Monday, September 29, 2003
Prison faith-based programs reduce rates of recidivism
Statistics from the Louisiana Department of Corrections agree that faith is good for prisoners. For five years the state has tracked how faith-based programs in prisons affect recidivism rates.
Numbers from July 2003 show that 49 percent of inmates released in 1999 went back behind bars. For those involved in religious programming, the rate drops to 30 percent.
"I was not surprised to see sustained participation was an element in recidivism," said Richard Stalder, state secretary of public safety and corrections. "I was surprised to see how significant the difference was."
The number substantiated what David Wade Chaplain Ray Anderson has long believed.
"If he doesn't have a changed heart, then you don't have a changed man," he said.
Harry Dammer at the University of Scranton has been looking into religion in prisons for about 10 years.
Inmates come to the faith for as many reasons as those in the free world. Some have never been exposed to spirituality while others feel that God has abandoned them.
"The first-time experience people come into this place and say, 'These people really believe in what (they are) doing. Let's see if I can get on the same train with them,'" said the Rev. Richard Pusch, chaplain at Fortch Wade Correctional Center.
Through sharing with their peers and scores of outside volunteers, the inmates try to make real change in their lives.
Recidivism is not always based on faith alone. Stalder cautions that education or other factors also contribute to changing an inmate.
While some numbers in Louisiana show faith is a stronger preventative measure than education, Dammer says it is far too early to tell.
"The results on education are long standing and pretty conclusive," he said. "Religion results are new, but equally encouraging."
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