Religion and Misconduct Among Prison Inmates in South Korea

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211058954
• Author: Sohee Kim,Myunghyun Choi,Youngki Woo,Sung Joon Jang
• Date: 01 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211058954

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2023, Vol. 67(9) 952 –975

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211058954

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Article

Religion and Misconduct

Among Prison Inmates in

South Korea

Sohee Kim1, Myunghyun Choi2, Youngki Woo3,

and Sung Joon Jang4

Abstract

Although faith-based programs are present in most prisons for offender rehabilitation,

the effect of religion on prison inmates remains an understudied topic. In addition,

existing research shows mixed results about the religious effect. The present study

intends to not only advance the understanding of inmate’s prison misconduct but also

examine whether religion is likely to contribute to reducing the risk of misconduct

using a non-Western sample of inmates. To assess the relationship between inmates’

religion and prison misconduct, we applied negative binomial regression to analyze

survey data from 986 Korean adult male inmates. Results showed that inmates who

had a religious affiliation with Catholicism or Buddhism were less likely to report prison

misconduct than those who had no religion. In addition, the inverse relationship was

observed whether inmates had participated in religion before incarceration or came

to participate in religion while incarcerated, depending on religious denomination.

Keywords

religion, prison misconduct, faith-based program, South Korea, offender rehabilitation

Introduction

Institutional rule violation, particularly, misconduct among prison inmates is a major

concern for correctional authorities as it indicates the system’s ineffectiveness in

1West Texas A&M University, Canyon, USA

2Youngstown State University, Youngstown, USA

3The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, USA

4Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Dr. Sohee Kim, Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, West Texas A&M University, Old

Main 408D, Canyon, TX 79016, USA.

Email: skim@wtamu.edu

1058954IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211058954International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyKim et al.

research-article2021

Kim et al. 953

helping inmates adapt to prison and rehabilitate themselves while they are incarcerated.

Prison misconduct, especially when it involves interpersonal violence, tends to have

detrimental effects on not only the victims but also other inmates and staff, and is a fac-

tor that undermines order and safety in prison. Furthermore, prior research documents

a positive association between prison misconduct and recidivism, indicating that those

who engage in misconduct in prison are likely to reoffend after release (see Cochran

et al., 2014; Heil et al., 2009).

Thus, through various in-prison programs, correctional administrators strive to

minimize the occurrence of misconduct by inmates. One popular type of in-prison

program that can be found in most prisons, are faith-based programs, which are com-

monly available to prison inmates in the U.S. (Johnson, 2004; Meade, 2014).

Historically, American prisons were created with a philosophy of penitence to reform

or rehabilitate offenders (Stohr & Walsh, 2019). In the earliest prisons, religious

instructions and services were required by the Quakers based on the notion that God

resides in everyone, and to reach their God, offenders needed regret, remorse, and

repentance for sins or wrongdoing through self-reflection (Morris & Rothman, 1998;

Rothman, 2012). Based on the idea that religion can transform inmates, faith-based

programs emphasize religious education, Bible study, worship services, and spiritual

counseling. These efforts are used to minimize the negative emotional consequences

inmates experience in prison and to reduce misconduct by improving the morality of

individual inmates.

Despite the prevalence of faith-based correctional programs, systematic research

tends to be limited (Meade, 2014; Schaefer et al., 2016; Thomas & Zaitzow, 2006). In

addition, although previous studies tend to suggest that there is an inverse relation-

ship between religion and deviant behavior in the general population, researchers

report mixed results as to whether an inmates’ religion affects prison misconduct.

Moreover, prior research on religion among prison inmates focused mostly on prisons

in Western democracies (Jang et al., 2021). Since how religion affects prison miscon-

duct in the United States is likely applicable to other countries, it is worth examining

the religion-misconduct relationship based on data from non-Western countries.

Therefore, to advance the understanding of the role of religion in reducing the risk of

prison misconduct, we analyze data from a sample of adult male inmates in South

Korean prisons.

Explanations of Prison Misconduct

To account for inmate behavior and adjustment to prison, penologists have tradition-

ally focused on inmates’ personal characteristics and social experiences prior to incar-

ceration (Irwin & Cressey, 1962; Zamble & Porporino, 1988) or on the collective

efficacy of prison society and prison conditions (Camp et al., 2003; Huebner, 2003;

Sykes, 1958). Along with importation and deprivation perspectives, scholars have

used other theoretical perspectives to explain offender behavior, such as informal

social control (Wooldredge et al., 2001), procedural justice and legitimacy (Bottoms,

1999; Tyler, 2010), and administrative control (DiIulio, 1987; Griffin & Hepburn,