Role of Religion in Helping Inmates Adjust to Civil Society

Role of Religion in Helping Inmates Adjust to Civil Society
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Role of Religion in Helping Inmates Adjust to Civil Society
Religion is a cultural prospect that derives its value from how it sways the behaviors of those who follow the teachings. Often, people consider behaviors or actions as ethical or unethical based on the guidelines of their religious upbringing. To a great extent, the value of religion has helped in revitalizing behaviors to make people more valuable to themselves and their communities. Such tenets of religion have been found to match the objectives of incarceration. Like individuals who submit to religious teachings, people who are hauled in prison are confined to refine their behaviors, mainly to make them better people, even though some people are determined to ensure public safety. Nevertheless, the colliding objectives of religion and incarceration have triggered questions on how both can be combined to instill better reform agendas, especially in prisons. Inmates such as lifers in Angola penitentiary have proven the value that religion could instill in steering the objectives of incarceration. This paper employs the case of lifers in the Angola penitentiary to assess the role that religion can play in helping inmates to make adjustments to civil society. The Angola penitentiary case gives an insight into the strategies and steps, including missionary transfer programs, inmate minister programs, and participation in various activities, religious and non-religious, that prisons should take to deliver the best rehabilitation to their inmates.
The Angola Moral Rehabilitation Program
The Louisiana legislature has established that correctional institutions should instill faith-based programs in which inmates participate actively to reduce recidivism and prepare inmates for life outside prisons. To achieve such an objective, the legislature requires the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections to steer the establishment of faith-based programs in Louisiana prisons. Notably, the state has implemented the move only mildly as it majorly violates the constitution of the US that limits religious activities in prisons (Hallet, 2018). Amidst the confusion, the Angola moral rehabilitation program has attracted the attention of many who believe that the initiative could be relevant in implementing incarceration objectives. The Angola penitentiary introduced the rehabilitation program following the appointment of Burl Cain as the warden in 1995. Cain noted that he did not like the idea of becoming a warden at Angola, bearing the reputation that the prison had attracted at the time. Historically, Angola is known as one of the bloodiest prisons in the country. Angola was referred to as the bloodiest prison in the south in the 1960s (Hallet, 2018). The level of violence in Angola was so high that inmates would sleep in shifts to watch over their peers. To Cain, it was a challenging task to become a warden in such a facility.
The introduction of Cain came with notable cultural changes in Angola, thereby making it one of the most reputable prisons in the US presently. Cain, a Southern Baptist, introduced a faith-based rehabilitation approach in Angola (Films Media Group, 2006). The strategy to accomplish philosophy and goals in Angola asserts that the rehabilitation success of inmates depends on the success of faith-based programs within the facility. Some various programs and organizations have been established within Angola to steer the rehabilitation programs. Such are discussed as follows:
Inmate Religious Organizations
Angola’s rehabilitation program is anchored on the opportunity for the inmates to join and participate in religious organizations. The establishment of religious organizations in prisons is largely prohibited in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (Hallet, 2018). To that effect, the leadership at Angola allows prisoners to participate in the programs voluntarily. That is, individuals who choose not to participate in faith-based programs are not reprimanded. Still, there is no reward for those who choose to join and participate in the activities of the faith-based programs. Initially, the programs spanned majorly through Christian denominations, including the Church of God in Christ, Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship, and Catholic. With escalated positive reactions to the activities of the organizations, the institution instilled other religions, including Islam and Judaism. Inmates can leave and change religions or denominations willingly. However, being a religious organization member implies that the inmates must adhere to the specific teachings.
Prison Chapels
The Angola penitentiary facility has established chapels to fuel its faith-based rehabilitation programs. Inmates are allowed the opportunity to worship in any of the chapels within the facility. The chapels were built by the Louisiana Prison Chapel Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to building chapels in prisons (Films Media Group, 2006). The foundation was supported by non-profit organizations that funded the programs. The building of the chapels also came as a rehabilitation opportunity for the prison as prisoners employed their carpentry skills to build the chapels. Even though the chapel foundation is Christian, other faiths are allowed to use them.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Bible College (NOBTS)
NOBTS is one of the most prominent aspects of the Angola rehabilitation program bearing its impacts on the prisoners. While there are other rehabilitation offers, including vocational educational programs, GED, literacy studies, such programs only train the inmates to work within the prisons (Films Media Group, 2006). NOBTS is the only post-secondary program in Angola that promises to revitalize the lives of the prisoners beyond the incarceration period. NOBTS was introduced in 1995 as an avenue of offering inmates education at a budget-friendly cost. Currently, all inmates are eligible for application in the NOBTS program. However, there are qualifications that applicants must merit before they are accepted into the programs. Primarily, inmates must have college diplomas to be eligible for application. The applicants must also undergo a program “Knowing God” before being taken to a ministry (Calvin University, 2012). A committee then selects the applicants, and their chan...