A Maslow

AH Maslow

B Crewe

DV Barrett

GM Sykes

HR Dammer

J Irwin

J Petersilia

JE McGuire

JH Michalski

L Birmingham

M Csikszentmihalyi

N De Viggiani

S Maruna

TR Clear

U.S. Department of Justice

Micklethwaite, D

Winder, B

Nottingham Trent Institutional Repository (IRep)

RReligion and PrisonDan Micklethwaite and Belinda WinderSexual Offences, Crime and MisconductResearch Unit, Department of Psychology,Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UKWhy Are People Religious?The earliest indicators of religion have beendetected alongside the earliest signs of humanlife. The human race has embraced religion in itsmany forms, which prompts the question of“why?”Why are humans religious? Psychologistsand anthropologists have offered several explana-tions for our adoption of religion. Barrett (2001)asserted that religion is “a social constructencompassing beliefs and practices which enablepeople, individually or collectively, to make somesense of the Great Questions of life and death”(p. 25). Religion is a means of managing fear,uncertainty, and a lack of control over events inour lives. There is also a sense in which religionmay be seen to protect us – if we worship, or payreverence, to particular deities, they may keepus safe.An alternative psychological explanation forthe emergence of religion ﬁts under the growth/realization tradition in positive psychology. Thiscan be related to the experience of “ﬂow” experi-ences (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi1975) in which we have a highly satisfyingexperience, characterized by a sense of control,unity, concentration, and time distortion. Religionas growth also maps onto Maslow’s (1954/1987,1964) ﬁnal stage in the hierarchy of motivation forhumans, that of self-actualization, in which indi-viduals seek personal growth and fulﬁlment.Maslow asserted that self-actualizing individualsachieved “peak experiences” (p. 163), which hedescribed thus: “a complete, though momentaryloss of fear, anxiety, inhibition, defense and con-trol . . . The fear of disintegration and dissolution,the fear of being overwhelmed by the ‘instincts,’the fear of death and of insanity, . . . all tend todisappear or go into abeyance for the time being”(p. 163). From this perspective religion, perhaps,provides a means for prisoners to pursue this self-actualization despite the harsh pressure of theprison environment.Why Are People Religious in Prison?Prisoners may gain a number of direct and indirectbeneﬁts from being religious. Such beneﬁts maybe practical, psychological, and/or social.TraumaOne of the most difﬁcult stages of the prisonsentence is the induction into the prison and itsdisorientating processes of identity theft: “theattack against the self, represented by the prison© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019D. A. Leeming (ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27771-9_200163-1term, is too real to be denied” (Clear et al. 2000,p. 57). Most suicides tend to occur in the earlystages of a sentence (Birmingham 2003). Religioncan play an important role in the way the individ-ual can cope with the trauma of going to, andliving in, prison.Prisoner Codes of BehaviorBeing religious often means following speciﬁcrules. These may be in contradiction to prisonercodes. In prisoner society, aggression, violence,and intimidation are common practices(De Viggiani 2012). Involvement in religion canhelp to bring positive structure to the prisoner’slife. Clear et al. (2000) explain that structure is ameans of achieving and maintaining good con-duct in prisons. Structure brings the developmentof habitual behavior, which, when framed in reli-gious terms, can help the avoidance of conﬂict orbreaking of prison rules and boundaries. Forexample, the use of illicit drugs, the bullying ofother prisoners, and a means of making one’sprison sentence feel less like a waste of time outof a ﬁnite life span.RepentanceA study by the U.S. Department of Justice showedthat 32% of prisoners undertook religious activi-ties such as Bible study and church services (BJS1993). This is evidence that religion is a signiﬁ-cant part of both prisoner life and the way prisonsinteract with prisoners. Dammer (2002) exploresthe role of religion in prisons and unpacks thenotion that religion has long served as a meansfor prisoners to repent, for them to seek absolu-tion, and for them to atone for their moraltransgressions.Real and Fake RehabilitationDammer (2000) explains religion has long beenadopted by forms of rehabilitation in the Westernprisons movement. Religion has had a place inprisons for as long as prisons have been used asplaces of punishment. Prisoners have adapted touse religion for authentic and less authentic pur-poses: religion can be a genuine part of identity ora way to pretend they have changed.IdentityPrisoner ContextPrisons have far-reaching effects on self andsocial identity. Prisons affect how people thinkand feel about themselves and others, and thushow they behave. Sykes (1958) produced his clas-sic model of deprivation to explain prison sociol-ogy. Upon prison induction, the prisoner isdeprived of access to services and goods, to nor-mal social relations and family members and issubjected to a form of symbolic castration(deprivation of heterosexual relations). Crewe(2012) explores the infantilizing effects of themanagement model of dealing with prisoners;treating prisoners as entities requiring supervisionbefore rehabilitation. Within this managementmodel are the administrative processes that causefrustration for the