Abstract
Recent suggestions have been made that theology may have more to offer on matters related to the subjects of punishment, corrections, and rehabilitation than has often been acknowledged in the scholarly literature. This essay sets out to explore the merits of such claims with regard to how they might assist ongoing efforts to address mass incarceration, including the theological dimensions of punitive justice along with other potentially redemptive realities that theological reflection may illuminate and make more visible. Consideration will be given to the ongoing role that religion plays in the life of the prison before giving consideration to the ontology of the church as a social actor, especially as locally-constituted within the prison—the ecclesia incarcerate, or the prison church. The theological rationale for the basic existence of such an actor is explored along with the effects of such a vision for this kind of transformation the church may experience along with both promises and potential challenges that come with the church having its own ontology, not as a given, but as a creature of grace.
Highlights
Recent suggestions have been made that theology may have more to offer on matters related to the subjects of punishment, corrections, and rehabilitation than has often been acknowledged in the scholarly literature (Murphy 2003; Garvey 2003; Kaufman 2018)
This includes the questions that particular theological frameworks and analytic tools bring for addressing these matters in the era of mass incarceration, and even the underlying theological foundations that gave rise to the contemporary situation, and new forms of recourse and plausibility structures that may emerge as theological conceptualities are deployed, especially for explanatory research knowledge accounting for various experiential phenomena that includes both practices as well as conceptual structures that give rise to these various dynamics
The visions above, including Arendt’s radical notion of resumptive forgiveness, still seem to lack adequate space for religious experience as either an effectual, or at least complementary, feature of the kind of result that justice might have for individuals when properly served—punishment taken to its logical conclusion and to bring about its intended aim: healing
Summary
Recent suggestions have been made that theology may have more to offer on matters related to the subjects of punishment, corrections, and rehabilitation than has often been acknowledged in the scholarly literature (Murphy 2003; Garvey 2003; Kaufman 2018). On 28 March 2013, Maundy Thursday during the Catholic Holy Week before Easter, the-newly enthroned Pope held an evening Mass at Casal del Marmo, a juvenile detention facility in Rome. That night he washed the feet of twelve young people of different nationalities and faiths, including at least two Muslims.
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