“Religion in prison”: Elements for the construction of a sociologically non-specific issue
Type de matériel :
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This text attempts to test the relevance of “religion in prison” as a sociological object in its own right. The purpose here is not to further a hyper-specialized aim, but to restore to the study of this phenomenon a generalist perspective that breaks away from the sole register of religion. First-hand data and several contributions covering all the social resources available within the prison system question the supposed incomparability of religious behavior with the other observable practices in prison life. Consequently, it is the ontological specificity of religion—often taken for granted in the absence of empirical evidence—that proves to be questionable, particularly when it comes to highlighting the massive phenomenon of conversion among the penal population. Finally, the text invites us to mobilize the religious as a sociological tool in order to objectify the mechanisms of prison socialization, of which it remains one of the many products.
Réseaux sociaux