Religion, Accountability, and the Risk of Aggressive Misconduct Among Prisoners: Preliminary Evidence of Restorative Rehabilitation.

Prior research has found inverse relationship between religious involvement and misconduct among prisoners. In this study, we examined the mediating role of accountability as welcoming responsibility for one's actions with respect to the transcendent (e.g., God or a higher power) and other people. We applied structural equation modeling to analyze data from surveys with 339 individuals (108 females and 231 males) incarcerated at three facilities in Texas. We found that prisoner religiosity was positively related to transcendent accountability, which was in turn positively associated with human accountability. Human accountability was then positively associated with empathy and negatively associated with impulsivity. Via impulsivity, human accountability was indirectly and inversely related to anger, depression, and anxiety. Further, the other-directed negative emotion (anger) was positively associated with the risk of other-directed, aggressive misconduct. The results suggest that accountability as forward-looking, active responsibility may play an important role in the restorative rehabilitation of prisoners.

Religion and Responsibility-Taking Among Offenders in Colombia and South Africa: A Qualitative Assessment of a Faith-Based Program in Prison.

This paper examines whether religion contributes to offenders taking responsibility for crimes. Specifically, we assessed whether participation in The Prisoner's Journey (TPJ), a bible study program, increased or decreased responsibility-taking. We also examined whether religious offenders that did not participate in TPJ were likely to take responsibility for their offenses. For this study, we conducted a quasi-experiment in two Colombian and five South African prisons from 2018 to 2019, collecting data from personal interviews with a total of 73 inmates-42 TPJ participants and 31 non-participants-before and after the program. Offenders frequently offered subtle accounts of responsibility that incorporated their own agency with other factors. Highly religious offenders were equally likely to take responsibility, and in some cases participation in TPJ heightened responsibility. In sum, this paper presents evidence that religious beliefs and practice are commensurate with responsibility-taking and desistance from crime.

Religion and Rehabilitation as Moral Reform: Conceptualization and Preliminary Evidence.

We examine how religion contributes to rehabilitation, which we conceptualize as moral reform and operationalize in terms of self-identity, existential belief, and character. We hypothesize that religion contributes to identity transformation, a sense of meaning and purpose in life, and virtue development. We also hypothesize that faith-based rehabilitation reduces negative emotions and the risk of interpersonal aggression. We conducted a quasi-experiment on a faith-based program in a state jail and a maximum-security prison in Texas, using a convenience sample of male inmates. To test our hypotheses, we compare inmates who graduated the program with those who did not and applied manifest-variable structural equation modeling to analyze data from pretest and posttest surveys. Program participation was linked to an increase in religiosity, which contributed to identity transformation (cognitive and emotional transformations and crystallization of discontent), the perceived presence of meaning and purpose in life, and virtues (including self-control, compassion, and forgiveness). Faith-based rehabilitation in turn reduced state depression and anxiety and the probability of engaging in aggression toward another inmate. This study provides preliminary evidence of religion's rehabilitative effect on offenders; findings which hold promise for prison administrators looking for creative ways to support evidence-based and cost-effective approaches to rehabilitation within the correctional system. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12103-022-09707-3.

Assessing a Faith-Based Program for Trauma Healing Among Jail Inmates: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

This paper assesses a faith-based, short-term program for trauma healing among incarcerated individuals, "Correctional Trauma Healing Program" (CTHP). We hypothesized that participation in the CTHP would reduce negative consequences of lifetime trauma: symptoms of PTSD, state depression, state anger, suicidal ideation, and the risk of interpersonal aggression. We also hypothesized that the reduction, if found, would be partly attributable to anticipated program outcomes (a decrease in vengefulness and an increase in religiosity, forgiveness, perceived forgiveness of God, gratitude to God, and perceived positive impact of the Bible). To test our hypotheses, we conducted a quasi-experimental study of 349 jail inmates in Virginia. Manifest-variable structural equation modeling was applied to analyze data from pretest and posttest surveys. As hypothesized, the CTHP reduced the negative consequences of trauma by increasing religiosity and other positive attributes and decreasing vengefulness directly and/or indirectly via increased religiosity. Implications and limitations of our study are discussed.

Prisoners Helping Prisoners Change: A Study of Inmate Field Ministers Within Texas Prisons.

Research on incarcerated offenders trained to help prisoners change is rare because programs that equip inmates with practical capacities for helping others rehabilitate in prison hardly exist. An exception is the Field Ministry program in Texas, which enlists inmates who have graduated from a prison-based seminary to work as "Field Ministers" and serve other inmates in various capacities. We hypothesize that inmate exposure to Field Ministers is inversely related to antisocial factors and positively to prosocial ones. We applied manifest-variable structural equation modeling to analyze data from a survey of a random sample of male inmates at three maximum-security prisons where the Field Ministry program operated. We found that inmates exposed more frequently to the Field Ministry and for a longer time period tended to report lower levels of criminological risk factors and aggressiveness and higher levels of virtues and predictors of human agency as well as religiosity and spirituality.

Alone on the Inside: The Impact of Social Isolation and Helping Others on AOD Use and Criminal Activity.

Because addiction is a socially isolating disease, social support for recovery is an important element of treatment planning. This study examines the relationship between social isolation, giving and receiving social support in Alcoholics Anonymous during treatment, and post-treatment outcomes among juvenile offenders court-referred to addiction treatment. Adolescents (N = 195) aged 14 to 18 years were prospectively assessed at treatment admission, treatment discharge, 6 months, and 12 months after treatment discharge. The influence of social isolation variables on relapse and severe criminal activity in the 12-months post-treatment was examined using negative binomial logistic regressions and event history methods. Juveniles entering treatment with social estrangement were significantly more likely to relapse, be incarcerated, and commit a violent crime in the 12-months post-treatment. Giving help to others in Alcoholics Anonymous during treatment significantly reduced the risk of relapse, incarceration, and violent crime in the 12-months post-treatment whereas receiving help did not.

