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In More God, Less Crime renowned criminologist Byron R. Johnson proves that religion can be a powerful antidote to crime. The book describes how faith communities, congregations, and faith-based organizations are essential in forming partnerships necessary to provide the human and spiritual capital to effectively address crime, offender rehabilitation, and the substantial aftercare problems facing former prisoners. There is scattered research literature on religion and crime but until now, there has never been one publication that systematically and rigorously analyzes what we know from this l

Research has shown that prison visitation is associated with reduced recidivism. This study analyzes whether visits from community volunteers (CVs)—specifically clergy and mentors—had an impact on recidivism by examining 836 offenders released from Minnesota prisons. The results show that CV visits significantly reduced all three measures of reoffending but had no impact on technical violation revocations. The salutary effect on recidivism grew as the proportion of CV visits to all visits increased. The findings suggest CV visits should be conceptualized as a programming resource to be used with higher risk offenders who lack social support.

Offender-led religious movements: Why we should have faith in prisoner-led reform
Byron R. Johnson and Sung Joon Jang, both from Baylor University and Pepperdine University, suggest that the solution to criminal justice reform could lie in the prisoner-led faith programmes, which provide positive, cost-efficient rehabilitation. An emerging body of evidence documents the ways in which religious involvement is linked to different types of physical and mental health outcomes.(1) A growing subset of this research demonstrates how religious involvement helps to decrease crime,(2) promote prosocial behaviour among offenders,(3, 9) and help to foster sobriety among addicts.(4) Moreover, research shows the effectiveness of faith-based programmes in reducing recidivism among former prisoners.(1, 2, 9) In sum, there is increasing evidence religiosity can help change an offender's identity, and be linked to other important prosocial outcomes.(5, 17)

The relevance of human flourishing to offender rehabilitation
Sung Joon Jang and Byron R. Johnson, both from Baylor University, turn the spotlight on the relevance of human flourishing to offender rehabilitation in Colombia and South Africa. Humans are born with fundamental needs for survival (e.g., food, clothing, and shelter) and flourishing, which concerns happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, and close social relationships (VanderWeele, 2017). Survival needs are essential to human existence, but flourishing needs are not meant to be secondary or less important. While the sustenance of life is necessary for human flourishing, both types of innate needs should be seen as primary concerns from a holistic point of view. This is evident because even when physical and material needs are fully met, people may still decline mentally or relationally. They may experience "diseases of excess" or "deaths of despair" (Clifton, 2022).

The prison seminary movement and the impact of faith-based programmes
Challenges facing US prisons are increasing. With issues of overcrowding, widespread mental illness, high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, violence, and more, prisons are failing to correctly rehabilitate inmates. Unfortunately, policymakers largely ignore decades of criminological research documenting how faith-based programmes reduce social isolation and shame among prisoners and offer emotional and network pathways that support fresh starts, which is what Byron R. Johnson and Sung Joon Jang from Baylor University share their expertise in now, regarding the key challenges affecting America's prison system, the prison seminary movement and the positive impact that faith-based programmes can have. Looking at Angola's unique prison seminary, and the impact of faith-based programmes, Byron R. Johnson and Sung Joon Jang analyse the work of faith-based organisations and faith-motivated volunteers in prisons, and find through empirical evidence that by embracing religious faith, inmates can and do transform their lives in meaningful ways.

The role of religion in offender rehabilitation and prisoner well-being
Looking at the influence of religion on prisoner well-being, Sung Joon Jang and Byron R. Johnson discuss offender rehabilitation and the role of moral responsibility. As the original purpose of the American penal system was one embracing the goal of moral rehabilitation, focusing on improving the prisoner's moral capacities not simply to reduce reoffending but also to enhance the prisoner's well-being. Offender rehabilitation is generally meant to address a number of important needs of prisoners. Psychological or personal rehabilitation seeks to promote positive individual-level change in a prisoner by developing new skills or abilities as well as addressing deficits or problems. Though most crimes can be classified as both legal and moral offences, thinking about offender rehabilitation through the lens of moral reform has generally been overlooked by scholars. Professors Jang and Johnson empirically examine whether religion contributes to moral rehabilitation, the researchers conducted a quasi-experiment on a faith-based program that operated in two correctional facilities in Texas, finding that religion contributes to offender rehabilitation as moral reform among prisoners by promoting well-being and helping them flourish.

