Spiritual Entrepreneurs: Florida's Faith-Based Prisons and the American Carceral State

by Brad Stoddard

Overview

The overall rate of incarceration in the United States has been on the rise since 1970s, skyrocketing during Ronald Reagan's presidency, and recently reaching unprecedented highs. Looking for innovative solutions to the crises produced by gigantic prison populations, Florida's Department of Corrections claims to have found a partial remedy in the form of faith and character-based correctional institutions (FCBIs). While claiming to be open to all religious traditions, FCBIs are almost always run by Protestants situated within the politics of the Christian right. The religious programming is typically run by the incarcerated along with volunteers from outside the prison. Stoddard takes the reader deep inside FCBIs, analyzing the subtle meanings and difficult choices with which the incarcerated, prison administrators, staff, and chaplains grapple every day. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research and historical analysis, Brad Stoddard argues that FCBIs build on and demonstrate the compatibility of conservative Christian politics and neoliberal economics.

Even without authoritative data on whether FCBIs are assisting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism rates, similar programs are appearing across the nation—only Iowa has declared them illegal under non-establishment-of-religion statutes. Exposing the intricate connections among incarceration, neoliberal economics, and religious freedom, Stoddard makes a timely contribution to debates about religion's role in American society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469663074
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	04/05/2021
Series:	Where Religion Lives
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Brad Stoddard is assistant professor of religious studies at McDaniel College.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

In this stellar book, Brad Stoddard deftly describes the private faith-based interventions taking place in state prisons and the complicated ideology of the mainly conservative politicians and evangelical Christian religious leaders who support them."—Tanya Erzen, author of God in Captivity

On the cutting edge of American religious studies, Spiritual Entrepreneurs breaks new ground and is a must-read work for anyone interested in the connections between neoliberalism and religion in the contemporary United States. Brad Stoddard's engaging and detailed ethnographic approach clearly supports his well-articulated argument."—Sean McCloud, author of American Possessions: Fighting Demons in the Contemporary United States

Editorial Reviews

A vibrant study. . . . an intelligent take on an under-the-radar niche in the American prison system, and one that will raise eyebrows with readers interested in the intersection of faith and justice."—Publishers Weekly

Superb . . . [the book] masterfully articulates historical explanations with critical ethnography,and allows us to understand both the macrostructural factors and the day-to-day ins and outs of faith-based prisons." —Sociology of Religion

Offers a detailed ethnographic account of one of the nation's largest faith-based prison programs and as such is highly recommended."—Journal of Church and State

An excellent book that will likely be a springboard for future scholarship on faith-based prisons."—Reading Religion

Excellent . . . this book provides a detailed and beautifully analyzed account of the largest faith- and character-based prison program in U.S. state prisons."—Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

Stoddard provides a valuable, historically-informed portrait of a growing nexus that links state incarceration to local scenes of Christianity, and he asserts compellingly that they be theorized together. Here, we see Christianity's fundamental effects across a Florida state institution."–American Religion

From the Publisher

01/11/2021

In this vibrant study, Stoddard (Stereotyping Religion) unpacks the complex inner workings of Florida’s faith- and character-based correctional institutions, or FCBIs, facilities administered and funded by religious volunteers for approved prisoners. Stoddard argues that Christian programming “premised on neoliberal capitalism” predominates in FCBIs, and his attentive analysis also reveals unveils “multiple subcultures” in the institutions: there are evangelical chaplains swamped with paperwork, a Wiccan group of inmates that summons the demon Astaroth to protect them from Christian correctional officers, and “inmate facilitator” Ibraheem, who provides accountability to fellow Muslims: “You don’t see Allah... but you do see me, and I’m watching you as well.” One memorable profile is of volunteer Bob Rumbley, who once opposed the building of a prison in his neighborhood, but now teaches classes at an FCBI and runs “a Christian reentry home for formerly incarcerated men.” While Stoddard is highly critical of the ways in which the Christian right and policies of discipline and punishment dominate FCBIs, stories like that of Rumbley’s change of heart from a “tough-on-crime Christian” to volunteer advocating for prison reform brings a human touch to the proceedings. It’s an intelligent take on an under-the-radar niche in the American prison system, and one that will raise eyebrows with readers interested in the intersection of faith and justice. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly