I was reminded today that prison reform is a bit like the story of the rich young ruler that Jesus taught. This rich young guy had it all, but he really wanted what Jesus had to offer. So he asked Jesus what he had to do to be saved and the answer was, "sell everything you have and follow me." Now I always thought of that story in terms of money. You know, give up all your riches and then you can follow Jesus. But my pastor reminded me that this story is really about following all of Jesus' teachings, not just those that are comfortable for us. Jesus didn't say, visit those in prison while they are inside, but don't have anything to do with them when they get out. Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor." He meant ALL thy neighbors. He intended for us to help each other grow and mature into the people God made us to be. So, we don't get to pick and choose which of his teachings we follow, now do we?
Prison reform and prison ministry is a lot like that isn't it? We don't have a problem with visiting inside the prisons, but when it comes to changing sentencing laws or our thinking on what a prison is suppose to accomplish, well that's more difficult for us to get our arms around. The concept of changing the way we think about prison and prisoners can be very challenging.
We have questions:
* What exactly happens if we change the way we do prison today?
* When does that change cross the line between improving society, including the microcosmic society inside the walls, and bleeding heart liberalism?
* What happens if life skills training and other educational offerings inside promote more early release?
* Isn't all this leading to disaster?
My answer is, it all depends on what we perceive imprisonment to accomplish. Are we simply looking for a place to lock social deviants away for some period of time so that we don't have to think about them? Do we believe that being locked up is in itself a deterrent against future crime?
We already know that incarceration is expensive, costing roughly $20,000 per inmate, per year in the U.S. And we already know that those released from prison to supportive environments, such as a church family or Circles of Support & Accountability (COSA) program, are 50 - 70 percent less likely to re offend. So it stands to reason that if prison reform could reduce recidivism by providing more pre and post release resources, the nation's overall cost of incarceration would be reduced, saving all of us tax dollars.
Wouldn't you agree?
The first purpose of a prison facility would be to separate from society people who are considered to be a danger to society, I suppose with the hopes that the offender would be motivated to change for the better. This in itself has a financial cost to it.
ReplyDeleteA second purpose would be to help the inmates see their time in prison to be a place where they can “receive training for life, not just for job skills and are released into an environment of mentoring and accountability that allows them to succeed and become productive citizens outside the razor wire fence.” That would have an additional money and time need.
Before deciding how much money would be spent in this area, I would want all money needs to be considered; e.g. moneys for schools, police, etc.
As those decisions are being made, I would hope the church would address these concerns by recognizing through prayer and actual contact that the inmates are untouchables nor are they “sinners” in a world of saints.
Rick