Conversion and the Rehabilitation of the Penal System: A Theological Rereading of Criminal Justice

Awards:   Winner of Winner of the 2019 Aldersgate Prize.
Author:   Andrew Skotnicki (Professor of Religious Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN:  

9780190880835


Pages:   216
Publication Date:   30 May 2019
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Conversion and the Rehabilitation of the Penal System: A Theological Rereading of Criminal Justice


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Awards

  • Winner of Winner of the 2019 Aldersgate Prize.

Overview

"The Cincinnati Penal Congress of 1870 ushered in the era of ""progressive"" penology: the use of statistical and social scientific methodologies, commitment to psychiatric and therapeutic interventions, and a new innovation--the reformatory--as the locus for the application of these initiatives. The prisoner was now seen as a specimen to be analyzed, treated, and properly socialized into the triumphal current of American social and economic life. The Progressive rehabilitative initiatives succumbed in the 1970s to withering criticism from the proponents of equally futile strategies for addressing ""the crime problem"": retribution, deterrence, and selective incapacitation. The early Christian community developed a methodology for correcting human error that featured the unprecedented belief that a period of time spent in a given penitential locale, with the aid and encouragement of the community, was sufficient in and of itself to heal the alienation and self-loathing caused by sin and to lead an individual to full reincorporation into the community. The ""correctional"" practice was based upon the conviction that cooperative sociability--or conversion--is possible, regardless of the specific offense, without any need to inflict suffering, or to use the act of punishment as a warning to potential offenders, or to undertake programmatic interventions into the lives of the incarcerated for the purpose of rehabilitating them. Andrew Skotnicki contends that the modern practice of criminal detention is a protracted exercise in needless violence predicated upon two foundational errors. The first is an inability to see the imprisoned as human beings fully capable of responding to an affirmative accompaniment rather than maltreatment and invasive forms of therapy. The second is a pervasive dualism that constructs a barrier between detainees and those empowered to supervise, rehabilitate, and punish them. In this book, Skotnicki argues that the criminal justice system can only be rehabilitated by eliminating punishment and policies based upon deterrence, rehabilitation, and the incapacitation of the urban poor and returning to the original justification for the practice of confinement: conversion."

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrew Skotnicki (Professor of Religious Studies, Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.30cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 14.20cm
Weight:   0.415kg
ISBN:  

9780190880835


ISBN 10:   019088083
Pages:   216
Publication Date:   30 May 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter I - The State of Penal Ideology and Penal Affairs Liberal Polities and the Ontology of Violence Divided Hearts and Minds Systemic Results of Ideological Disorientation Chapter II - It is Wrong to Punish Anyone for Any Reason Criminal Justice as Inclusion Outline of the Retributive Position Religious Defenses of Retributivism Critique of Retributivism Outline and Critique of Deterrence Thoughts on Incapacitation Concluding Thoughts Chapter III - Conversion as Inclusion The Prison as Metaphor for Introspection The Meaning of Conversion Phenomenology of Conversion The Crisis An Experience of Undeserved Compassion A New Identity in a New Community Accountability and Character Reform A Process of Progressive Participation Conversion and the State of Criminal Justice Chapter IV - What is Wrong with Rehabilitation? The Proponents of Rehabilitation Risk-Need-Responsivity Good Lives Model Other Rehabilitative Approaches Areas of Agreement and Possible Cooperation Chapter V - How Conversion Can Rehabilitate the Penal System Outline of a Penitential Mode of Confinement Social Rudiments of a Conversion Paradigm Confinement and Conversion Concluding Thoughts Conclusion Notes Index

Reviews

Skotnicki's splendid new book offers us an incisive critique of the criminality of our current criminal justice system. Erudite, yet eminently readable, Conversion and Rehabilitation of the Penal System presents a cogent case against both retributive and deterrent rationales for detention. Looking ahead to a systemic rehabilitation of our carceral regime, Skotnicki looks back to the original legitimation of incarceration-conversion and restoration to moral community. * William O'Neill, S.J., Lo Shiavo Chair in Catholic Social Thought, University of San Francisco * As a plea for a non-violent penology, Andrew Skotnicki's book is nothing less than an attempt to get Americans to stop talking about crime and how to punish it and to focus instead on harm and how we might help people to heal. It is a timely, vitally necessary, and potentially ground-shifting book. * Joshua Dubler, author of Down in the Chapel: Religious Life in an American Prison * For all those people who are tired of the traditional debates about 'the purpose of punishment,' Andrew Skotnicki offers an analysis that is as unique as it is thought-provoking. His view of the current dilemma, one that many would agree with, culminates in a conclusion that is both surprising and compelling. * Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University *


"""For all those people who are tired of the traditional debates about 'the purpose of punishment,' Andrew Skotnicki offers an analysis that is as unique as it is thought-provoking. His view of the current dilemma, one that many would agree with, culminates in a conclusion that is both surprising and compelling."" --Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University ""As a plea for a non-violent penology, Andrew Skotnicki's book is nothing less than an attempt to get Americans to stop talking about crime and how to punish it and to focus instead on harm and how we might help people to heal. It is a timely, vitally necessary, and potentially ground-shifting book."" --Joshua Dubler, author of Down in the Chapel: Religious Life in an American Prison Skotnicki's splendid new book offers us an incisive critique of the criminality of our current criminal justice system. Erudite, yet eminently readable, Conversion and Rehabilitation of the Penal System presents a cogent case against both retributive and deterrent rationales for detention. Looking ahead to a systemic rehabilitation of our carceral regime, Skotnicki looks back to the original legitimation of incarceration-conversion and restoration to moral community."" --William O'Neill, S.J., Lo Shiavo Chair in Catholic Social Thought, University of San Francisco"


Author Information

Andrew Skotnicki teaches theological and criminological ethics at Manhattan College in New York City. He has published widely on the theological and ethical implications of criminal justice. He is the founder and director of the E3MC program (Engaging, Educating, Empowering Means Change), a partnership between Manhattan College and the New York City Department of Corrections.

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