Why God Is Often Found Behind Bars: Prison Conversions and the Crisis of Self-Narrative

Maruna, Shadd; Wilson, Louise; Curran, Kathryn

doi:10.1207/s15427617rhd0302&3_6

Cited by 125 publications

(150 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

135

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Religious conversions are an accepted meta-narrative among inmates (see Maruna et al, 2006;Zaitzow & Jones, 2013) because it provides an opportunity to atone for one's sins but also aids in identity transformations. Faith-based programs that focus on redemption and reverence are important, but they ought to also strengthen efforts to assist individuals with housing issues, employment, and integrative social support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taken together, we understand narratives of reentry as the product of an individual's suspended and adaptable identity, experiences in prison, and the ability to manage public stigma upon release (Harding, 2003;Maruna, 2001;Schmid & Jones, 1991;Maruna, Wilson & Curran, 2006). Drawing on interviews with exoffenders, we ask how respondents experience and adapt to returning to the free world following incarceration: What types of narratives emerge to account for managing spoiled identities and creating new ones?…”

Section: Narratives Of Reentry and Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Religious conversions are not uncommon in prison (Maruna et al, 2006) and they are frequently given credit for facilitating personal transformation: "The change in me is true and that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is walking around, you know, alive and well, present in me. You know, I really do have a resurrected life" (Bob, male).…”

Section: Accounts Of Reentry As Reverencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Factors such as personal motivation, social networks, new social roles, available social supports, and lifestyle changes can uniquely shape released prisoners' experiences with reentry (Bushway, Piquero, Broidy, Cauffman, & Mazerolle, 2001;Laub & Sampson, 2001;Travis & Petersilia, 2001). Preprison commitments and identities (Nelson, Deess, & Allen, 1999;Sampson & Laub, 1993) and in-prison experiences like programming and religious conversions (Maruna, Wilson, & Curran, 2006;Petersilia, 2003;Ross & Richards, 2002;Schmid & Jones, 1991) can also impact one's ability to adjust to life beyond incarceration. For some, preprison stakes in conformity and ties to conventional roles and relationships are especially important.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some, incarceration was an essential step on the path to redemption because it represented the "bottoming out" often associated with self-transformation or conversion, not altogether uncommon sentiments for individuals released from prison (also see Johnson, Larson, & Pitts, 1997;Maruna et al, 2006). In fact, faith and religious communities often provide a way of life that is "fundamentally incompatible with continued deviation" (Giordano, Cernkovich, & Rudolph, 2002, pp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Exoffender Accounts of Successful Reentry from Prison

Hlavka

Wheelock

Jones

2015

Journal of Offender Rehabilitation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Narratives Of Reentry and Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accounts Of Reentry As Reverencementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Exoffender Accounts of Successful Reentry from Prison

Hlavka

Wheelock

Jones

2015

Journal of Offender Rehabilitation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Post‐traumatic growth in prisoners and its association with the quality of staff–prisoner relationships

Hearn¹,

Joseph

Fitzpatrick³

2020

Criminal Behav Ment Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Being sentenced to imprisonment can be traumatic. This may lead to further negative effects, including reoffending or disorders of mental health. Emerging research, however, has suggested that traumatic events can, at times, also lead to post‐traumatic growth, leading us to question whether prisoners could experience this. Aims Our aims were to explore the prevalence of post‐traumatic growth in prisoners and any association between this and prisoners' perceptions of the quality of their relationships with staff. Our primary hypothesis was that there would be a positive association between perceptions of the quality of relationships with staff members and post‐traumatic growth. We also hypothesised an interaction between staff–prisoner relationships and the extent to which sentencing was experienced as traumatic. Method The Post‐traumatic Growth Inventory and the Barrett‐Lennard Relationship Inventory were distributed to all 762 prisoners in a high‐security prison for adult men in England. First, one‐tailed correlations between variables were run, then a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test for an interaction between staff–prisoner relationship ratings, trauma of sentencing and post‐traumatic growth. Results Just over one fifth of the men (n = 160) returned questionnaires; 76 (48%) had scores indicative of moderate‐to‐high post‐traumatic growth. There was a significant positive association between perceptions of the relationships with staff members and the post‐traumatic growth reported. There was no significant interaction between the staff–prisoner relationships and the experience of trauma of imprisonment. Conclusions Our study extends understanding of prisoners through finding that higher levels of self‐rated post‐traumatic growth were associated with experiencing empathy, positive regard, acceptance and genuineness from prison staff. This highlights the need for high‐quality relationships to be adopted in all aspects of prison setting and culture and offers further direction for research into such relationships and their role in promoting positive psychological outcomes.

show abstract

The Spirituality of Carceral Citizenship: “Making Your Test Your Testimony”

Hallett

2023

Symbolic Interaction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Through participant observation of the redemption‐focused identity work of formerly incarcerated citizens affiliated with an urban faith‐based nonprofit organization run by ex‐offenders, this paper examines religiously motivated desistance among eighteen male respondents who attribute lasting desistance to intense religiosity. Recent research portrays the “identity work” of criminal justice‐involved citizens as “narrative labor” fraught with capricious experiences of social rejection and “uncanny” patterns of discrimination and exclusion. Drawing from eight years of participant observation and adopting methodologies of “lived religion” and “appreciative inquiry,” life‐history interviews reveal three “frames” of “performative speech” through which religious narrative labor helps signal a “disavowal and recasting” of criminal identities: “coming out of the desert” {learning not to hide}, “bringing it to the altar” {help‐seeking through religiosity}, and “making your test your testimony” {using testimonial storytelling for status elevation}. Prolific integration of Christian scripture into personal narratives mirrors the Identity Theory of Desistance. The paper deepens understanding of how religious narrative labor is performed by ex‐offenders enduring carceral citizenship, arguing for more direct exploration of religiosity by criminologists.

show abstract

Why God Is Often Found Behind Bars: Prison Conversions and the Crisis of Self-Narrative

Cited by 125 publications

References 27 publications

Exoffender Accounts of Successful Reentry from Prison

Exoffender Accounts of Successful Reentry from Prison

Post‐traumatic growth in prisoners and its association with the quality of staff–prisoner relationships

The Spirituality of Carceral Citizenship: “Making Your Test Your Testimony”

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About