Book Review: Burnside, J., Loucks, N., Adler, J. R., & Rose, G. (2005). My Brother's Keeper: Faith-Based Units in Prisons. Cullompton, UK: Willan. 382 pp

• Author: Doris C. Chu
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567708319406
• Published date: 01 June 2008
• Date: 01 June 2008
• Subject Matter: Articles

community. What they found in exporting community policing to transitional societies is that it must

be constructed with the benefit of local knowledge and sensitivity to local conditions and legitimation.

Community policing exported to failed societies had to face some different problems in adjusting

the policing philosophy from defending the political order to personal security. Police departments

were severely underresourced for adapting to the change and more suited for centralized control.

Community policing in failed states lacked the demand by the public and was faced with an esca-

lating crime problem.

The authors looked at the development of community policing in Northern Ireland. It did not com-

pare well with transition or failed societies but is a test case for community policing development.

Community policing in Northern Ireland had a hard time developing objective views and reform of

policing has been reduced to human rights legislation. Problem solving became central to community

policing in Northern Ireland and has raised some concerns.

Transforming policing by exporting community policing has been difficult. Brogden and Nijhar

found that discovering where community policing has been successfully developed was a difficult

task. The authors found that the problem was primarily systematic and not because of ineffective

implementation.

As a conclusion Brogden and Nijhar found that the importing and exporting of community polic-

ing has largely been unsuccessful and few components have passed the test of time. One of the last

lessons learned about exporting community policing was that sometimes it was hard to tell the true

objectives of community policing in the countries studied.

John M. Boal

University of Akron

Burnside, J., Loucks, N., Adler, J. R., & Rose, G. (2005). My Brother’s Keeper: Faith-

Based Units in Prisons. Cullompton, UK: Willan. 382 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/1057567708319406

This book distinguishes itself from other books by its attention to the potential role of religion in

the adaptation of inmates in prison settings. It is one of the few books that explore how religion facil-

itates inmates’ prison coping and rehabilitation. Burnside and his colleagues do an excellent job in

this book by portraying how various religious programs in different countries contribute to inmates’

adaptation to incarceration.

Recent governmental focus on strengthening the role of faith-based organizations in social ser-

vices in England and Wales as well as in the United States (Jupp & Mulga, 1997) sparks research

interests in the field of faith-based programs and prisoners’ adaptation and rehabilitation.

Nevertheless, many aspects in faith-based programs remain unexplored. This book can be an impor-

tant contribution in the literature of faith-based programs and prisoners’ adaptation and rehabilitation.

In the book, the authors not only portray the main themes of the approach and the characteristics of

various faith-based programs in various prison settings in several countries but also compare and

contrast the similarities and differences in the program characteristics, philosophies, and outcomes.

The book consists of 11 chapters, which cover Christian-based prison programs in Brazil as well as

in England, the United States, and other countries. It also presents the features of different organizations

such as the Association for the Protection and Assistance of the Convicted (APAC), Kairos, Kairos-

APAC, Horizon Communities, and InnerChange Freedom Initiative. A number of faith-based programs

are referenced or introduced in the book. Although they sound similar,there are distinct features in each

Book Reviews 233