Convicted: Toward a Pastoral Theology of Incarceration

Abstract

In the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, a thick understanding of the dynamics that make the U.S. a prison society is needed in order to develop an adequate pastoral theological response. This paper examines how socioeconomic oppressive forces - particularly race and class, distortions of the need for safety and images of justice, and psychosocial processes of othering and scapegoating undergird mass incarceration. The author offers suggestions for further theological reflection about the racist, imperial foundations of the justice system.