Religion was important in efforts to rehabilitate criminals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is now considered a new method of altering the careers of chronic offenders.

n 1974, criminal rehabilitation programs were no longer seen as effective vehicles for reducing recidivism. Most research evaluations of a wide variety of programs indicated meager or no results in reducing the number of convicts returning to prison. The coup de grace came from sociologist Robert Martinson's article in Public Interest, "What Works--Questions and Answers About Prison Reform." Martinson, backed up by statistics, questioned the effectiveness of many categories of rehabilitation programs and also rued the poor methodological quality of the studies. According to Martinson, "It is possible that some of our treatment programs are working to some extent, but our research is so bad it is incapable of telling."
        The resulting disillusionment with criminal rehabilitation might have been less shattering if the original designers of these programs in the 1950s and '60s had not with little evidence made grandiose claims for what they might accomplish. Claims of success rates of 80 percent were not uncommon. Careful evaluation usually indicated little or no difference between program subjects and a matched group of inmates who hadn't participated in this form of rehabilitation.

Working on a chain gang: Women prisoners in Maricopa County's Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, inspected by detention officers before heading off to their daily work. There has never been an escape from these work details. JACK KURTZ / UPI PHOTO SERVICE

        The lack of results coupled with the rising U.S. crime rate led correctional administrators to state publicly that it was time to stop relying on rehabilitation to solve the problem of high rates of recidivism and move on to other means. It appeared that the 100-year-old criminal rehabilitation movement was moribund, if not quite expired. But two events that occurred in the 1980s led to its partial revival.
        The first was the development of a new statistical technique. Many studies prior to the introduction of meta-analysis showed modestly successful results but because of small sample size did not reach the level of statistical significance. In meta-analysis, by assessing the outcomes of a larger number of similar studies, it was possible, according to David B. Wilson of George Mason University, to "focus on the size and direction of effects across studies rather than the statistical significance of individual effects."
        Looked at this way, the results indicated a modest degree of success for vocational, educational, behavior modification, and other programs. Program practitioners still have a tendency to make grandiose claims about the success of particular rehabilitation programs. The real results of well-conceived and researched programs now indicate that we should typically expect program subjects to have 10 to 15 percent less recidivism than nonprogram subjects with comparable backgrounds.
        The second event was the introduction of various forms of cognitive-behavioral treatment. These, according to clinical psychologist James McGuire, include social skills training, social problem solving, rational-emotive therapy, and reasoning programs. They replaced nonbehavioral treatment that had earlier been one of the mainstays of prison rehabilitation efforts. Included in this latter category were Freudian-oriented programs and watered-down versions that defined inmates as "sick" and ascribed their emotional illness to foul-ups in childhood development.
        These kinds of programs ordinarily had two strikes against them. The first was the scarcity in the prison setting of competent analytic therapists or group leaders. The second problem stemmed from the nature of the inmate prison culture, which was strongly opposed to having most criminals defined as emotionally ill. Due to this opposition, many or most of the unwilling participants in this mode of treatment would not accept the definition of their "problems" assigned by therapists. Without a meeting of the minds (either full or partial) between the therapist and inmate, this variety of treatment was destined to fail. Research results showed this to be the case.

Religious rehabilitation programs

t is ironic that religion, which was important in efforts to rehabilitate criminals at the end of the eighteenth century and for most of the nineteenth century, is now being seriously considered as a new method of altering the careers of chronic offenders. In these earlier periods of the American experience, the inmate was seen as a sinner; the cure for his wickedness was to expose him, voluntarily or involuntarily, to massive doses of Scripture. Discipline was enforced with an iron hand, with physical punishment applied to those who broke the rules. The penitentiary staff often included clergymen or ex-clergymen drawn to the work by the possibility of saving souls.

President Richard Nixon with Dep. Asst. Secretary of Defense George Benson: The start of the war on crime can be traced back to Nixon and the early 1970s. UPI PHOTO SERVICE

