chapter 13 Faith Provision, Institutional Power, and Meaning among Muslim Prisoners in Two English High-Security Prisons Ryan J. Williams Alison Liebling 269

Chapter 14 Breaking the Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison and Religious Extremism in the War on Terror Gabriel Rubin 292

Chapter 15 Orthodox Judaism as a Pathway to Desistance: A Study of Religion and Reentry in Israeli Prisons Elly Teman Michal Morag 325

Chapter 16 Religious Diversity in Swiss and Italian Prisons: Combining Institutional and Inmate Perspectives Irene Becci Mohammed Khalid Rhazzali Valentina Schiavinato 345

Chapter 17 Incarcerated Child Sexual Offenders and the Reinvention of Self through Religious and Spiritual Affiliation Stephanie Kewley Michael Larkin Leigh Harkins Anthony Beech 366

Part 4 Conclusion

Chapter 18 Assessing the Past, Present, and Future of Research on Religion in Prison Kent R. Kerley 395

About the Editor and Contributors 397

Index 407

What People are Saying About This

J. Mitchell Miller

"Religion may well be the most understudied correlate of crime. Fortunately, Finding Freedom in Confinement: The Role of Religion in Prison Life provides a much-needed comprehensive overview of the relevance and import of faith and organized religion in corrections. Beyond detailing the significance of religion for prison culture and offender coping, this work also highlights religious programming as an increasingly essential component of offender programming. Kerley has assembled contributions from leading scholars whose chapters combine to put this edited volume at the forefront of the crime and religion literature."

Francis T. Cullen

"Although invented as a sacred institution, the prison has been studied as though it were a fully secular enterprise. In a much-needed effort to revise this scholarly blind spot, Kent Kerley has compiled under one cover the most compelling collection of essays on religion in corrections across the globe. Taken together, these works illuminate the instrumental role of faith in shaping how inmates cope with imprisonment and seek redemption as they reenter society. This book is essential reading for all serious students of corrections."

John P. Bartkowski

"Finding Freedom in Confinement is an excellent contribution to research examining the intersections of criminal justice, corrections, and religion. The volume features a wide range of compelling perspectives supported by sound empirical evidence, theoretical innovation, and promising policy recommendations. Scholars and policymakers would do well to consider the arguments offered here. Religion proves to be a valuable ally in offender rehabilitation and prison improvement efforts."