Baylor Professor To Discuss Religion In Prison System
Byron R. Johnson, director of the Center for Religious Inquiry
Across the Disciplines at Baylor University, will discuss
religion within the public, as well as religion within the
prison system, during two presentations April 13-14.
The third and final George J. Beto Chair Lecturer this semester,
Johnson’s first presentation, “Is Religion Good
for Society? Assessing the Effectiveness of Faith-Based Organizations,” will
be held Wednesday (April 13) at 2 p.m.
Through his assessment of 669 studies of organic religion
and 101 studies that examine the diverse interventions of
religious groups, Johnson determined that research on faith-based
organizations is largely overlooked and underdeveloped and “often
reflects a general naivete with regard to measuring the ‘faith’ in
faith-based,” among many others, he said.
His second presentation, “The InnerChange Freedom Initiative:
A Preliminary Evaluation of a Faith-Based Prison Program,” will
be held on Thursday, at 9:30 a.m.
The InnerChange Freedom Initiative was launched in Texas
prisons in 1997 as the “first full-scale attempt to
offer comprehensive programming emphasizing education, work,
life skills, value restructuring, and one-on-one mentoring
in an environment where religious instruction permeates all
aspects of the prison environment,” Johnson said.
After studying prisoners who had undergone two years of the
program, he found that a “high percentage of IFI participants
(58 percent) were not able to complete the program” due
to parole or voluntary withdrawal; program graduates were “significantly
less likely than the matched comparison group to be arrested
(17.3 percent vs. 35 percent)” during a release period;
and “IFI program graduates were significantly less
likely than the matched comparison group to be incarcerated
(8 percent to 20.3 percent)” during a release period,
among many other findings.
Both presentations will be held in the Kerper Courtroom in
the Criminal Justice Center.
In addition to his serving as CRIAD director, Johnson is
also a professor of sociology and directs the National Domestic
Violence Fatality Review Initiative, both at Baylor.
His recent publications have examined the efficacy of the “faith
factor” in reducing crime and delinquency among at-risk
youth in urban communities and several studies examining
the impact of faith-based programs on reducing the possibility
of relapsing into patterns of criminal activity and prisoner
reentry.
Since 1981 the College of Criminal Justice has brought in
distinguished scholars through the Beto Chair Lecture Series
to speak on relevant and timely topics of concern to students,
faculty and practitioners.
Both presentations are free and open to the public.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer
Gauntt
April 7, 2005
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