Title:
Faith opportunities in Baltimore's carceral system: a comparative policy analysis of religious service provision across the Mid-Atlantic
Author:
Noor S. Abd-Allah
Thesis Advisor:
Jen L. Lowry
Committee Member:
Marianna E. Carlucci
Committee Member:
Frank D. Golom
Committee Member:
Matthew W. Kirkhart
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2026
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Although religious exercise is constitutionally protected within United States correctional settings, access to religious practice and services is structured through institutional policies and administrative procedures. Despite prior research examining legal protections, religious participation, and rehabilitative outcomes, comparatively little research has examined how correctional religious services policies structure access to religious practice across jurisdictions. The purpose of this study was to examine how state-level Department of Corrections religious services policies function as mechanisms of governance that structure access to religious practices, accommodations, and services across five Mid-Atlantic jurisdictions. A cross-jurisdictional qualitative content analysis was conducted using publicly available Department of Corrections religious services policies from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and Virginia. The Maryland Religious Services Manual (2022) served as the analytical foundation for the development of a deductive coding framework that was systematically applied across jurisdictions using the qualitative software, MAXQDA. Comparative analysis examined how accessibility was structured within policy text through policy-defined procedures, administrative responsibilities, documentation requirements, approval processes, and institutional oversight, while using equity as an interpretive lens and proportionality as a contextual lens for cross-jurisdictional comparison. Findings indicated that religious services policies functioned as mechanisms of governance through which access to religious practice was requested, reviewed, approved, coordinated, documented, and administered. Rather than locating responsibility exclusively within chaplaincy, religious services policies distributed responsibility for structuring religious access across broader institutional systems, including food service operations, grievance procedures, volunteer management, organizational hierarchies, and other administrative domains. Although all jurisdictions included policies addressing religious accommodations and services, they differed substantially in their degree of procedural specificity, administrative clarity, documentation requirements, approval pathways, and institutional guidance, influencing how accessibility was represented within policy text and informing interpretations of equity and proportionality across jurisdictions. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that while legal protections establish the right to religious exercise, policy-defined mechanisms of governance structure how access to religious practice is coordinated, administered, and managed within correctional systems. By conceptualizing policy as a governance framework, the present study provides a framework for examining religious access beyond legal protections and religious participation alone, directing attention to the administrative structures through which access to religious practice is formally defined, coordinated, and managed across correctional systems. In doing so, this study contributes to the correctional policy literature by providing a comparative framework for examining how mechanisms of governance structure religious access across jurisdictions. It further establishes a foundation for future research examining how policy design, institutional capacity, institutional communication, and implementation influence how constitutionally protected opportunities for religious exercise are translated into practice across correctional settings.
Degree:
Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Level:
Doctoral
Discipline:
Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
Use and Reproduction:
The authors of theses and dissertations are the copyright owners. Loyola Notre Dame Library has their permission to store and provide access to these works. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Permission is required to use materials for which Loyola Notre Dame Library, Loyola University Maryland, or Notre Dame of Maryland University hold copyright. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift of purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Accessibility:
LNDL is currently working to ensure our dissertations and theses are accessible. Portions of this document may not be fully accessible. A fully accessible version can be produced upon request by contacting [email protected]
Identifier:
AbdAllah-26
