Islamic Religion in Prison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Islamic Religion in Prison - Essay Example can be traced back to the eighteenth century (Latessa & Allen, 1997), and many scholars of the contemporary prison noted down that religious reflection and beliefs had lots of influence on developing current, secular prison practices (Rothman, 1995; Young, Gartner, O'Connor, Larson, & Wright, 1990). In light of this, this paper presents the results of a study exploring the process of conversion to Islam amongst young male prisoners. In accordance with Rambo (1993, pg. 13), there are effectively four ways in which religious adaptation can be practiced: it perhaps a practice of increased loyalty and commitment within the same religious composition; a move from non religious devotion to a religious life; a change from one religion to another; and the shifting of a person from one group of people to another inside the same major religious practices. As such, the population of Islamic conversions in prison is expected to be varied, consisting of different traditions and different previous experiences of religious activities, as well as persons who recognize themselves as Muslim whose religiousity becomes more important upon imprisonment; persons who do not identify themselves with any religion prior to imprisonment but who then subsequently adopt Islam whilst in jail; and inmates who were following non-Islamic religions prior to, or certainly during part of, their imprisonment, but who then convert to Islam. Within prison, a potential convert can come across a setting that is in support of the practice of conversion. Kose's (1996) study of Muslim conversions in prison shows that the majority of persons practiced three patterns of conversion to Islamic religion, given that "intellectual, affectional, and investigational patterns". Initial skepticism about prior faiths and intellectual finding within Islam values often paves the way towards conversion, and this has come with by individualistic contacts with Muslim brothers or links and a period of "carrying-out-tests" with Islamic religion. The prison environment is itself sometimes a 'hazardous environment' for inmates, owing to the high levels of 'violent behavior' that can be practiced, which may consist of sexual or physical threats and attacks (Edgar and O'Donnell, 1998). However, converting to Islam in jail may serve to lessen an inmate's threat from unfair treatment. Several researchers reported