prisoner. De Viggiani (2012)unpacks the masculine nature of prison wingsand the need for prisoners to present an artiﬁcialfront in order to prevent victimization and main-tain social status. This literature demonstrates thenotion that induction into a prison is a process ofdehumanization that necessarily strips the individ-ual of their identity. Examples include the use ofprison numbers for all prisoners, the use of sur-name over forename by prison personnel whenaddressing prisoners and the requirement to wearstandard issue prison clothes.The Prison ChaplainReligious ﬁgures provide positive inﬂuence inmany respects within prisons (Perrin et al. 2018).They provide support for vulnerable prisoners andpoor copers, adding valued structure in the oftenfragmented lives of prisoners. Chaplains can be asource of advice and guidance on personal issuesand also prison processes. Prison chaplains have2 Religion and Prisonevolved, in many instances, to become an impor-tant piece of overall prison management strategy.To Be Someone Other than a PrisonerFor many prisoners, considering a crime-free lifeis a complex process. Many prisoners have deepset and negative values and ideas about who theyare and what they can achieve. Prisoner lifebefore, or in-between, prison sentences is typi-cally characterized by poor community cohesion(Petersilia 2000), unemployment, poor educa-tional achievements, substance abuse, antisocialbehavior, and unhealthy personal relationships.Religion can offer a different path. It can helpprisoners to learn new values and practice pro-social interactions. Fundamental for many reli-gious faiths is the individual intention to begood; to be a good person. This has potential forhelping prisoners to begin to value themselves;prisoners are people before they are prisoners.This is an essential factor in prisoner rehabilita-tion, a factor that religion acknowledges. If pris-oners can believe that they are fundamentallygood and that they can lead different lives, thenthey can develop healthy self-esteem; this is a keyingredient for building a healthy identity. This canbe an identity that inﬂuences engagement withmany other beneﬁcial parts of normal everydaylife. For example, engagement in religious com-munities, charitable events, and the support ofothers. This can become a reinforcing cycle ofindividual afﬁrmation and a healthy reminderthat many prisoners are as morally developed asthose in the free world.Religion can offer avenues for redemption andforgiveness and provide insight into moral andcompassionate thinking while providing a meansof reﬂection upon one’s crime and life history. Forexample, Christians can repent, Muslims can pray,and Buddhists can meditate upon right action andundoing bad karma. Religion can be viewedthrough a lens of repair and restoration. Thiscan become speciﬁcally signiﬁcant for thoseconvicted of a sexual offence. Maruna (2001) pre-sents the idea of narrative reconstruction: a pro-cess of examining one’s past and making meaningor reconstructing in a way that provides believablemeaning. For those that have committed seriousand stigmatized crimes, religion can provide ameans of identity reconstruction and an attemptto come to terms with one’s past actions.Religious Conversion in PrisonFor prisoners, converting to a religious faith canhold potential for personal growth and provide aninitial step toward building a positive identity.Most religions advocate concepts of forgiveness,compassion, and reparation. This ﬁts with the ideathat prisoners should learn from their mistakes,have empathy for their victims and remorse fortheir crimes. Within the prison environment, reli-gious conversion enables the prisoner to presentan identity that may help keep some of the pitfallsof a prison sentence at bay. For example, involve-ment in substance abuse, bullying, and violence.This religious identity also enables the prisoner todemonstrate that they are making good (Maruna2001); the idea that they have changed their waysand are committed to living better lives. For pris-oners, especially long serving prisoners, thiscan be an important part of the prison journey.There is of course the notion that some prisonersadopt religion as a means of persuading others(perhaps even themselves) that they havechanged. Yet for most, religion conversion signalsa genuine attempt to build a new, healthy, per-sonal, and social identity.Religion as a Means of Coping withPrisonPrison can be a lonely place. Religion offers theopportunity for inclusion into a group. Because ofthe religious basis of these groups, there is littlejudgment regards past offending; people areaccepted and can obtain a status of meaning(feeling valued). This meaning is symbolic ofpower and control. Therefore, this can becomean identity that offers security, because the prisoncannot take it away; it provides a sense of identity,security, and protection. Prisons are obligated toReligion and Prison 3cater for prisoner religious beliefs and needs: notto do so would be discriminatory. These groupsoffer to help make prisoners feel as though theyhave a sense of power; they have a social groupthat provides a sense of security and belonging.The Power of Symbols for Identity inPrisonPrisoners are deprived of many of the things avail-able to those in the free world. The restriction ofaccess to material goods and services (Sykes,1958) also deprives the prisoner of many of thethings that inhabit normal free everyday life. As aconsequence, ideas and imagination become evermore important resources to the prisoner as ameans of ﬁlling