Prison Religion in Action and Its Influence on Offender Rehabilitation

Abstract

SUMMARY A theory of religious conversion, social attachment, and social learning guides this study of prison religion and its influence on the rehabilitation of adult male offenders. The study found the religious involvement of inmates in a large medium/maximum security prison in South Carolina was extremely varied and extensive. During a one-year period 49% of the incarcerated men (779 out of 1,579) attended at least one religious service or program. Over 800 religious services or meetings, across many different denominations and religious groups, were held during the year. Two prison chaplains, four inmate religious clerks and 232 volunteers who donated about 21,316 hours of work to the prison (the equivalent of 11 full-time paid positions) made this high level of programming possible. The estimated yearly cost of these religious services was inexpensive at between$150 to $250 per inmate served; in contrast, other effective correctional programs cost around $14,000 per person. Controlling for a number of demographic and criminal history risk factors, logistic regression found an inverse relationship between intensity of religious involvement and the presence or absence of in-prison infractions. As religious involvement increased the number of inmates with infractions decreased. The findings of the study provide greater insight into the nature of religion in prison setting and support the view that religion can be an important factor in the process of offender rehabilitation.