Creation of personal religious capital in prison as a way of improving inmate resilience and motivation to change

The article analyses the profound importance of religion for prison inmates. The objective of this research is to analyze the impact of religious experiences and narratives on inmates serving long sentences for whom religion can help activate personal resilience mechanisms. The results highlight that prisoners accumulate “personal religious capital,” which organizes and provides structure for identity processes of personal self-dignification. This research provides a new vision of religious experiences in prison in the sense that it highlights the importance of religion as a source of enhanced resilience.