| Summary: | Buddhist prison outreach is a relatively recent development, in the United States of
America and elsewhere, and has yet to be chronicled satisfactorily. This thesis traces the
physical, legal and social environment in which such activities take place and describes the
history of Buddhist prison outreach in the USA from its earliest indications in the 1960s
to the present day. The mechanics of Buddhist prison outreach are also examined.
Motivations for participating in Buddhist prison outreach are discussed, including
Buddhist textual supports, role models and personal benefits. This paper then proposes
that volunteers active in this area are members of a liminal communitas as per Victor Turner
and benefit from ‘non-player’ status, as defined by Ashis Nandy. The experiences of the
inmates themselves is beyond the scope of this thesis. === Religious Studies and Arabic === M.A. (Religious Studies)
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