Estimating the Benefits of a Faith-Based Correctional Program
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2013.02.22Keywords:
Prisoner reentry, recidivism, employment, religion, cost-benefit analysisAbstract
A recent outcome evaluation of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (InnerChange), a faith-based prisoner reentry program that has operated within Minnesota’s prison system since 2002, showed the program is effective in lowering recidivism. This study extends research on InnerChange by conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the program. Because InnerChange relies heavily on volunteers and program costs are privately funded, the program exacts no additional costs to the State of Minnesota. As a result, this study focused on estimating the program’s benefits by examining recidivism and post-release employment. The findings showed that during its first six years of operation in Minnesota, InnerChange produced an estimated benefit of $3 million, which amounts to nearly $8,300 per participant. Much of this benefit stems from costs avoided as a result of the program’s impact on reoffending.
References
Albrecht, Stan, Bruce Chadwick, and David Alcorn. 1977. “Religiosity and Deviance: Application of an Attitude-behavior Contingent Consistency Model.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 16: 263-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1385697 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1385697
Aos, Steve, Marisa Miller, and Elizabeth Drake. 2006. Evidence-based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
Aos, Steve, Polly Phipps, Robert Barnoski, and Roxanne Lieb. 2001. The Comparative Costs and Benefits of Programs to Reduce Crime. Seattle, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
Baier, Colin J. and Bradley R. E. Wright. 2001. “If You Love Me, Keep My Commandments”: A Meta-analysis of the Effect of Religion on Crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 38: 3-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038001001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038001001
Berg, Mark and Beth M. Huebner. 2011. “Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties, Employment, and Recidivism.” Justice Quarterly 28: 382-410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2010.498383 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2010.498383
Burkett, Steven and Mervin White. 1974. “Hellfire and Delinquency: Another Look.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 13:455-462. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1384608 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1384608
Cohen, Mark A. and Alex R. Piquero. 2009. “New Evidence on the Monetary Value of Saving a High Risk Youth.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology 25:25-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-008-9057-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-008-9057-3
Cullen, Francis T. 2002. “Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs.” Pp. 253-291 in Crime: Public Policies for Crime Control, edited by James Q. Wilson and Joan Petersilia. Oakland, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
Cullen, Francis T. and Paul Gendreau. 2000. “Assessing Correctional Rehabilitation: Policy, Practice, and Prospects.” Pp. 109-175 in Policies, Processes, and Decisions of the Criminal Justice System, edited by Julie Horney, John Martin, Doris Layton MacKenzie, Ruth D. Peterson, and Dennis Rosenbaum. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice.
DeLisi, Matt, Anna Kosloski, Molly Sween, Emily Hachmeister, Matt Moore, and Alan Drury. 2010. “Murder by Numbers: Monetary Costs Imposed by a Sample of Homicide Offenders.” The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology 21:501-513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14789940903564388 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14789940903564388
Duwe, Grant. 2010. “Prison-based Chemical Dependency Treatment in Minnesota: An Outcome Evaluation.” The Journal of Experimental Criminology 6: 57-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11292-010-9090-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-010-9090-8
Duwe, Grant and Robin Goldman. 2009. “The Impact of Prison-based Sex Offender Treatment on Sex Offense Recidivism: Evidence from Minnesota.” Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 21: 279-307. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063209338490
Duwe, Grant and Deborah Kerschner. 2008. “Removing a Nail from the Boot Camp Coffin: An Outcome Evaluation of Minnesota’s Challenge Incarceration Program.” Crime & Delinquency 54: 614-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128707301628 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128707301628
Duwe, Grant and Michelle King. 2013. “Can Faith-based Correctional Programs Work? An Outcome Evaluation of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative in Minnesota.” International Journal of
Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 57: 813-841. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624X12439397 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X12439397
Evans, David, Francis Cullen, Velmer S. Burton, Jr., R. Gregory Dunaway, Gary L. Payne, and Sesha R. Kethineni. 1996. “Religion, Social Bonds, and Delinquency,” Deviant Behavior 17: 43-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639625.1996.9968014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.1996.9968014
Freeman, Richard B. 1986. “Who Escapes? The Relation of Churchgoing and Other Background Factors to the Socioeconomic Performance of Black Male Youths from Inner-city Tracts.” Pp. 353-376 in The Black Youth Employment Crisis, edited by Richard B. Freeman and Harry J. Holzer. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3386/w1656
Gaes, Gerald, Timothy J. Flanagan, Lawrence Motiuk, and Lynn Stewart. 1999. “Adult Correctional Treatment.” Pp. 361-426 in Prisons, edited by Michael Tonry and Joan Petersilia. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/449300
Granovetter, Mark S. 1983. “The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited.” Sociological Theory 1: 201-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/202051 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/202051
Higgins, Paul and Gary Albrecht. 1977. “Hellfire and Delinquency Revisited.” Social Forces 55: 952-958. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2577564
Hirschi, Travis and Rodney Stark. 1969. “Hellfire and Delinquency.” Social Problems 17: 202-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/799866 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.1969.17.2.03a00050
Jensen, Gary F. and Maynard L. Erickson. 1979. “The Religious Factor and Delinquency: Another Look at the Hellfire Hypothesis.” Pp. 157-177 in The Religious Dimension, edited by Robert Wuthnow. New York: Academic Press.
