Rational Choice Theory and prison chaplaincy

The Chaplain's Dilemma1

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2139146
AutoresJames A Beckford (University of Warwick, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen50
Número4
Páginas671-685
Fecha de publicación1999-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-4446.1999.00671.x
PMID15270070
OpenAlexW2046130201
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas16

Critical responses to the application of Rational Choice theories to the study of religious phenomena tend to be polarized between outright denial that the theories have any relevance to religion and equally outspoken claims that the theories are the only hope for progress in the sociology of religion. This article aims to avoid both of these extreme positions by raising a question, instead, about one of Rational Choice's central propositions about religion. This proposition holds that levels of religious vitality vary positively with the degree to which agencies of the state are prevented from regulating religious activity. The findings of recent research into prison chaplaincy in the UK and the USA will be used to test this claim. The main argument will be that the existence of an established church has facilitated a higher level of religious activity, especially for minority faiths, in prisons in England and Wales than is possible in American prisons. This difference in religious vitality is explained in terms of the Church of England's privileged position as a ‘broker’ between the state and minority faith communities. There is greater equality of opportunity for religious activity in American prisons, but the level of the activity is necessarily lower. In neither country is there anything truly resembling a ‘free’ market for religion in prisons, but the established Church of England is able to use its quasi‐monopoly powers to broker advantageous conditions for minority faith communities. This brokerage function may be advantageous to all religious organizations in the highly regulated ‘economy’ of prisons

Argument (complex analysis · Criminology · Dilemma · Doctrine · Epistemology · Faith · Political science · Prison · Rational choice theory (criminology · Sociology · State (computer science · Theology · Vitality · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology