Abstract
Based on the findings of mixed-methods research conducted with 279 Muslim prisoners in 10 prisons in England, Switzerland and France, this paper argues that contemporary European prisons are sites of intense religious change, in which many people born outside Islam and many born-Muslims believe in and practise Islam for the first time. In order to map this experience of intense religious change in prison, the paper articulates an original typology of conversion to identify Muslim converts as Switchers and Intensifiers. Both of these types of convert mobilise their Islam to turn to God in acts of repentance for their crime(s), to find a renewed purpose in life and to re-gain psychological balance and inner peace. By contrast, a minority of prisoners are Reducers, whose Islamic faith diminishes in prison. A minority of converts to Islam also persist or become more deeply entrenched in the Islamist Worldview of Us vs. Them. Therefore, while choosing to follow Islam in prison carries with it some criminogenic risk, conversion to Islam is significantly more likely to help than to hinder prisoners’ rehabilitation by enabling them to feel remorse for their crimes, reconnecting them with work and education and encouraging them to find emotionally supportive company.
Highlights
Contrary to the cynical discourses that prisoners primarily choose to follow Islam for perks, protection and privileges, our research shows that Muslim prisoners are more likely to choose to practise Islam for reasons of piety, emotional coping and good company
In a “new” Abrahamic register, many prisoners in European prisons who choose to follow Islam are enacting some of the founding religious penitential purposes of state incarceration, such as repentance, moral reform and a rehabilitative commitment to work and education
Switching to and intensification in Islam are significantly connected to improved attitudes to rehabilitation in terms of engagement with work, education and the avoidance of crime
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Contrary to the cynical discourses that prisoners primarily choose to follow Islam for perks, protection and privileges, our research shows that Muslim prisoners are more likely to choose to practise Islam for reasons of piety, emotional coping and good company. These largely sincere motives for choosing to follow Islam impact in a significantly positive knock-on way on prisoners’ attitudes to rehabilitation in terms of a reconnection with work, education and an intention to avoid future crime
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