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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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Hallett, Michael A. 1965- (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2018
En: Social justice
Año: 2018, Volumen: 45, Número: 1, Páginas: 99-119
Acceso en línea: Volltext (Publisher)
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Verificar disponibilidad: HBZ Gateway
Palabras clave:
Prisons > United States
Corrections (Criminal justice administration)
Neoliberalism
Rehabilitation of criminals
Church work with prisoners
History
Theological seminaries
Christian Education
Education of prisoners
Descripción
Sumario: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