Religiousness and Post-Release Community Adjustment

213 Pages·2002·8.58 MB·English

by  Melvina T. Sumter

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
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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.
3
Todd Clear
Professor Directing Dissertation
Outside eoihittee Member
Bruce Bullington J
Committee Member
W !
Cecil Greek
Committee Member
Approved :
&i+,
Daniel Maier-Katkin. Dean, School of Criminology and
Criiiiinal Justice "d
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
I I 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.