Johnson, Byron. R. 2001. “The Role African American Churches in Reducing Crime Among Black Youth.” Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR Research Report), Baylor University http://www.isreligion.org/publications/reports/.
Johnson, Byron, R. 2004. “Religious Programs and Recidivism among Former Inmates in Prison Fellowship Programs: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study.” Justice Quarterly 21: 329-354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418820400095831 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820400095831
Johnson, Byron R. and Sung Joon Jang. 2010. “Religion and Crime: Assessing the Role of the Faith Factor.” Pp. 117-150 in Contemporary Issues in Criminological Theory and Research: The Role of Social Institutions, edited by Richard Rosenfield, Kenna Quinet, and Crystal A. Garcia. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Johnson, Byron R. and David B. Larson. 2003. “The InnerChange Freedom Initiative: A Preliminary Evaluation of a Faith-based Prison Program.” Philadelphia, PA: Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society.
Johnson, Byron R. and Marc V. Siegel. 2008. “The Great Escape: How Religion Alters The Delinquent Behavior of High-Risk Adolescents.” ISR Report, Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, 2008 (http://www.isreligion.org/pdf/ISR_ Great_Escape.pdf).
Johnson, Byron R. and David B. Larson and Timothy G. Pitts. 1997. “Religious Programs, Institutional Adjustment, and Recidivism Among Former Inmates in Prison Fellowship Programs.” Justice Quarterly 14: 145-166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418829700093251 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418829700093251
Johnson, Byron R., Spencer De Li, David B. Larson, and Michael McCullough. 2000. Religion and Delinquency: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 16: 32-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043986200016001003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986200016001003
Johnson, Byron R., Ralph Brett Tompkins, and Derek Webb. 2002. “Objective Hope – Assessing the Effectiveness of Faith-based Organizations: A Review of the Literature.” ISR Report, Baylor University (www.isreligion.org/pdf/ISR_ Objective_Hope.pdf).
Johnson, Byron R., David B. Larson, Sung Joon Jang, and Spencer De Li. 2000. “The ‘Invisible Institution’ and Black Youth Crime: The Church as an Agency of Local Social Control,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 29: 479-498. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005114610839 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005114610839
Johnson, Byron R., David B. Larson, Spencer De Li, and Sung Joon Jang. 2000. “Escaping from the Crime of Inner Cities: Church Attendance and Religious Salience Among Disadvantaged Youth.” Justice Quarterly 17: 377-391. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418820000096371 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820000096371
Lawrence, Sarah, Daniel P. Mears, Glenn Dublin, and Jeremy Travis. 2002. The Practice and Promise of Prison Programming. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/e720872011-001
MacKenzie, Doris L. and Laura J. Hickman. 1998. What Works in Corrections? An Examination of the Effectiveness of the Type of Rehabilitation Programs Offered by Washington State Department of Corrections. College Park: University of Maryland.
Martinson, Robert. 1974. “What Works? Questions and Answers about Prison Reform.” Public Interest 35: 22-35.
McCollister, Kathryn, .E., Michael T. French, and Hai Fang. 2010. The Cost of Crime to Society: New Crime-specific Estimates for Policy and Program Evaluation. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 108: 98-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.12.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.12.002
Morris, Norval and David J. Rothman. 1998. The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pager, Devah. 2003. The Mark of a Criminal Record. The American Journal of Sociology 108: 937-975. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/374403 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/374403
Petersilia, Joan. 2003. When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Sherman, Lawrence W., Denise Gottfredson, Doris MacKenzie, John Eck, Peter Reuter and Shawn Bushway. 1997. Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising: A Report to the United States Congress. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/e520902006-001
Stark, Rodney. 1996. “Religion as Context: Hellfire and Delinquency One More Time.” Sociology of Religion 57: 163-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3711948 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3711948
Stark, Rodney, Lori Kent, and Daniel Doyle. 1982. “Religion and Delinquency: The Ecology of a Lost Relationship.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 19:4-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002242788201900102 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002242788201900102
Western, Bruce, Jeffery R. Kling, and David F. Weiman. 2001. The Labor Market Consequences of Incarceration. Crime & Delinquency 47: 410-427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128701047003007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128701047003007
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 International Journal of Criminology and Sociology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Policy for Journals/Articles with Open Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work
Policy for Journals / Manuscript with Paid Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Publisher retain copyright .
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work .
