| In light of recent legislation and the enthusiastic support of President Bush, there is a growing call to fund "faith-based" social service programs, including those focused on juvenile and adult offenders. These programs are controversial because they seek to reconfigure the line separating church and state. Based on a national 2001 survey of 327 respondents, we assessed public support for this policy initiative. The major findings were: 1) the respondents were divided evenly on whether the government should fund faith-based correctional programs; 2) a clear majority opposed having a religious content to the programs; 3) most opposed discrimination on religious grounds in the hiring of program staff; 4) a clear majority favored funding all religious groups as opposed to only "Christian churches"; and 5) the respondents did not view faith-based programs as more, or less, effective than traditional correctional rehabilitation programs. The study also explored now religious beliefs and other social factors affected support for faith-based interventions. |
Updated 05/20/2006