time and keeping the mind active.Michalski (2015) argues that imprisonment inﬂu-ences prisoners to place increasing value on thesymbolic meaning of things. Although this idea isused to explain violence in prison, as the symbolicmeaning of respect and reputation become morevaluable, this can be applied to the way in whichreligion can become more valuable. Religion issteeped in symbolic meaning and requires thediscipline of faith. The prisoner does not neces-sarily need access to goods or services to believe,and the positive beliefs around religious symbolscan provide comfort for struggling prisoners. In anenvironment that requires the use of the symbolic(which means all things imagined or intangible) asa means of healthy psychological survival, reli-gion can become a beneﬁcial tool. Being religiousin prison may bring additional beneﬁts, whether itbe specially prepared food, being able to own oruse novel items (e.g., incense sticks), or havespecial clothing. These small beneﬁts mightseem insigniﬁcant to the public, but for prisoners,they represent material gain, empowerment, anda sense of social status.RehabilitationAdherence to a religious code, such as praying inIslam and meditating in Buddhism requires effort.The discipline required to commit to a religion canbe viewed from different perspectives. The ideaof rehabilitation requires one to take control ofthe mind and body, to be responsible for behavior.Prisoners who abide by a strict religious codeare proving that they can do this. This can beviewed as congruent with many notions of cogni-tive behavioral intervention (McGuire 1995) inprisons as it demonstrates one can make a con-scious choice to act and behave in a desired way.This means that people can develop habits thatcan, over time, become part of their identity.SummaryThe impact of religion upon the dynamic of pris-oner individuality and prisoner sociology is acomplex issue. Many prisons now utilize multi-faith rooms rather than traditional Christianchapels and the range of religions that the prisonsystem caters for is expanding. This is a necessaryprogression with social climate in the free world.Religion in prisons plays an important role inthe way in which prisoners cope and adapt totheir environment. Religion poses an avenue forredemption and forgiveness; it affords sense ofsecurity and power, while also providing anopportunity for the construction of a new identity.In prisons, religion can be a positive inﬂuence innumerous ways – a prosocial identity, ability tocope, ability to see a positive future, but it mayalso be a means of manipulating attitudes orgaining special privileges.See Also▶Clergy Sexual Abuse▶Conscience▶Desistance▶Empirical Research▶ Forgiveness and Religious Tradition▶Maslow, Abraham▶Offending▶Religious Abuse/Violence▶Will/Free Will4 Religion and PrisonBibliographyBarrett, D. V. (2001). The new believers: Sects, “cults”&alternative religions: A world survey and sourcebook.London: Cassell.Birmingham, L. (2003). The mental health of prisoners.Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 9(3), 191–199.Clear, T. R., Hardyman, P. L., Stout, B., Lucken, K., &Dammer, H. R. (2000). The value of religion in prison:An inmate perspective. Journal of ContemporaryCriminal Justice, 16(1), 53–74.Crewe, B. (2012). The prisoner society: Power, adaptationand social life in an English prison. Oxford: OUP.Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. (1975).Beyond boredom and anxiety (Vol. 721). SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass.Dammer, H. R. (2000). Religion in corrections. Lanham:American Correctional Association.Dammer, H. R. (2002). The reasons for religious involve-ment in the correctional environment. Journal ofOffender Rehabilitation, 35(3–4), 35–58.De Viggiani, N. (2012). Trying to be something you arenot: Masculine performances within a prison setting.Men and Masculinities, 15(3), 271–291.Irwin, J., & Cressey, D. R. (1962). Thieves, convicts andthe inmate culture. Social Problems, 10(2), 142–155.Maruna, S. (2001).Making good (p. 86). Washington, DC:American Psychological Association.Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation.Psychological Review, 50(4), 370.Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. NewYork: Harper and Row.Maslow, A. H. (1964). Further notes on the psychology ofbeing. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 4(1), 45–58.Maslow, A., & Lewis, K. J. (1987). Maslow’s hierarchy ofneeds. Salenger Incorporated, 14, 987.McGuire, J. E. (1995).What works: Reducing reoffending:Guidelines from research and practice. Chichester:Wiley.Michalski, J. H. (2015). Status hierarchies and hegemonicmasculinity: A general theory of prison violence.British Journal of Criminology, 57(1), 40–60.Perrin, C., Blagden, N., Winder, B., & Norman, C. (2018).Religion and desistance: Working with sexual and vio-lent offenders. Finding freedom in conﬁnement: Therole of religion in prison life, 24–41.Petersilia, J. (2000). When prisoners return to communi-ties: Political, economic, and social consequences.Federal Probation, 65, 3.Sykes, G. M. (1958). The society of captives: a study ofmaximum security prison. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press.Sykes, G. M. (2007). The society of captives: A study ofa maximum security prison. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press.U.S. Department of Justice (1993). Survey of inmates,1991. Washington DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.Religion and Prison 5

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