        The situation changed after the Civil War. Secular professionals emerged as the preferred bearers of knowledge and scientifically derived techniques. They were believed to be able to solve many social problems--among them, high rates of criminal recidivism.
        Religion, while never absent from the prison setting, became subservient to secular efforts. It was relegated to the role of ameliorating harsh conditions within the prison. Organizations such as the Salvation Army provided chaplains, conducted religious classes, and provided spiritual and economic resources for former inmates and their families. By the 1930s, however, despite all the good work they had done, they were likely to be perceived as sanctimonious soul savers--not a serious force for rehabilitation. Other prison ministries were then and still are active in providing religious classes, seminars, and necessary religious items such as pulpits and Bibles. Some of these organizations train people to become prison chaplains.
        The revived interest in using religion as a rehabilitative tool was in part a by-product of two events that occurred in the 1970s. The first, previously mentioned, was the disillusionment with current criminal rehabilitation efforts. The second event might be viewed as the Third Great Awakening in the history of America. The first of these occurred in the middle of the eighteenth century; the second, in the early decades of the nineteenth; and the third in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
        Each of these "awakenings" was accompanied by heightened religious fervor and increasing emphasis on evangelicalism or fundamentalism. Representative of the Third Awakening was the appearance of the Kairos movement (Greek for moment of opportunity). Typically, 30 to 50 men from the outside come into the prison and meet with 30 to 60 prisoners. There are lengthy sessions and presentations about the nature of Christianity. Members of the Kairos offer what they see as unconditional love. This movement started in Florida more than two decades ago and has spread to many states and countries.

The prison as a religious community

tarting in 1974, the progenitor for turning the prison into a religious community was the faith-based Humaita Prison in Brazil. Byron Johnson, director of the Center for Research and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, who studied this institution, has stated, "Humaita has received national and international recognition for a number of correctional innovations, such as (1) turning over completely the day-to-day operations of the prison to religious volunteers rather than paid correctional staff, (2) saturating the prison environment with religious programming and instruction, and (3) promoting family visits, spiritual mentoring, and work release."
        Johnson found that those released from Humaita had a three-year recidivism rate of 16 percent compared to 36 percent for another Brazilian prison that stressed vocational training (both rates are low). The apparent success of Humaita has encouraged the establishment of similar programs in the United States and Great Britain. Four states (Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas) have created programs similar but not identical to Humaita. Among the most ambitious is the Prison Fellowship Ministry (PFM)--run project at the Carol Vance, a 378-bed prison in Richmond, Texas (PFM was created by former convict and born-again Christian Charles Colson). The program consists of three phases. Two take place mostly within the prison, the third in the community.

Praying for peace: A prayer vigil takes place next to the Jasper County (Texas) Courthouse, where members of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally to deny any role in the murder of a black man by three white men.
IAN HALPERIN / UPI PHOTO SERVICE

        According to Johnson, phase 1 lasts for 12 months and centers on "building in inmates a spiritual and moral foundation from which the rest of the program is based. A heavy emphasis is placed on biblical education as well as GED tutoring, substance abuse prevention, and life skills." In phase 2, the inmates continue their previous efforts while becoming involved with community service outside the prison.
        There is now an emphasis on developing leadership roles. The Kairos is offered periodically. Phase 3 is the postrelease component of the program. The subject receives help in finding housing and employment, and mentoring continues. A connection is established between the ex-offender and local churches. To be considered a graduate of the PFM program, the Innerchange Freedom Institute (IFI), the subject has to have completed 16 months in the IFI unit, with 6 or more months in aftercare, held a job, and been active in a church for 3 months prior to graduation.
        How much was accomplished by such total immersion in religious study and participation, bolstered by other means of individual development such as education and vocational skills? According to the preliminary evaluation by Johnson and David Larson, 17.3 percent of the IFI graduates were arrested during two-year follow-up, compared with 35 percent for a matched comparison group. The figure for incarceration was 8 percent for the IFI graduates and 20.3 percent for the matched group.
        However, if one includes all IFI participants (graduates and nongraduates), there was no advantage for the IFI subjects. The IFI group had 36.2 percent arrested and 24.3 percent incarcerated. The matched comparison group had 35 percent arrested and 20.3 percent incarcerated. One puzzling finding was that "participants graduating from IFI with less than 16 months in the program had lower arrest and incarceration rates than graduates who had 16 or more months in the program."
        The Kainos experiment (Greek for new beginning), which operated briefly in four British prisons, was a variant of the previously discussed American and Brazilian programs. The project began in 1996. In it, a portion of the prison was taken over by the Kainos Community, a Christian charity. Security was still maintained by prison officers. All inmates in the wings were volunteers, including non-Christians. They signed an agreement to abide by a set of rules that included attending courses and being polite to all staff, visitors, and other inmates.
        By 2001 the Kainos was having difficulty maintaining its programs in the British prison system. The Prison Service terminated several of its wings. Why became a controversial question. The Prison Service said that it wouldn't be legitimate to monetarily support the Kainos or other religion-based interventions. According to the London Daily Telegraph's sources, the real reason was pressure from Muslims and members of other faiths.
        But there was another factor weakening the program's position. In 2001, the British Home Office published the results of an evaluation of the Kainos' success in reducing recidivism. The researchers claimed that there was no significant difference in reconviction rates between those in or not in the program.

