Confronting Christian Penal Charity: Neoliberalism and the Rebirth of Religious Penitentiaries

This article addresses the rise of Christian seminary programs in US prisons as a function of penal regime change in late-modern corrections. The article documents the neoliberal roots of faith-based programming in US prisons, featuring increased reliance upon religious volunteerism as a structural...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Hallett, Michael A. 1965- (Verfasst von)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 2018
In: Social justice
Jahr: 2018, Band: 45, Heft: 1, Seiten: 99-119
Online-Zugang: Volltext (Verlag)
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Schlagwörter:
Prisons > United States
Corrections (Criminal justice administration)
Neoliberalism
Rehabilitation of criminals
Church work with prisoners
History
Theological seminaries
Christian Education
Education of prisoners
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:This article addresses the rise of Christian seminary programs in US prisons as a function of penal regime change in late-modern corrections. The article documents the neoliberal roots of faith-based programming in US prisons, featuring increased reliance upon religious volunteerism as a structural charity in correctional budgeting. Federal revocation of Pell Grant eligibility for convicted felons in 1994 has produced a de facto monopoly of Christian educators promulgating an exclusively sectarian framing of offender rehabilitation. Although faith-based programming can offer effective counternarratives to punitive justice that dramatically improve the well-being of prisoners who freely volunteer, overreliance upon Christian instruction in US prisons fosters a coercively sectarian framing of rehabilitation and a newly privatized mechanism for inmate education.
ISSN:2327-641X