Conning or Conversion? The Role of Religion in Prison Coping

• Published date: 01 June 2006
• Author: Jim Thomas,Barbara H. Zaitzow
• Date: 01 June 2006
• DOI: 10.1177/0032885506287952
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Prison Journal
Volume 86 Number 2
June 2006 242-259
© 2006 Sage Publications
Conning or Conversion?
10.1177/0032885506287952
http://tpj.sagepub.com
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The Role of Religion
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in Prison Coping
Jim Thomas
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
Barbara H. Zaitzow
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
Prisons today face what might be a nearly insurmountable task: somehow to
meld humane, safe confinement and correctional programming within the
context of expanding populations of offenders serving longer sentences. The
use of prison religious programs presents one unique program opportunity
to channel inmates’ energies in meaningful and beneficial ways. Although
religion has always played a vital role in correctional programming, it has
also evoked controversy because uninhibited religious expression may con-
flict with concerns relating to security and safety. In this article, the authors
assess a variety of issues surrounding the provision of religious services in
prison settings.
Keywords:
prison adjustment; faith-based programming; coping in prison;
spirituality and incarceration
Prisons are known as places where violent crimes, drug violations, ille-
gal gambling, and illicit sexual behavior occur daily. With the rapidly
expanding populations of institutions and more offenders serving longer
sentences, prison administrators face two difficult challenges. The first is to
rehabilitate offenders while punishing them for their crimes. The second is
to make offenders acknowledge their offenses while simultaneously helping
them search for the good that lies within. Historically, prisons have variously
employed solitary confinement, silence, and coerced therapies on inmates,
all in the ostensible interest of eventually releasing these inmates into society
as men and women better able to live in harmony with others than they were
before imprisonment. The high rates of reimprisonment suggest that we
have failed.
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Thomas, Zaitzow / Religion and Prison Coping
243
Because more than half of all prisoners serve fewer than 3 years
(National Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000), most prisoners will be back
on the streets relatively soon after incarceration. Therefore, most prisoners
hope to adapt quickly to prison culture, do their time, and leave (Jones &
Schmid, 2000). For them, the short prison stay may be insufficient to moti-
vate any significant personal transformation. Prisoners who serve longer
sentences have different adaptation mechanisms, and for them, adaptation
is a longer, more complex process. It is these longer term prisoners in
whom we are most interested. For some, adaptation entails reinforcing
behavior patterns that are counterproductive and debilitating. For others,
adaptation entails withdrawal. However, for a small but significant group,
a personal transformation occurs in which they admit their offenses and
attempt to redirect the focus of their life by transforming themselves and
helping others (peer counseling). One source of this transformation is reli-
gion and spirituality.
Despite a growing number and variety of religious programs in prison,
little systematic research exists to assess the impact of religious programs
on inmates during incarceration or after release. Recent systematic studies
(Clear et al., 1992; Johnson, Larson, & Pitts, 1997) have found little evi-
dence that participating in prison religious programs significantly reduces
recidivism but support religious programs nonetheless. More recently, Johnson
(2004) also finds a weak link between recidivism and religious involve-
ment. But he cautions that the relationship is complex and argues for more
systematic research on the impact of faith-based programming. In this article,
we join advocates for increased religious programming and suggest ways
to expand research into its impact during and after incarceration. First,
we summarize the nature of religious programs and describe its value in
adapting to prison culture. Next, we summarize the current resurgence
of institutional religious activity. Finally, we conclude by offering reasons
to expand programming, laying them out as possible hypotheses for further
testing.
Prison Religious Programs
Formal institutional programs include a variety of activities that can
enhance, either directly or indirectly, the rehabilitation of offenders and
their successful reintegration into the free community. Some correctional
programs are common to most prisons, such as education, vocational training,

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The Prison Journal
and group and individual counseling. However, there has been little research
on the potential benefits of religious programs and the implications for insti-
tutional management and inmates’ prison adjustment and reintegration of
the offender into the community.
Administrators generally agree that programs are important in dealing
with the problem of time on the prisoners’ hands. They know that the more
programs prisons offer, the less likely inmate idleness turns into hostility.
Prisoner religious organizations present a unique opportunity to channel
inmates’ energies and use their talents in meaningful and beneficial ways
(Fox, 1982). For some inmates, programs provide an alternative to involve-
ment in gangs. Inmates with potential leadership skills may be able to
channel their energies and talents in a positive direction and still earn the
respect of their fellow inmates. Others may reject gang association, but
may still want to participate in an alternative group to reduce the dead
time of prison existence (Irwin, 1980). Informal religious activities also
provide a means for prisoners to take advantage of available resources to
use their time productively. Examples include the formation of Black
Muslim groups in the 1960s, involvement in nontraditional belief systems
such as Buddhism or Wicca, spiritual peer counseling, or individual faith-
based exploration.
Both formal and informal programs provide mechanisms for adapting
to the deprivations of prison culture. The key to the development of these
programs, groups, and inmate participation in them is a prison administra-
tion that supports these organizations and encourages membership in them.
Religion and Prison Subculture
As in the outside world, prisoners form a society with traditions, norms,
and a leadership structure (Sykes, 1958). Some members of this society
may choose to associate with only a few close friends (Jones & Schmid,
2000); others form cliques along racial or professional lines (Carroll,
1974). In addition, others may be the politicians of the convict society; they
attempt to represent convict interests and distribute valued goods in return
for support. Just as there is a social culture in the free world, there is a pris-
oner subculture on the inside. Membership in a group provides mutual pro-
tection from theft and physical assault, the basis of wheeling and dealing
activities, and a source of cultural identity (Irwin, 1980).
The inmate subculture helps inmates cope with the deprivations of
prison life by providing shared ways of thinking, feeling, and acting for

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245
all aspects of prison life. Various factors affect the extent of an inmate’s
assimilation into the prison culture. These include personal characteristics
such as age, race, marital status, socioeconomic status, educational attain-
ment, and extent of criminal involvement (Drowns & Hess, 1995). Clemmer
(1958) found that inmates incarcerated for short periods, such as a year
or so, were neither assimilated into the prison culture nor prisonized. Most
people can endure deprivations for short periods of time because they
can see an end to their torment. For those facing long sentences, prison
becomes home, and prison life requires strategies for survival. To make it
in this environment, inmates must adapt to its more unpleasant features
(Zaitzow, 1999).
Identification with and internalization of the often unacceptable values
and behaviors of the prison world and its subculture are more likely if
inmates have little or no contact with outside society, have their primary
external group relationships broken by prolonged absence, or feel they are
unlikely to be reunited with their family and return to some meaningful
position in the community on release (Jones & Schmid, 2000; Thomas &
Petersen, 1977). Involvement in the inmate culture is also affected by an
inmate’s past criminal history. Habitual, professional, and gang-involved
offenders who expect on release to return to criminal activities will find the
prison subculture consistent with their criminal values (Zaitzow, 1998).
Other factors affecting assimilation to the prison culture include psycho-
logical instability, opportunities for meaningful cell or work assignments
with inmates involved in this subculture, and opportunities to engage in
illicit activities such as gambling or substance abuse.
There is little question that the social environment of contemporary pris-
ons also has been affected by and modified in relation to the type of people
currently being sentenced to prison. These include dealers and dopers, violent
predators, state-raised youths, and street gang members. These individuals
and groups compete for power and respect. Similarly, the entrenchment of
prison gangs founded on racial, ethnic, political, and geographic affiliation
has fostered subcultures of violence in many institutions (Pelz, 1996; Ralph,
1997). The demise of traditional inmate codes of conduct, characteristic of
prison social systems studied by...