Religion, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration of Prison Inmates Into Mainstream Society

Abstract

This chapter surveys scholarly works on the extent to which religion influences inmate rehabilitation and reintegration into mainstream society. Apart from conceptual explanations, the empirical reviews add to its analytic claims. This study argues that despite the functions of religion in relation to crime and its pro-social behaviour, its rehabilitation and reintegration function is limited due to the neglected roles of faith communities, families, and other legal institutions. The literature analysis concludes that the efforts to institute religion in prison to reform and rehabilitate inmates are fruitless due to the divergent interests of the actors involved. The religious civil society organisations that participated in convicted prisoner rehabilitation did not show the same interest in their reintegration into mainstream society.