I was pleasantly surprised by the recent International Prison Chaplains Association (IPCA) Conference held in Sydney, Australia in September 2015 at St Ignatius College, Riverview. The Association holds an international conference only once every five years. Here are my rough notes as I took them.
For me – apart from the pleasure of personal fellowship with Chaplains from far afield - Hong Kong, Germany, Sweden, Congo, New Zealand, New Guinea etc. – there was also good thinking on other matters by two gifted speakers, namely:
Rev. Dr Ulrica Fritzon (ordained minister, Church of Sweden, currently on study leave from placement as Prison Chaplain in Malmo, Sweden; has worked in the Restorative Justice program, Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town SA, and
Rev Hennie Human (National Director, Spiritual Care, Correctional Services, South Africa).
- Rev Dr Ulrica led the 90 minute plenary session on Monday morning
Her topic: Restorative justice and reconciliation - (supporting her were two Chaplains from Pollsmoor Prison - Jenni and Jonathan)
Matters covered included – terminologies, such as …
Restitution – the return of something to its original state (e.g. of dignity or of power) made necessary because …
Crime creates irreparable damage; trauma and guilt.
Living and time merely preserves the trauma does nothing to return something towards its original state.
Restorative justice - allows the victim to find from the perpetrator some language to describe the event
Sharing the story and painful experience - victim and perpetrator are benefited ...
See John de Gruchy - reconciliation and restorative justice: the art of R~
http://www.restorativejustice.org/articlesdb/articles/4385/view?searchterm=reconciliation
Punitive systems - do not recognise the language of trauma or of guilt
Whereas the experience of listening - depending on God and his ways makes reconciliation a possibility
Reconciliation begins by being reconciled in the grace of God
Hope is generated in the face of (and despite) the trauma of extraction (the taking away by force) & of evil
Dr Fritzon's session looked in some detail at the Restorative Justice Program run by Chaplaincy in the Pollsmoor Prison
It is: a confronting outspoken and faith based program run over 6 days with a further ten weeks of follow up –
'The program is one that is not natural to the ways of Sweden (where confrontation is avoided)'
The program - 3-4 offenders together with facilitator / supporter
Day 1 intro - damage caused by crime, families share their experience
Day 2 damage caused by crime and reality of the crisis - offenders back ground Victims share their experience
Day 3 core values
Day 4 responsibility accountability and confession
Day 5 repentance forgiveness and reconciliation
Day 6 closing function – with the voluntary involvement of the offender family - a very NB aspect
The follows - Min 10 weeks follow up in preparation for the 'victim-offender dialogue' – with studies in:-
- lying (pathological lying perpetuates the hurting of the victim);
- habit formation (can be both good and bad);
- reconciliation and forgiveness (we will never forgive you ... that's okay - I'm not here for your forgiveness I'm here to listen to you);
- Anger – all given in preparation for the meeting with victim, family and community.
NOTE: at the end - has anything changed? (the victims loss remains) - But they (the offender and the victim) have touched each other in a safe environment and there has been conversation
Why do it if you are an offender?
Participation arises out of a desire 'to become a better person'
Many think they are too hopeless.
They think it is not possible.
Hurt people hurt more people… but the program is premised on the idea that:
- Offenders are not evil - almost always they are very hurt ... it is a very releasing (liberating) truth to discover as an offender that they have responsibility (even when their parents failed them in their parental responsibility).
- They are encouraged to not stop at this painful connection or insight but to go onto take personal responsibility for offending (they don't have responsibility for what their parents failed to do for them)
Confession - gospel –
But there's no common absolution or forgiveness in this program – there is however individual, personal and public confession in the front of other inmates. This is done in preparation for their meeting with the victim(s) and their families – this is where offenders practice personal confession.
This understanding helps when approaching the meeting between the victim and the offender –
RJ isn't mediation - there isn't a shared moral inventory (or playing-field) crime is a violation - it should be recognised and the offender must take responsibility for the offence.
Change-focus-paradox – when an offender shifts from self to 'the other' and seeks to answer Qns … as a result of my behaviour
- Who has been hurt?
- What are their needs?
- Whose obligations are these?
To do so the offender must change the focus from ego (me myself and I) ... The paradox is that this shift also does something for the offender
By helping 'the other' he discovers that – he's actually helping himself
- I have been enabled to say I am so sorry - CAPABILITY ACT
- Victim has received admission of responsibility from the offender - CONFIRMATIVE ACT
Truth - in this process - will not be pleasant
But it is far better than glossing over the results and effects of the offending behaviour and pretending that things are okay - Offenders may fear the confrontation - what the victim might say / what he (as offender) might be expected to say
- RJ is: stop pretending that things are not as bad as they really area real RJ reveals the detestable reality
The address concluded with
- An analogy - The Spiders web – Dr Ulrica insisted that these truths bear on us as humans in community …
- We humans live together (closest persons are interconnected)
- We are born in relationship and we continue to grow into and out of relationship
- When we violate each other we also violate ourselves.
- The spider mends the broken connections.
- If the broken connections are not mended the spider will die – is that the truth for humanity also?
- Our lives (all lives) are dependent on mending the broken connections.
- Martin Huber - philosopher theologian argued that an offender must addresses guilt in three spheres OR fail
In front of God
Between you and me
If we imagine that we are guilty only towards ourself ... then we never remove or have guilt 'covered' / 'remedied'
In very simple yet profound terms – this touches the direction of guilt – for the offender who has taken a life …
FOR it was not the Judge's husband that I killed it was her husband that I killed
Confession - expresses a relief – uncovers the guilt shame and sorrow
3. The movie: Railway Man – a true story of POW Eric Lomax who harboured bitterness and hatred towards his wartime captors who cruelly and heartlessly tortured him in captivity – the final reconciliation scene is a moving testimony to the power of reconciliation to make restitution and build genuine lifelong friendship in the place of bitterness, anger and hatred.
