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Show Making Others Conditions Our Own: Faith-Based Initiatives and Other Mediating Structures as Public Policy Scott R. Rasmussen congregation an A grade and 22% gave it a B. The G.P.A. of the congregation was 3.59 (roughly in the A- range) compared to 3.13 for the faith based organization and 3.10 for the secular non-profit. These numbers represent a B+ grade. The percentage of recipients grading the faith-based organization and secular non profit with an A grade were very similar, 44% and 38% respectively. Wuthnow pointed out "As for faith-based organizations there is little evidence that they are perceived as being more effective than secular nonprofits ... there is [also] no evidence that clients perceive faith-based organizations to be any less effective than secular nonprofits" (Wuthnow, p. 208, emphasis in the original). All three mediating structures scored significantly higher than the public welfare department, which came in with a 2.47 G.P.A. (approximately a C+ grade). Clearly mediating structures, specifically those that are faith-based, scored higher in perceived effectiveness. Wuthnow suggested several explanations for the differences. One was the distance between the recipients' home and the chosen service organization. For example, he reported that the average distance between home and the public welfare department was 4.3 miles, compared to an average distance of 1.2 miles for the faith-based organization, and less than one mile for the congregation (Wuthnow, 2004, p. 209). He also suggested "that it is probably their ability to forge encompassing whole-person, personally transforming relationships with clients that accounts for any success they have" (Wuthnow, p. 159). The "whole-person" concept relates directly to the creation of social capital and will be further scrutinized in the next section. In 2002 the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania published a report entitled "Objective Hope: Assessing the Effectiveness of Faith-Based Organizations: A Review of the Literature." The report centered on a study of the results of 25 studies that had examined the effectiveness of faith-based organizations. The authors reported that 11 of the 25 studies were multivariate, and that in all but one of these 11 "the faith-based program or initiative under study was found to be significantly more effective" (Johnson, Tompkins, & Webb, 2002 p. 19). One of these studies examined the effect of religious programs on recidivism in groups of inmates from prisons in New York State (Johnson, Larson, & Pitts, 1997). Recidivism is defined as "A tendency to lapse into a previous condition or pattern of behavior; especially, a falling back or relapse into prior criminal habits" (Dictionary, n.d.). The study examined a report that had been commissioned in 1991 by the Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM). PFM is a non-profit volunteer ministry that uses Bible study and other religious based activities to help prisoners. The study reexamined the report's data to determine whether the PFM programs affected inmate behavior (Johnson, et al., 1997). The study reported that "after controlling for level of involvement in Prison Fellowship sponsored programs, inmates who were most active in Bible studies were signifi- cantly less likely to be rearrested during the one-year follow-up period . . . there was a statistically significant parallel between increases in program participation and reductions in the level of recidivism among former inmates." (Johnson, et al., 2002, p.19). The findings of one more study are relevant here. A 2001 article published in the Journal of City and State, exam' ined the work of faith-based organizations in two Michigan counties. In Ottawa County the organizations included Good Samaritan Ministries (GSM) and in Kent County the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism (GRACE) (Soonhee, 2001, p. 3). The state contracted out job mentoring programs to these two organizations. Through face-to-face and phone interviews with project coordinators, as well as participatory observation the author found that there were several advantages to this arrangement. First among them was the ability of the faith-based organiza' tions to provide services not otherwise provided by Michigan's Family Independence Agency (FIA) (Soonhee, 2001, p. 41). The second finding is most intriguing. There was a "higher quality of service through faith-based organiza' tions' experiences in mentoring programs" (Soonhee, p. 41)-The author attributed this higher quality to the same "whole' person" treatment described above. "This study found that GSM and GRACE emphasized the overall quality of clients' life as criteria for the success of mentoring program, in addi' tion to the client's ability to retain employment" (Soohnee, p-41). These studies demonstrate a trend identified in the Objective Hope report, as well as other empirical findings. The findings strengthen claims that faith-based organizations are effective in delivering social services. Of particular interest in the findings is the reference to the "whole-person" treatment. As was mentioned above this treatment relates to the crc ation of social capital. A review of anecdotal evidence demonstrates that social capital is crucial to this empirical success of faith-based organizations. Faith-Based Organizations and Social Capital Professor William Lockhart (2005) compared secular and faith-based organizations "seeking to determine what social ties these programs developed and what norms of relationship were taught and observed" (p. 49). What he discovered was a sharp contrast in the focus or vision of the organizations-For example, in their mission statement faith-based organiza' tions explicitly claimed a desire to "build relationships and a sense of community (i.e. social capital)" (Lockhart, p. 50)-The secular non-profit organizations articulated a more task oriented approach. It is tempting to apply the old cliche about actions speak' ing louder than words; in other words results, and not vision, are what counts. However do not underestimate the impor' tance of vision. Remember, according to Couto, a common vision is essential to not only building social capital but haV' ing it endure. A lack of vision among service providers may 52 |