Religiousness and Post-Release Community Adjustment Graduate Research Fellowship – Final Report

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Religiousness and Post-Release Community Adjustment Graduate Research Fellowship – Final Report The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Religiousness and Post-Release Community Adjustment Graduate Research Fellowship – Final Report Author(s): Melvina T. Sumter Document No.: 184508 Date Received: September 25, 2000 Award Number: 99-IJ-CX-0001 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. “Religiousness and Post-Release Community Adjustment” Graduate Research Fellowship - Final Report Melvina T. Sumter This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE RELIGIOUSNESS AND POST-RELEASE COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENT BY MELVINA T. SUMTER A Dissertation submitted to the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Degree Awarded: . Fall Semester, 1999 Copyright 0 1999 Melvina T. Sumter All Rights Reserved This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Melvina T. Sumter defended on August 3. 1999. 3Todd Clear Professor Directing Dissertation Outside eoihittee Member Bruce Bullington J Committee Member CecilW! Greek Committee Member Approved : &i+, Daniel Maier-Katkin. Dean, School of Criminology and "d Criiiiinal Justice This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables . vii... List of Figures. Vlll Abstract ix Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION . 1 Social History of Religion and the Development of the United States Penal System. 1 Relevant Work 9 Statement of Problem . 10 The Current Study . 12 Significance of Study . 12 2 RELIGION AND THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN PRISON 14 The Meaning of Religion . 14 The Six Major World Religions . 17 Seven Dimensions of Religion 28 The Religious Experience in Prison . 36 The Religious Experience in Prison and Religious Orientation . 48 The Dimensions of Religion in the Prison Setting . 54 3 LITERATURE REVIEW . 60 Theoretical Framework 61 Explanations of the Inverse Relationship Between Religion and Deviance . 65 Literature Reviews on Religion and Deviance 68 Methodology for this Literature Review . 69 Review of Literature . 73 Explanations of Religion and Deviance Since 1985 . 91 The Effectiveness of Multiple vs. Single Indicators ofReligion , 103 Methodological Critique . 106 Discussion of Findings 111 Implications for Research . 115 V This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. 4 METHODOLOGY . 117 TheStudy Design . , 117 The Sample Population 119 Problems with the Data 120 Measures 123 Data Analysis . 129 5 RESULTS . 133 Bi-variate Analysis . 137 Model Selection - Multivariate Analysis . 139 Phase One - Multivariate Analysis . 143 Phase Two Structural Equation Modeling . 152 SEM - Model Identification and Fit . 154 Phase Two - Structural Equation Modeling Analysis. 155 6 DISCUSSION 161 Policy Implications . 166 Limitations of this Research . 166 Implications for Future Research . 169 Conclusion . 173 APPENDICES 176 1. Code Sheet For Collecting Data' . 176 2. Indicators For Global Measure of Religion 179 3. Control Variables Used in Empirical Research . 180 4. Regression Assumptions . 182 5. Human Subjects Approval Form . 188 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 189 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH . 203 vi This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. LIST OF TABLES Page 1 Religion and Deviance Individual Level of Analysis for Non-Prisoners 84 2 Religion and Deviance Individual Level of Analysis for Prisoners. 90 3 Religion and Deviance Aggregate Level of Analysis . 92 4 Religion and Deviance - Victim vs. Victimless Offenses . 95 5 Religion and Deviance - Moral Communities Thesis . 100 6 Religion and Deviance - Spurious Associations . 104 7 Religion and Deviance - Multiple vs. Single indicators . 107 8 Description of Database Variables 134 9 Descriptive Statistics for Non-Metric Variables . 135 IO Descriptive Statistics for Metric Variables 136 II Correlation Matrix 13% 12 Percentage Comparisons of Re-Arrest Rates for Religious and Non- Religious Inmates . 40 13 Indicators and Factor Weights for the Religion Constructs and Co-variates 41 14 Regression Model of Religion Measures and Re-Arrest . 43 15 Regression Model of Offender Characteristics and Re-Arrest . 45 16 Regression Model of Risk Measures and Re-Arrest . 146 17 Regression Model of Prison Adjustment Measures and Re-Arrest 147 18 Regression Model of Significant Predicators and Re-Arrest 149 19 Indicators and Factor Weights for Co-variates . 153 vii This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. LIST OF TABLES Page 1 Bdigion and Deviance Individual Level of Analysis for Non-Prisoners . 84 2 Wligion and Deviance Individual Level of Analysis for Prisoners. 90 3 Mligion and Deviance Aggregate Level of Analysis . 92 4 Wkgion and Deviance - Victim vs. Victimless Offenses . 95 5 Wtgion and Deviance - Moral Communities Thesis . 100 6 Wkgion and Deviance - Spurious Associations . 1 04 7 Bdligion and Deviance - Multiple vs. Single Indicators . 107 8 Dlsicription of Database Variables 134 9 Dscriptive Statistics for Non-Metric Variables . 135 10 Jkscriptive Statistics for Metric Variables 136 11 Gmelation Matrix 138 12 Mentage Comparisons of Re-Arrest Rates for Religious and Non- Religious Inmates . 140 13 /Micators and Factor Weights for the Religion Constructs and Co-variates 141 14 wression Model of Religion Measures and Re-Arrest . 143 15 wression Model of Offender Characteristics and Re-Arrest . 145 16 ikgression Model of Risk Measures and Re-Arrest 146 17 wression Model of Prison Adjustment Measures and Re-Arrest 147 18 ,$@ression Model of Significant Predicators and Re- Arrest 149 19 IMicators and Factor Weights for Co-variates . 153 vii This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. LIST OF FIGURES Fimre Page 1 Conceptual Model of Religiousness, Co-Variates and .. Re-Arrest . 156 2 Conceptual Model of Religion Measures and Re-Arrest 159 ... Vlll This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. ABSTRACT Whereas numerous criminological studies investigate the impact of correctional programs on post-release community adjustment, to date, only a handful of published studies have examined the influence of religion as a means of managing the inmate population or as a key predictor for inmate recidivism. In spite of the fact that both religion and the prison have been subjected to considerable study, we know little about religion works in the prison setting. This study assesses the effect of inmate religiosity on post-release release community adjustment and investigates the circumstances under which these effects are most likely to take place. This research is designed to explore the relationship between an inmate's religiousness and post-release community adjustment as measured by official FBI criminal history reports. The study is carried out by adding official criminal history information to an existing database collected by Clear et al. (1992) that studied the relationship between religion and a prisoner's adjustment to the correctional setting. The sample consists of 321 male inmates from twelve prisons scattered throughout the country. Multivariate analyses indicate that being a young offender, having an extensive arrest history, and having a high level of self-esteem are significant predicators of . ix This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. recidivism. Using logistic regression very little difference is found between the “religious” and “non-religious” inmates in overall reduction of recidivism. However, a relationship appears to exist between participation in religious programs and a belief in the supernatural and post-release community adjustment.
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