Faith-based efforts to improve prisoner reentry: Assessing the logic and evidence

Compliance of Ultra-Orthodox and secular pedestrians with traffic lights in Ultra-Orthodox and secular locations

“…In his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith (1976) analyzed religiosity from a rational point of view and noted that religiosity acts as a kind of internal moral enforcement mechanism. Mears et al (2006) assert that religiosity may affect criminogenic factors, such as drug use. Changes in these factors may ultimately improve recidivism and behavioral outcomes among participants.…”

Social Work Research on Faith‐Based Programs: A Movement Towards Evidence‐Based Practice

“…There is a need for the social work profession to meet the challenge and opportunities brought on by the enactment of federally funded faith-based initiatives. We contend, as other scholars have supported (Abramovitz, 1998;Cnaan, 2002;Kennedy & Bielefeld, 2006;Mears et al, 2006;Monsma, 2001;Myers, 2002;Tangenberg, 2003Tangenberg, , 2004Wineburg, 2001), that there is a need for a progressive movement toward building a research foundation that may yield evidence-based practices for future faith-based initiatives.…”

“…Likewise, the question of conceptualizing and operationalizing what is meant by ''faith'' or ''spiritual transformation'' has emerged as a paramount issue for scholarly investigation. To illustrate, there are a wide range of activities considered ''faith-based'' such as Bible study, worship services, religious seminars and retreats, and fellowship gatherings-all of which can be offered by diverse denominations of difference sizes with varied beliefs on what constitutes faith (Mears et al, 2006). This definitional uncertainty has fostered a lack of validated measures and must be the focus of greater attention in research methods and practice evaluation.…”

The criminal justice system works!

“…Increasingly, this involves cross-agency cooperation in terms of evidencedbased decision making, information sharing, service delivery, and maintenance of shareholder interests (cf., Dias & Vaughn, 2006;Mears, 2007;Mears & Bacon, 2009). And evidence of this professionalized, cooperative approach can be seen not only in programs designed to serve special populations (Foley, 2008;Kakar, 2006;Matthews & Hubbard, 2008;Miller, Shutt, & Bernstein, 2010;Payne, 2008;Sharkey, Sander, & Jimerson, 2010;Wu, El-Bassel, Gilbert, Sarfo, & Seewald, 2010) but also components of the justice system, including law enforcement and crime prevention (Brown, 2006;O'Neill & McGloin, 2007), policeprobation partnerships (Murphy & Lutze, 2009), reentry (Bond & Gittell, 2010;Mears, Roman, Wolff, & Buck, 2006;Nellow, Schlager, & Caplan, 2008), sex offender notification (Beck & Travis, 2006), jail detention (Ruddell & Mays, 2007), and confinement (Cecil, McHale, Strozier, & Pietsch, 2008;Rengifo, Stemen, Dooley, Amidon, & Gendon, 2010).…”