Reinventing Corrections: Faith, Identity Transformation, and “Relationship Theology” at Angola

• In Event: The Angola Prison Seminary: Effects of Faith-Based Ministry on Identity Transformation, Desistance, and Rehabilitation

Abstract

Drawing upon its unique history, Angola is the only maximum-security prison in America that allows inmates to run their own churches—and from this happenstance much can be learned. After spending literally months on-site and overnight at the prison, making dozens of impromptu visits to inmate-run worship sessions, conducting over 100 intensive interviews--and anonymously surveying over 2,200 inmates --we did not find religion playing handmaiden to oppression at Angola. On the contrary, in this era of mass incarceration and the New Jim Crow in our nation’s most punitive state, we found religion at Angola playing the role it has arguably always played: of caretaking for the prison and facilitating restoration from the kinds of personal brokenness commonly associated with poverty and family breakdown. We found religion at Angola enhanced inmate wellness and assisted in the reduction of violence--by providing personalist attention to inmates’ needs and private pains, often expressed for the very first time through religious practice or in a religious context. We contend that academic treatments of prison religion have thus far relied mostly upon caricature and preconceived notions, rather than full exploration of the nuanced and complex role religion plays for incarcerated citizens.

Author

• Michael Hallett, University of North Florida