Legal challenges

he PFM programs in several states have been legally challenged. In one suit, an inmate at the Newton Correctional Facility in Newton, Iowa, charged that money earned by the prison through inmate phone calls was used to fund the faith-based program. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was quoted as saying that preferential treatment was given to prisoners willing to undergo religious conversion and indoctrination. An additional charge was that better living facilities and greater access to parole applications were provided to inmates in these faith-based programs. These challenges bring into focus the question of whether legal or inmate welfare considerations will predominate.

The Importance of a Religious Foundation In early America, the inmate was seen as a sinner and the cure for his wickedness was to expose him to massive doses of Scripture. Discipline was enforced with an iron hand, with physical punishment frequently applied to those who broke the rules. Penitentiary staff often included clergymen or ex-clergymen drawn to the possibility of saving souls. After the Civil War, secular professionals emerged as the preferred bearers of knowledge and scientifically derived techniques. The progenitor in modern times for turning the prison into a religious community was the faith-based Humaita Prison in Brazil. The Prison Fellowship Ministry established by Charles Colson is doing similar work in the United States. This religious-based work has been challenged by secular groups, such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

        The results from other studies of the influence of religion show benefits from prison ministry efforts for some inmates but not others. Young and associates conducted a 14-year follow-up of 185 former PFM subjects and compared them with a cohort of 2,289 former inmates. They found lower rates and longer time to recidivism among PFM women (white or black) and white PFM men in low-risk categories. The program had no impact for high-risk males or among black males of all risk categories.
        In Israel, the Orthodox religious kibbutz is the setting for an integrated attempt to change the lives of convict-addicts. (The kibbutz is a democratic commune that stresses a unique set of norms and values but does not emphasize isolation from the rest of the country.) The story begins with the release of inmates to the Shaar Hatikvah facility (currently located in Beersheba), where they reside for three months. Those graduating from this phase move into a halfway house or room with two college students. The next goal is placement in a kibbutz, where they are immersed in a way of life that emphasizes both Torah study and hard work. Fragmentary results from this program look promising.

Possible pitfalls for religious rehabilitation efforts

e have already mentioned one potential obstacle to the operation of these new varieties of religious programs, namely, legal-constitutional challenges. A second potential problem of a different kind is less apparent. More than 60 years ago, Donald Clemmer described the inmate culture as being defined by a set of norms that emphasize noncooperation with the staff and solidarity with other inmates. While the importance of the norms and values that inmates bring into the prison is now recognized, Clemmer's analysis is still relevant.
        These oppositional norms have limited the effectiveness of earlier prison rehabilitation efforts that called for self-disclosure and the revelation of what happens between inmates. Religious programs for the most part seemed exempt from this inmate opposition. These programs were seen as something apart from the hypocritical "square" world--and were one way for inmates to search for meaning in their lives. Inmates are often attracted to the revelatory, prophetic, and ethical teachings of religion as well as to the guilt-reducing power of prayer and observance. The Kairos fits well into this context, as did such venerable organizations such as the Salvation Army and the multitude of prison ministries.
        Programs such as the Kainos in Great Britain and the PFM efforts in several states (where a portion of the prison is operated by the program) are sometimes opposed by the inmate culture, which may view them as alliances between the prison and religious staffs in order to make inmates more docile. This possibility merits further study.

Conclusion

xpectations for what criminal rehabilitation can accomplish have ranged from the grandiose optimism of the 1950s and '60s to the limited optimism of the present. Many rehabilitation programs do have success, but it is likely to be limited to 10 to 15 percent when compared with similar prisoners not exposed to these environments. Many sorts of programs seem to have some impact.
        Traditional efforts such as academic education and vocational training often produce positive results in well-conceived projects. Research evaluation of secular-oriented programs indicates that the cognitive-rational-emotive efforts appear to be the most successful in reducing recidivism. The evaluation of religious programs shows some positive results. Further research and methodological refinement are necessary before a more definitive answer can be given on their degree of importance.
        A final note. One problem in assessing results from all rehabilitation programs is in comparing volunteers with nonvolunteers. While every attempt is made in competent studies to find a matched comparison group not exposed to the program--no matter how well the match is made--the fact that inmates volunteer for a program may indicate some real difference from nonvolunteers. The best way to deal with this dilemma is to use random assignment of inmates who volunteer into an experimental group and a control group. Lacking this resource, the alternative is to arbitrarily place inmates in the test groups. Requiring participation and using coercion to accomplish this may drastically reduce the program's effectiveness.