We hypothesize about the relationships among perceived neighborhood disorder, individual religiosity, and adolescent use of illicit drugs, marijuana and hard drugs; and the age‐varying effects of religiosity on illicit drug use. Applying hierarchical linear models to analyze the National Youth Survey data, we first find that neighborhood disorder and religiosity have hypothesized effects on illicit drug use independent of social bonding and social learning variables that partly mediate the effects. Second, religiosity buffers the effects of neighborhood disorder on illicit drug use. Third, the effects of religiosity on illicit drug use become stronger throughout adolescence. The implications of the findings are discussed.

While religious programs and services have long been a staple of the American prison experience, existing research has yet to examine how correctional administrators perceive their importance and effectiveness. Of the 50 states invited to participate in the survey, most of the 27 respondents reported that faith-based programming provides a critically important resource that yields successful outcomes and positively influences prison culture. Nearly half indicated that interest in programming exceeds the resources available, while two-thirds reported that programming access should be expanded. The vast majority cited a lack of physical space and security staff as barriers to increased programming access.

The Consequences of Failing Prisons -- Can Prisons Model Virtuous Behavior? -- How Religion Contributes to Volunteerism, Prosocial Behavior, and Positive Criminology -- The Disruptive Potential of Offender-led Programming: "Lived Experience" and Inmate Ministry -- Offender-led Religious Movements and Rethinking Incarceration -- Wounded Healers in "Failed State" Prisons: A Case Study of Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman -- Lessons We Can Learn from Prisoners -- Toward Restorative Corrections: A Movement Well Underway

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- 1 The Consequences of Failing Prisons -- 2 Can Prisons Model Virtuous Behavior? -- 3 How Religion Contributes to Volunteerism, Prosocial Behavior, and Positive Criminology -- 4 The Disruptive Potential of Offender-led Programs: "Lived Experience" and Inmate Ministry -- 5 Offender-Led Religious Movements and Rethinking Incarceration -- 6 Wounded Healers in "Failed State" Prisons: A Case Study of Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman -- 7 Lessons We Can Learn from Prisoners -- 8 Toward Restorative Corrections: A Movement Well Underway -- 9 Epilogue -- Index.

A selection of articles from "Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion" that documents the pervasiveness of religion and demonstrates the complex ways faith remains important for societies all over the world.

This study examines whether participating in a Bible reading program for military families (called "Hero Squad") is positively related to overall human flourishing among children, family units, and parents/caregivers. Previous research shows salutary associations between multiple dimensions of religiosity (including reading sacred texts) and different aspects of flourishing (e.g., physical health, psychological well-being, character and virtue, social connections and support), so it was hypothesized that program participation would promote flourishing over time. Two waves of survey data were collected on a sample of 175 U.S. military families in 2021 and 2022, and differences between pretest and posttest surveys were analyzed. As hypothesized, improvements in indicators of flourishing were observed over time. These findings contribute to published work on religious participation by showing that Bible reading may promote overall mental, physical, and social well-being. Implications and limitations of these preliminary findings are discussed.

Using data from a nationally representative sample of American adult males ( N = 2,512), this study examines (a) whether duration of membership in the Boy Scouts of America is associated with adult civic engagement and (b) whether five characteristics of positive youth development (confidence, competence, connection, character, and caring) account for the relationship between duration of Scouting membership and adult civic engagement. The results from structural equation modeling indicate that duration of participation in Scouting is positively associated with four indicators of civic engagement: community involvement, community volunteering, community activism, and environmental activism. Among the five positive characteristics, confidence and competence were found to fully mediate the effects of Scouting on all four types of civic engagement, whereas the other three only to partly mediate the effects.