One in every 31 U.S. adults is in the penal system. This mass incarceration is by far the largest in the world. African Americans are disproportionately imprisoned and challenged by the consequences of incarceration in education, jobs, voting, and other aspects of life. Since 96 percent of those imprisoned are released, there is an urgent need for resources and research that can improve reentry outcomes. Reconstructing Rage analyzes how - and how well - one company, Reconstruction, Inc. of Philadelphia, has organized returning prisoners, their families, and communities for 24 years. It looks at Reconstruction's programs, strategies, and patterns of change over time; holistic (i.e., mind-body-spirit) and principled transformations in the people and families it has touched; and at the company's collaborations and contributions to criminal justice and public policy best practices. Reconstructing Rage explores challenges of improving community capacity and quality of life outcomes within and beyond reentry and reintegration, for former felons, their families, and a growing number of others interested in a broader social justice.

How are predominantly African American churches meeting the needs of young people? What resources of, and tensions in, faith leadership are shaping answers to this and other related questions? Nurturing Sanctuary analyzes ways in which the two most vital institutions of the Black experience - families and churches - are working with schools and health providers to respond to contemporary challenges and improve the twenty-first century life chances of African Americans and others. Data were generated from a four-year collaboration of eighteen churches, public health professionals, service learning students, and an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Eighty parents and pastors, and over 400 teenagers in a large, Midwestern city specified strategies of action in their daily lives and how they use them to respond, more and less successfully, to their many life challenges. Nurturing Sanctuary explores three capacity-building themes that emerged and critiques diverse Sacred and secular resources being developed and used. Finally, it specifies innovative best practices that are enriching faith-health relationships among religiously active persons, and all others with whom they interact within and beyond sanctuary walls.

How are predominantly African American churches meeting the needs of young people? What resources of, and tensions in, faith leadership are shaping answers to this and other related questions? Nurturing Sanctuary analyzes ways in which the two most vital institutions of the Black experience - families and churches - are working with schools and health providers to respond to contemporary challenges and improve the twenty-first century life chances of African Americans and others. Data were generated from a four-year collaboration of eighteen churches, public health professionals, service learning students, and an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Eighty parents and pastors, and over 400 teenagers in a large, Midwestern city specified strategies of action in their daily lives and how they use them to respond, more and less successfully, to their many life challenges. Nurturing Sanctuary explores three capacity-building themes that emerged and critiques diverse Sacred and secular resources being developed and used. Finally, it specifies innovative best practices that are enriching faith-health relationships among religiously active persons, and all others with whom they interact within and beyond sanctuary walls.

One in every 31 U.S. adults is in the penal system. This mass incarceration is by far the largest in the world. African Americans are disproportionately imprisoned and challenged by the consequences of incarceration in education, jobs, voting, and other aspects of life. Since 96 percent of those imprisoned are released, there is an urgent need for resources and research that can improve reentry outcomes. Reconstructing Rage analyzes how - and how well - one company, Reconstruction, Inc. of Philadelphia, has organized returning prisoners, their families, and communities for 24 years. It looks at Reconstruction's programs, strategies, and patterns of change over time; holistic (i.e., mind-body-spirit) and principled transformations in the people and families it has touched; and at the company's collaborations and contributions to criminal justice and public policy best practices. Reconstructing Rage explores challenges of improving community capacity and quality of life outcomes within and beyond reentry and reintegration, for former felons, their families, and a growing number of others interested in a broader social justice.