Abstract
In this chapter, I draw on insights from follow-up semi-structured interviews that I conducted with one smaller sub-sample of the men in Scottish and Danish prisons, as well as additional interviews with Christian and Muslim prison chaplains. I examine the way in which chaplains conducted religious and spiritual study groups and engaged in recreational pastimes and supportive one-to-one discussions with inmates. I consider the impact that the chaplains and the religious study groups and practices were having on the men’s values, attitudes and self-identities while in the liminal phase (Healy in The dynamics of desistance: Charting pathways through change. Routledge, New York, 2012). I present case studies that illustrate the turning points and journeys that particular inmates experienced. I then draw conclusions about the way in which prison chaplaincy may provide added value in terms of nurturing a sense of peace, wellbeing, fulfillment and desistance-related attitudes amongst male gang members and offenders.
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Deuchar, R. (2018). Support in Times of Trouble: Chaplaincy in Scottish and Danish Prisons. In: Gangs and Spirituality. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78899-9_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78899-9_7
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