New Insights for “What Works”? Religiosity and the Risk-Needs-Responsivity Model

Abstract

The existing literature has devoted relatively little attention to the responsivity principle and, in particular, religiosity as a type of specific responsivity. Using a sample of nearly 2,000 people incarcerated in Minnesota’s prison system, this study examined the relationship between religiosity and measures of risk, needs, and responsivity. The results showed that religiosity was positively associated with childhood trauma, pro-social identities, and perceived social support, while it was negatively associated with criminal thinking and employment needs. Findings further revealed that religiosity was associated with less prison misconduct and reduced recidivism risk, but only for people with positive self-identities, according to Paternoster and Bushway’s Fear of Self scale, and lower levels of perceived social support. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and practice.