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

by Kent R. Kerley Ph.D. (Editor)

Overview

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:	9781440850325
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/25/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	422
File size:	4 MB

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
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Kent R. Kerley
Part One 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, and Stephen G. Post
Chapter 2 Religion and Desistance: Working with Sexual and Violent Offenders
Christian Perrin, Nicholas Blagden, Belinda Winder, and Christine Norman
Chapter 3 Religious Rites and Rights of Prisoners in the United States
Janet Moreno and Kent R. Kerley
Chapter 4 "We Serve Forgotten Men": Structural Charity versus Religious Freedom in Serving Ex-Offenders
Michael Hallett and Megan R. Bookstaver
Chapter 5 A Theological Critique of the "Correctional" System
Andrew Skotnicki
Part Two Religion in Prison in the United States
Chapter 6 Religion and Prison Violence
Benjamin Meade and Riane M. Bolin
Chapter 7 The Effects of Religion on the Prisonization of Incarcerated Juveniles in Faith-Based Facilities
Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, Jodi Lane, and Kristen Benedini
Chapter 8 Religion Postprison: Roles Faith Played in Colson Scholars' Convict-to-Collegian Transition
Judith A. Leary
Chapter 9 Prison, Religion, and Conversion: The Prisoner's Narrative Experience
Malcolm L. Rigsby
Chapter 10 Reading Scripture in Exile: Favorite Scriptures among Maximum-Security Inmates Participating in Prison Seminary Programs
Joshua Hays
Chapter 11 Backgrounds and Motivations of Prison Chaplains
Andrew S. Denney
Chapter 12 Restrictions on Inmate Freedom of Religious Practice: A National and International Perspective
Jason Jolicoeur and Erin Grant
Part Three 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 and Alison Liebling
Chapter 14 Breaking the Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison and Religious Extremism in the War on Terror
Gabriel Rubin
Chapter 15 Orthodox Judaism as a Pathway to Desistance: A Study of Religion and Reentry in Israeli Prisons
Elly Teman and Michal Morag
Chapter 16 Religious Diversity in Swiss and Italian Prisons: Combining Institutional and Inmate Perspectives
Irene Becci, Mohammed Khalid Rhazzali, and Valentina Schiavinato
Chapter 17 Incarcerated Child Sexual Offenders and the Reinvention of Self through Religious and Spiritual Affiliation
Stephanie Kewley, Michael Larkin, Leigh Harkins, and Anthony Beech
Part Four Conclusion
Chapter 18 Assessing the Past, Present, and Future of Research on Religion in Prison
Kent R. Kerley
About the Editor and Contributors
Index

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."