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Abstract: 

This is Part II of a two-part paper. Part I (JCC, Vol. 9, No. 1, Fall 2004) examined the history of the relationship between religion, crime, and rehabilitation and discussed the various theories regarding the impact that religion might have on reducing crime. This second part of the paper asks how religion works to rehabilitate offenders, explores the spiritual history and practice of incarcerated men and women and the religious process they go through while imprisoned, and reviews the empirical research about the effectiveness of religion as a correctional intervention. Religion in prison helps to humanize a dehumanizing situation by helping prisoners cope with being a social outcast in a prison situation that is fraught with loss, deprivation, and survival challenges.

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Affiliations:  1: Oregon Department of Corrections.