Search results

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part One. Perspectives on Religion in Prison Settings -- Chapter 1. Faith and Service: Pathways to Identity Transformation and Correctional Reform -- Chapter 2. Religion and Desistance: Working with Sexual and Violent Offenders -- Chapter 3. Religious Rites and Rights of Prisoners in the United States -- Chapter 4. "We Serve Forgotten Men": Structural Charity versus Religious Freedom in Serving Ex-Offenders -- Chapter 5. A Theological Critique of the "Correctional" System -- Part Two. Religion in Prison in the United States -- Chapter 6. Religion and Prison Violence -- Chapter 7. The Effects of Religion on the Prisonization of Incarcerated Juveniles in Faith-Based Facilities -- Chapter 8. Religion Postprison: Roles Faith Played in Colson Scholars' Convict-to-Collegian Transition -- Chapter 9. Prison, Religion, and Conversion: The Prisoner's Narrative Experience -- Chapter 10. Reading Scripture in Exile: Favorite Scriptures among Maximum-Security Inmates Participating in Prison Seminary Programs -- Chapter 11. Backgrounds and Motivations of Prison Chaplains -- Chapter 12. Restrictions on Inmate Freedom of Religious Practice: A National and International Perspective -- Part Three. Religion in Prison outside the United States -- Chapter 13. Faith Provision, Institutional Power, and Meaning among Muslim Prisoners in Two English High-Security Prisons -- Chapter 14. Breaking the Prison-Jihadism Pipeline: Prison and Religious Extremism in the War on Terror -- Chapter 15. Orthodox Judaism as a Pathway to Desistance: A Study of Religion and Reentry in Israeli Prisons -- Chapter 16. Religious Diversity in Swiss and Italian Prisons: Combining Institutional and Inmate Perspectives.

Methamphetamine has been perceived as a white drug by those who study meth and by those who use it, although few researchers have explored the reasons. We conducted in-depth interviews with 17 White and 13 Black women at a womens halfway house to learn more about how and why women begin using meth and how race influences their decisions and beliefs. We have summarized here the methodological strategies used for our qualitative research project. We cover the challenges faced and decisions made in gaining entree into the facility, soliciting volunteers, designing a proper interview guide, determining proper interview logistics, analyzing transcripts, and choosing follow-up studies. We describe the need to make standing decisions about the research process before interviewing, and emphasize our use of open-ended and follow-up questions to let the interviewees shape the research process and follow-up studies.

Recent media portrayals of methamphetamine (meth) suggest that its use is relatively rare among Black drug users. Our aim with the current research is to explore the reasons why Black women stimulant users abstain from using meth. We rely on semi-structured interviews with 33 Black women whose drug of choice was cocaine and who had never or rarely used meth. These women said that they did not use meth because they had limited access to the drug, feared the chemicals used in production, disliked the immediate sensations, and feared the long-term consequences on their health. The limited access to meth led these stimulant users to rely on stereotypes of meth that the drug is made from toxic materials and that it causes rapid deterioration in users' appearances. We argue that these factors contribute to meth use being stigmatized in Black communities, thereby acting as a protective factor in discouraging use among Black stimulant users.