Rich in history and crime, state prisons host a variety of activities to reform the behaviors of dangerous criminals. Events, such as vocational training, farming, and church events, serve to re-educate criminals and help them rediscover new meaning to their lives. Of these activities, faith-based programs play a large part in the rehabilitating process of criminals. In the United States, sentencing length is a large concern within correctional facilities. According to the National Bureau of Justice Statistics, “more than half of all prisoners served fewer than 3 years” in a correctional facility (Thomas and Zaitzow 2006). In fact, approximately “700,000 offenders are released each year from prisons” (Sabol et al. 2009). These statistics
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By implementing faith in prisons, criminals are able to adopt a meaningful system that allows them to reflect on their offenses and redirect their life. Studies have found that individuals could identify and take responsibility for their own behaviors through spirituality (Dammer 2000). At the same time, religion is able to supply the ideas and practices “that inform how to punish others and how they respond to punishment” (Graber 2013). Therefore, faith-based programs provide options and guidelines for defining criminality, shaping individuals, and enforcing a more diverse structural base within correctional …show more content…
Many individuals, who enter a correctional facility, begin to form traditions, norms, and hierarchies within the prison (Thomas and Zaitzow 2006). It is not uncommon to see cliques, political manipulation of others, and rampant criminal acts (i.e. dealing, theft, assault) within this environment. Therefore, membership acceptance and relationships are important to criminal offenders; they provide protection, assimilation, and accompaniment in a mutual setting (Thomas and Zaitzow 2006). Criminals look to these bonds for personal fulfillment in prisons rather than safety. According to the social attachment theory, individuals who are more “attached to a major social institution of life, the less likely he or she is to commit crime [because] he or she has something of value to lose by committing crime” (O’Conner, 2002). Prisoners, who make relations based on similarity and/or interests, benefit more and develop stronger character
By implementing faith in prisons, criminals are able to adopt a meaningful system that allows them to reflect on their offenses and redirect their life. Studies have found that individuals could identify and take responsibility for their own behaviors through spirituality (Dammer 2000). At the same time, religion is able to supply the ideas and practices “that inform how to punish others and how they respond to punishment” (Graber 2013). Therefore, faith-based programs provide options and guidelines for defining criminality, shaping individuals, and enforcing a more diverse structural base within correctional …show more content…
Many individuals, who enter a correctional facility, begin to form traditions, norms, and hierarchies within the prison (Thomas and Zaitzow 2006). It is not uncommon to see cliques, political manipulation of others, and rampant criminal acts (i.e. dealing, theft, assault) within this environment. Therefore, membership acceptance and relationships are important to criminal offenders; they provide protection, assimilation, and accompaniment in a mutual setting (Thomas and Zaitzow 2006). Criminals look to these bonds for personal fulfillment in prisons rather than safety. According to the social attachment theory, individuals who are more “attached to a major social institution of life, the less likely he or she is to commit crime [because] he or she has something of value to lose by committing crime” (O’Conner, 2002). Prisoners, who make relations based on similarity and/or interests, benefit more and develop stronger character