@article{ref1,
title="During, after, or both? Isolating the effect of religious support on recidivism during reentry",
journal="Journal of quantitative criminology",
year="2018",
author="Mowen, Thomas J. and Stansfield, Richard and Boman, John H.",
volume="34",
number="4",
pages="1079-1101",
abstract="OBJECTIVEsTo examine the independent and interdependent roles of baseline religious support during incarceration and within-individual changes in religious support on recidivism during the prisoner reentry process.<br><br>METHODSUsing data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, cross-lagged dynamic panel models are used to examine the respective roles of baseline differences and within-individual changes in religious support on two variety indices encompassing substance use and criminal offending while simultaneously controlling for pre-incarceration levels of substance use and offending.<br><br>RESULTSFindings show that within-individual increases in religious support protect against substance use post-release, while baseline levels of religious support do not significantly influence substance use. Additionally, baseline levels of religious support fail to condition this relationship. <br><br>FINDINGS assessing criminal offending demonstrate that baseline religious support and within-individual changes in religious support fail to relate to offending independently. However, an interaction term reveals that the combination of the two relates to significantly lower levels of offending post-release.<br><br>CONCLUSIONSFindings offer encouragement for those involved in the work of providing religious support to ex-offenders in the community, reaffirming that tailoring support programs to the religious or spiritual ways individuals make meaning in their lives can improve reentry outcomes. <br><br>METHODologically, failing to distinguish between baseline levels of religious support and post-release changes in religious support fails to capture the complexity of religiosity on the reentry process.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0748-4518",
doi="10.1007/s10940-017-9366-5",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10940-017-9366-5"
}