Summary
This research collected baseline information on nontraditional religions in U.S. correctional institutions, identified the personal and social motivations for prisoners' conversions to these faith groups, and assessed the risk for terrorist recruitment among these prisoners. The study's main conclusion is that the danger to U.S. security from inmate adherents to nontraditional religions is not the number of adherents to Islam or to White supremacy religions, but rather the potential for small groups of radical believers to instigate terrorist acts upon their release from custody. Among recommendations for addressing this issue is the hiring of chaplains in overcrowded maximum-security prisons, so as to provide authoritative teachers who will ensure moderation and tolerance. Findings show that prisoners have been converted to the following nontraditional religious groups: Islam (traditional Islam, Nation of Islam, Moorish Science Temple, and Prison Islam); Hinduism; Buddhism; Native-American religions; Black Hebrew Israelism; Wicca; and White supremacy religions (Odin/Asatru and Christian Identity). Although some conversions to these religions are motivated by personal crises and the need for protection, the primary motivation for conversions is spiritual searching.