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An eye-opening account of how and why evangelical Christian ministries are flourishing in prisons across the United StatesThroughout the United States, faith-based prison ministries are flourishing amid an increasingly punitive system of mass incarceration. These predominantly evangelical Christian ministries are mainly concerned with salvaging individual souls: faith-based groups believe that each person is capable of transformation, but only through born-again conversion. While these ministries don't view prisoners as incorrigible, neither are they concerned with the injustice of our prison system.Tanya Erzen spoke with prisoners and members of faith-based ministries in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Washington, at both male and female prisons, to better understand both the nature of these ministries and their effects.
About the Author
Tanya Erzen is an associate professor of religion and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound and the executive director of the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound, a nonprofit that provides college education for incarcerated women. A former Soros Justice Media Fellow, she is the author of Straight to Jesus, Fanpire, and Zero Tolerance.
Author photo: Kiley Riffell