Love and Service in Adolescent Addiction Recovery.

This article is one of the first to examine the relationships among a specific combination of "spiritual virtues" (helping others and the experience of divine love) and outcomes related to criminal involvement, sobriety, and character development among adolescents. One-hundred ninety five adolescents with substance dependency court-referred to residential treatment were assessed at intake, discharge, and 6 months post-treatment. Higher service to others predicted reduced recidivism, reduced relapse, and greater character development. Experiencing divine love enhanced the effect of service on recidivism. Greater attention to spiritual virtues might improve treatment for youth involved with alcohol, drugs, and certain forms of crime.

Humility and 12-Step Recovery: A Prolegomenon for the Empirical Investigation of a Cardinal Virtue in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) offers a live stage to study how humility is worn by thousands for another day of sobriety and more freedom from the bondage of self. It has been the coauthors' intent to emphasize the significance of humility as a cardinal virtue across the 12-Step program and as essential to all its key elements. The coauthors have placed this emphasis in the context of a wider theological history of thought as this converged on Bill W. and AA. In addition, the coauthors have offered a constructive developmental interpretation of the 12 Steps that relies on a model of four modulations of humility. Finally, the coauthors have reviewed in brief some approaches to the measurement of humility in this context, and suggest several aims for future research.

Positive Criminology and Rethinking the Response to Adolescent Addiction: Evidence on the Role of Social Support, Religiosity, and Service to Others.

Adolescent addiction has emerged as a major public health problem. The greatest increase in alcohol and other drug use disorders can be found among youth. Concurrently, technological advances in policing coupled with aggressive prosecuting and sentencing practices have contributed to the growth of America's correctional system. The assertive response of policing, courts, and corrections, however, have not prevented the dramatic rise of adolescent addiction. Unfortunately, there is no national data tracking addicted youth in the criminal justice system to evaluate what works when it comes to youth with addiction. This article reviews justice system responses to adolescent offenders with addiction, and promising approaches engaging juveniles in programmatic components of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This study highlights the role of spirituality, service to others, and social support in maintaining sobriety, reducing arrests, and lowering recidivism for adolescents court-referred to treatment. Recommendations for improving the response to adolescent offenders with addiction are offered.

Social anxiety and peer helping in adolescent addiction treatment.

BACKGROUND: The developmental need to fit in may lead to higher alcohol and other drug use among socially anxious youths which exacerbates the drink/trouble cycle. In treatment, youths with social anxiety disorder (SAD) may avoid participating in therapeutic activities with risk of negative peer appraisal. Peer-helping is a low-intensity, social activity in the 12-step program associated with greater abstinence among treatment-seeking adults. This study examined the influence of SAD on clinical severity at intake, peer-helping during treatment, and outcomes in a large sample of adolescents court-referred to residential treatment. METHODS: Adolescents (N = 195; 52% female, 30% Black) aged 14 to 18 were prospectively assessed at treatment admission, treatment discharge, and 6 months after treatment discharge. Data were collected using rater-administered assessments, youth reports, clinician reports, medical charts, and electronic court records. The influence of SAD on peer-helping and outcomes was examined using hierarchical linear regression and event history methods. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of youths reported a persistent fear of being humiliated or scrutinized in social situations, and 15% met current diagnostic criteria for SAD. SAD onset preceded initial use for two-thirds of youths with SAD and substance dependency. SAD youths presented for treatment with greater clinical severity in terms of earlier age of first use (p < 0.01), greater lifetime use of heroin and polysubstance use (p < 0.05), incarceration history (p < 0.01), and lifetime trauma (p < 0.001). Twelve-step participation patterns during treatment did not differ between youths with and without SAD except for peer-helping, which was associated with reduced risk of relapse (p < 0.01) and incarceration (p < 0.05) in the 6 months posttreatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study found evidence of an association between SAD and earlier age of first use, greater lifetime use of heroin, incarceration history, and lifetime trauma. SAD was associated with higher service participation during treatment, which was associated with reduced risk of relapse and incarceration in the 6 months posttreatment. Findings indicate the benefits of service participation for juveniles with SAD which provides a nonjudgmental, task-focused venue for developing sober networks in the transition back into the community.

Daily Spiritual Experiences and Adolescent Treatment Response.

The purpose of this study is to explore changes in belief orientation during treatment and the impact of increased daily spiritual experiences (DSE) on adolescent treatment response. One-hundred ninety-five adolescents court-referred to a 2-month residential treatment program were assessed at intake and discharge. Forty percent of youth who entered treatment as agnostic or atheist identified themselves as spiritual or religious at discharge. Increased DSE was associated with greater likelihood of abstinence, increased prosocial behaviors, and reduced narcissistic behaviors. Results indicate a shift in DSE that improves youth self-care and care for others that may inform intervention approaches for adolescents with addiction.

Race/ethnicity, religious involvement, and domestic violence.

The authors explored the relationship between religious involvement and intimate partner violence by analyzing data from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households. They found that: (a) religious involvement is correlated with reduced levels of domestic violence; (b) levels of domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; (c) the effects of religious involvement on domestic violence vary by race/ethnicity; and (d) religious involvement, specifically church attendance, protects against domestic violence, and this protective effect is stronger for African American men and women and for Hispanic men, groups that, for a variety of reasons, experience elevated risk for this type of violence.