4. Then finally a 20 minute Q&A
- An offender should never go into this RJ program with a requirement to get forgiveness.
- It's about taking responsibility.
- Some victims may never want to meet the offender
Sitting with the family (has its own challenges).
- Prepare the family - guide them, they aren't used to speaking to each other, the family may not even know whether or not their offending family member was guilty or not.... The Family has opportunity to take their own responsibility.
My own personal take-away? A sense of shame at the NSW Service for taking a recent U-turn towards retributive justice inspired by the raw legitimate pain of victims of serious crime stirred by certain very unhelpful radio shock jocks and newspaper tabloids who promote the theory that violence must be met by violence. Nothing is ever easy. Trust in a system that celebrates the culture of violence and is devoid of hope is a stark contradiction to the benefits espoused at this conference arising from restorative justice. My prayer? – That the NSW Upper House inquiry into current practices for classifying Serious Offenders will reject retributive justice and embrace principles consistent with restoration and reconciliation.
2. Rev. Hennie Human took our second plenary session - Wednesday 23rd September – he also spent 90 minutes with us
His topic: Transformational Correctional Ministry (he deliberately did not use the phrase 'prison ministry' – chaplaincy is not in isolation
He argued that we must challenge and interrogate our Role of spiritual care or chaplaincy in the correctional environments?
Our Relevance?
Our Impact?
Show us? Anecdotes? What statistical data is there in support of our role in the system?
What is our contribution towards rehabilitation?
What value is added for the many services (including Chaplaincy) that work in the system?
We are & must be evaluated against other services (welfare, psychology, education, training, work)
Chaplaincy is subject to Influences (internal and externally) on the environment ... We are not 'stand-alone-people'
e.g. the White paper on the South African correctional service – set goals for the entire service …
- Moved from punitive to rehabilitation
- Individual needs based programs
- Programs to address criminal behaviour
- (Raised the question as to what is to be the Involvement of faith based organisations?)
- Demilitarisation of the system
- Multi-faith demands recognition - making room for others
- Offender rehab path
Dinosaur phenomenon - do we still need you? Must we still have chaplaincy? Or are you dinosaurs?
Has the Chaplain kept track of what is happening in the environment? Are we complaining …
They (the department / the inmates) are not hearing us?
They aren't making room for us? ... We may be denying that we have not been moving with the times
See Diagram ... Exploration in the face of change internally and externally
Perhaps we aren't relevant?
Maybe we do need to change?
We must not stay in the past,
We can't survive on the past,
Offender behaviour has change dramatically since 80's 90's in South Africa
Previously it was easy to get inmates to work – they needed compensation, they needed respite from boredom,
BUT Violence has risen; there is more gangsterism in the community and in the gaol
Has Chaplaincy adapted: does it continue to show its relevance
'People do not resist change but resist to being changed' Peter Senge[1]
Transformation: A process that never stops in chaplaincy; continue good research, listen to needs of the system, - change in - form
- appearance
- Nature or character.
Correctional ministry transformation is like a grub becoming a chrysalis becoming a butterfly
Concluding remarks / challenges from Rev Human
1. What are the elements of transformational change?
- Redefine our goal - role of spiritual care
- Redesign our services
- Redefine the role of the church and church (faith) communities in this process
- Impact measurement...
- Monitoring and evaluation process.
- Training of staff
- Care of caregiver
Redefining the role of the chaplain?
Relational - for Identifying with:
* God;
* Inmates;
* Victims;
* Family of victim and inmate;
* Correctional services: the officials, Mgt, the systems; the conditions ... With a view to Influencing the Community
2. What is the purpose of correctional ministry - what is the prison chaplain come to do?
Assist with redesigning and adopting positive lifestyles
Restoring relationships
Healing emotional wounds anxiety guilt feelings Low self esteem
Develop ...Hope
Professor Swanepoel - Uni. SA ... What are the spiritual needs? What do they want us to be for them?
* Moral development
* Restorative forgiveness programs
* Self-development programs
* Family relationships programs
* Pre-release programs
3. Impact of programs
Quality assurance by correctional services for the programs ... Is it assisting
Measurement instrument
Spiritual care progress report
4. What is the role of the churches and their faith groups (the grace community)?
Forgiveness
Grace
Acceptance
Restoration
Reconciliation
Care
Support
Prevention
Towards the victim, offender, and their families – it is an integrated ministry
Requiring ongoing Training
Retraining
Facilitator skill development
Spiritual assessment
Report writing
Quotables:
- No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens but the lowest ones, (1994) Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
- Aim to influence humane conditions and dignity ... Human rights...
- By Talking, influencing and bringing about change – for example, doing so in such a way that palliative care in a prison ward for the dying looks feels and expresses humanity towards a dying inmate.
People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been satisfied
In reality the world changes every second blowing new opportunities in all directions including yours - Ken Hakuta[2].
[1] Peter Michael Senge, American systems scientist who is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, co-faculty at the New England Complex Systems Institute, and the founder of the Society for Organizational Learning
[2] "Dr. Fad" since 1983, is an American inventor and television personality. Hakuta, as Dr. Fad, was the host of the popular kids invention TV show, The Dr. Fad Show, which ran from 1988 to 1994. The show featured kids' inventions, and promoted creativity and inventiveness in children.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Due to some hacking of our comments, comments are now moderated. Please continue to feel free to share your thoughts. We will attempt to approve legitimate comments within 24 hours. Thanks for your understanding. We look forward to continuing helpful dialogue on the issues of Christian ministry.