Saved, Salvaged, or Sunk

Abstract

Following the recent economic downturn, the religious roots of American corrections have begun to re-popularize. While faith-based correctional interventions are common, there is very little known about their effectiveness with offender populations. Drawn from 15 studies, 57 effect sizes were calculated to estimate the average impact of religious prison programming on inmate attitudes and disciplinary infractions. Producing a weighted mean effect size of-.23 (g =-.45 for attitudinal adjustments; g =-.15 for institutional misconduct), the results indicate that religious interventions produce a modest but significant alteration to offender values and behaviors.

"Judaism Intertwines with Worldly Good": A Qualitative Study on Religious Rehabilitation Programs in the Israeli Prison Service

“…Although there is a rich descriptive literature in criminology that connects religion and crime, many scholars have argued that this connection lacks a clear theoretical framework (Camp, Klein-Saffran, Kwon, Daggett, and Joseph, 2006;O'Connor and Bogue, 2010;Power, Ritchie, and Madill, 2014;Schaefer et al, 2016;Stansfield, Mowen, O'connor and Boman, 2017). For instance, early theories maintained that religiosity acts as a controlling factor (deterrence effect) due to the belief that negative deeds in this life will be punished in the afterlife (Hirschi and Stark, 1969).…”

“…Religious rehabilitation programs are commonly offered by correction facilities but have received little empirical attention, and only few studies have assessed their efficacy (Fraizer, 2010;Johnson, 2008;Johnson et al, 1997;Mears et al, 2006;O'Connor and Duncan, 2011;O'Connor et al, 2006;Willison, Brazzell, and Kim, 2010). Two main research approaches have emerged from the few studies that explored the efficacy of religious rehabilitation programs: one focused on the effect of such programs on inmates' behavior during incarceration (Camp, Daggett, Kwon, and Klein-Saffran, 2008;Jang et al, 2017;Kerley, Copes, Tewksbury, and Dabney, 2011;Kerley, Matthews, and Blanchard, 2005;Schaefer et al, 2016;Steiner, Butler, and Ellison, 2014); whereas the second approach has examined the effect of such programs on reentry into society upon release, relying primarily on recidivism rates (Dodson et al, 2011;Johnson, 2002Johnson, , 2004Johnson et al, 1997).…”

“…It has further been argued that, despite the religion's contribution to rehabilitating released prisoners, the decline in criminal involvement is but a secondary benefit of such programs (Hallett, Hays, Johnson, Jang, and Duwe, 2015;Johnson, 2011;Maruna et al, 2006;Wilson, 2016). Moreover, many of the studies who showed positive effects suffer from methodological issues (Schaefer et al, 2016). For instance -it is difficult to assess the study's internal and external validity since most of these studies either didn't employ random allocation to study or control group, or they didn't select an appropriate comparison group (Mears, 2007;Schaefer et al, 2016).…”

“…Moreover, many of the studies who showed positive effects suffer from methodological issues (Schaefer et al, 2016). For instance -it is difficult to assess the study's internal and external validity since most of these studies either didn't employ random allocation to study or control group, or they didn't select an appropriate comparison group (Mears, 2007;Schaefer et al, 2016). Hence, there is a high risk of bias in these studies (Camp et al, 2006;Johnson and Larson 2003;Volokh, 2011;Willison et al, 2010).…”

“…Throughout the history of corrections, religion and its institutions played a key role in shaping punishment and rehabilitation of offenders (Clear, Hardyman, Stout, Lucken, and Dammer, 2000;Johnson, 2004;Morag and Teman, 2018;Ronel, 2015;Ronel and Ben-Yair, 2017;Schaefer, Sams, and Lux, 2016;Wilson, 2016;Yun and Lee, 2016). Within this perspective, offenders are viewed as morally flawed, and the pursuit of moral and spiritual correction of their souls through atonement, work, obedience, and prayer -are common practices in the rehabilitating of offenders (Dodson et al, 2011;Ronel and Ben-Yair, 2017;Schaefer et al, 2016). According to this approach, punishment by incarceration aim to lead prisoners to soul-searching and avoiding anti-social and criminal behavior (Baker and Booth, 2016;Johnson, Larson, and Pitts, 1997;Mears, Roman, Wolff, and Buck, 2006;Wilson, 2016).…”