Men serving long-term sentences in Zonderwater Correctional Centre, South Africa: Religious identity and behavioural change

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Men serving long-term sentences in Zonderwater Correctional Centre, South Africa: Religious identity and behavioural change
 
Creator Landman, Christina Ncongwane, Harold J. Pieterse, Tanya
 
Subject — religious identity; offender; incarcerated; behavioural change; Zonderwater South Africa; Social Identity Theory; Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Description This article retrieves the voices of a group of incarcerated men speaking on their religious identity and the behavioural changes ensuing from their religious choices. Research data were collected over a 10-month period from participants that consisted of a group of 30 male offenders serving life or long-term sentences at the Correctional Centre A, Zonderwater Management Area in Cullinan near Pretoria, South Africa. Qualitative research by means of an interview schedule invited offenders to share their thoughts on how their religious beliefs and experiences served as a support system during incarceration. Insight was gained into how religious identities were established to maintain a sense of belonging and hope during this period. The study embraces the Social Identity Theory that departs from the premise that individuals have multiple identities associated with the environment they live and operate in. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to understand the shaping of religious identity within the four themes that were identified: conserving identities; accommodating identities; contra-identities; and change of behaviour, attitudes and values. Research on religious identities operationalising into behavioural change provides knowledge to disciplines such as psychology, sociology and theology, and assists the correctional services in understanding the complex and dynamic nature of offenders when they voice themselves outside of their crimes.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2019-03-27
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v75i3.5274
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 75, No 3 (2019); 11 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5274/12462 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5274/12461 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5274/12463 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5274/12459
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Christina Landman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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