Edward Flores
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814717356
- eISBN:
- 9780814772898
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814717356.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues that the corrections system in California targets black and brown men of color, such that one in six Latinos will be incarcerated at some time in his life. The preservation of ...
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This chapter argues that the corrections system in California targets black and brown men of color, such that one in six Latinos will be incarcerated at some time in his life. The preservation of such inequality hinders the religious mainstreaming of Catholic and even Protestant Latinos into a triple melting pot and ultimately results in the development of uniquely Chicano faith-based organizations. The chapter looks at two sites—Victory Outreach, a Pentecostal-evangelical church; and Homeboy Industries, a nondenominational nonprofit—in examining how theologies, religious practices, and the context of gang exit converge to establish Chicano-themed, faith-based communities into which existing gang members can integrate. Recovery from gang life occurs by entry into both sheltered and integrative faith-based groups.Less
This chapter argues that the corrections system in California targets black and brown men of color, such that one in six Latinos will be incarcerated at some time in his life. The preservation of such inequality hinders the religious mainstreaming of Catholic and even Protestant Latinos into a triple melting pot and ultimately results in the development of uniquely Chicano faith-based organizations. The chapter looks at two sites—Victory Outreach, a Pentecostal-evangelical church; and Homeboy Industries, a nondenominational nonprofit—in examining how theologies, religious practices, and the context of gang exit converge to establish Chicano-themed, faith-based communities into which existing gang members can integrate. Recovery from gang life occurs by entry into both sheltered and integrative faith-based groups.