The cross pictured above is not sold in any store. It is the work of a Texarkana prisoner, one of many made and either worn by the inmates or given away as gifts--sometimes even to the sheriff and their jailers.
This article from a local paper points to why these religious crafts are so meaningful to those who make them. From the standpoint of modern network analysis and cognitive science, prison is arguably one of the most least effective ways to go about reducing crime. Detachment and sensory deprivation breed social dysfunction. The culture of religious crafts in this Texarkana prison, however, engages the inmates at the most fundamental level of what it means to be human: they connect, transform and transcend.
Leave a comment