MARGUERITE B RYA N , P H . D .

C R I M I N A L J U S T I C E I N S T I T U T E

N O VA S O U T H E A S T E R N U N I V E R S I T Y

F O R T L A U D E R D A L E , F L O R I D A

ACADEMY O F CRI MI NAL JUST I CE SCI E NCES

ANNUAL CO NF ERE NCE I N SAN D I E G O , CA

F E BRUARY 25 , 2010

Religious Participation Among Jail Inmates

Outline

Goal of the research studyResearch Literature MethodsFindingsDiscussion

Significance Problems

Goals of the research

What factors are associated with jail inmates’ participation in religious activities?

What implications might these factors have for jail programming?

Research Literature

Literature in this area is varied and inconclusiveA. Age, marital status and race are important factors

--Older people (Levin and Taylor, 1997) --Married persons --Black inmates are more likely than other inmates to participate (O’Connor, 2005; Levin and Taylor,

1997). B. Gender

--Some research show that women participate at higher percentages than men. (O’Connor, 2005). --Other research show no difference between them;

Research Literature

C. Research suggest that inmate participants in

religious activities are motivated to make changes

in their lives and are seeking their way in a religious

sense (Camp, et al,2006) D. Qualitative research results indicate that

inmates participate in religious activities as a

means of seeking new meaning to their lives and a

sense of peace (Clear, et al)

Research Literature

E. Dammer has put forth the idea of sincere vs. insincere motivations on the part of inmates

getting involved in religious/spiritual pursuits while incarcerated;

-- Sincere, such as “to obtain peace of mind, direction and meaning in life, self-esteem, and to change behavior” (Dammer, 2002)

-- Insincere, such as to get protection from being harmed by other inmates, or to use religion as a

means to socialize with other inmates, to meet female volunteers, to access prison resources such as food, etc.

Method

DEPENDENT VARIABLE AEngaged in religious activity in the past week

Response to the question: "In the past week/Since your admission], have you engaged in any religious activities, such as religious services, private prayer or meditation, or Bible reading or studying?" Yes=1, No=0 62% answered Yes(n=5676)

Method

DEPENDENT VARIABLE BJoined in religious study since admission

Response to the question: "Since your admission to jail on [CURRENT ADMISSION DATE], have you joined or participated ina Bible club or other religious study group (including Muslims)?" Yes=1, No=0

28% answered Yes (n=5677)

Method

INDEPENDENT VARIABLESCategorical independent 1) Race/Ethnicity :

White 43% Black 39% Hispanic 18%

2) Gender: Male 71% 3) Ever been shot? 35% 4) Enrolled in special education? 16% 5) Ever physically/ sexually abused? 26%

Method

6) Ever married? 40% 7) Serious nonviolent crime offender 26% 8) Inmate self-reported substance abuse 68% 9) Employed the month before admission?

68%10)Violent offender 25% 11)Visits from family/friends in past month

54%

Method

Continuous covariates & their means 12) # of prior arrests Mean=4.31

13)Time held in jail prior to interview Mean=31--60 days

14) Highest education Mean=High school

Method

15) Pre-arrest personal monthly income: Mean=$600– $999/month

16) Age Mean=25--34 yrs old

17) Childhood delinquency scale (0=Low to 9=High) Mean=2

Logistic Regression Results

Parameter Estimate Standard Error Odds RatioWald Statistic

Statistical Significance

Constant -1.255 0.163 0.285 59.156 0.000

Race Ethnicity 67.976 0.000

*Race Ethnicity-Black 0.537 0.067 1.710 64.135 0.000

*Race Ethnicity-Hispanic 0.412 0.083 1.510 24.792 0.000

*Gender 0.409 0.075 1.505 29.726 0.000

*Ever physically/sexually abused 0.364 0.076 1.440 23.092 0.000

*Visits from fam/friend 0.315 0.059 1.371 28.772 0.000

*Employed prior to jail 0.280 0.066 1.323 17.914 0.000

*Ever married 0.215 0.069 1.240 9.578 0.002

*Serious crime offender 0.166 0.069 1.180 5.782 0.016

*Time in jail before intervw 0.154 0.017 1.166 83.132 0.000

*Highest education 0.067 0.023 1.069 8.258 0.004

Findings

CONCLUSIONS

The more important, statistically significant findings were that Black inmates were almost 2 times more likely to participate in religious activities in jail than White inmates; Hispanic inmates were 1.5 times more likely than non Hispanics to participate in religious activities; and male inmates were 1.5 times more likely than female inmates to take part in religious activities in jails.

Relevant Factors & “Models”

Deprivation• Victim•

Importculture

• Violence

• Drug use

Volunteering

Inmate religious participation

Type of Offender

General program

participation

General religious participation

THE END.

All questions will be answered after the panelists

present their research studies.

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