Stephanie Coward wraps herself in a quilt made by former inmates as part of reintegration program prison chaplain David Shantz (left) runs with his wife Susannah (right).
In a move criticized by many religious groups, the government has cut roughly half of all part-time chaplains’ contracts. Of the remaining 80 full-time and 51 part-time chaplains, only three are non-Christian. The changes come into effect in March.
The decision to cut $1.3 million from a $6.4 million program came shortly after Public Safety Minister Vic Toews suspended plans by Correctional Service Canada to hire a Wiccan prison chaplain. A full program review followed; then in October, the cuts were announced.
Toews’ office explained that, like chaplains in the Canadian military, prison chaplains would now provide inter-faith services.
While many interpreted the cuts as prejudiced towards non-Christian religions, Toews’ office argues the opposite. A representative said the changes will, in fact, promote more fairness than what came before.
The government “is not in the business of picking and choosing which religions will be given preferential status through government funding,” stated Toews’ office, explaining that to employ faith-specific chaplains is not fair to inmates because it’s possible that not all religions would be represented.
“There are questions that a chaplain whose faith is different from that of the inmate cannot answer,” wrote Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk of the General Assembly, in a letter to Toews. “Our Christian hope is that all inmates will receive spiritual care appropriate to their particular faith.”
The church has supported prison chaplaincy programs for decades, both through the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy and the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, an organization that stresses restorative justice.
“Spirituality constitutes an essential part of every human being,” wrote Rev. Dr. Nancy Steeves, CCJC chairperson, in a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“While prisoners lose many things as a result of their actions, they ought not to lose access to the spiritual and religious care that calls them to change their behaviour and supports them as they do so.”
Correctional Service Canada, too, recognizes the key role chaplaincy plays in the rehabilitation of offenders and, by extension, the wellness of the wider community.
Circles of Support and Accountability is “one of the best examples of chaplaincy’s creative approach to preventing further victimization,” wrote Steeves.
“It was CSC Chaplaincy that piloted this model of crime prevention with sex offenders who have finished their sentence and who are considered a risk to reoffend.”
“Research now shows [this] to be the most effective means of ensuring that these people whom society so fears are held accountable and provided the support they need to succeed.”
Circles of Support and Accountability reduces the risk of recidivism by “assisting, supporting and holding core members accountable to their task of reintegrating with community.”
This program is just one piece in the approach to restorative justice chaplains and others are bringing to the correctional system.
On a fact sheet CSC published on their website, they write, “[Restorative Justice] views crime as a violation of people and relationships. RJ is an approach that seeks to determine who has been hurt, what their needs are, and how these needs can be addressed. RJ uses processes that are collaborative and inclusive to all parties affected—victim, offender and community.”
“Criminal justice is always looking back: ‘What happened at that day and that time? And what’s the punishment?’ Restorative justice is focused on the future. Ninety-nine percent of the people in the correctional system are going to be out in our community. How are we going to live together?” said Rev. John de Vries, chair of CCJC’s Circles of Support and Accountability subcommittee. “There is no ‘them.’ We’re always dealing with ‘us.'”
According to Janet Handy, executive director of CCJC, restorative justice has been the organization’s underlying philosophy for more than 10 years.
“It fits with all the complexity of what it is to reconcile relationships. Straight notions of forgiveness don’t work as well for people. Restorative justice may come to a moment of forgiveness, but its main point is for everyone to be heard. For people to take responsibility for what they’ve done; for victims to be heard.”
Rebecca Bromwich, who represents the Presbyterian Church on CCJC’s board of directors, sees restorative justice as “a counter-narrative” to the “tough-on-crime narrative the current government is promoting.”
This does not mean Bromwich thinks restorative justice should replace our country’s formal justice processes. “Restorative justice is complementary to the criminal justice system,” she said. “I’d like to see other ways to approach criminal justice that are more compassionate.”
“There isn’t much of a place in our system for that to happen… restoring relationships is a key piece that’s missing,” said Bromwich, who teaches law and legal studies at Carlton University, Ottawa, and works as a lawyer.
According to Bromwich, victims don’t have much of place in the justice system: “It’s more about what the system wants to do with the offender.”
In a courtroom setting victims are complaints or witnesses—in a position where they can often be revictimized, she said. Restorative justice, on the other hand, “foregrounds the victim. It empowers them.”
Victims tell their stories in a safe environment, where they can help offenders understand the harm they have caused. They can ask questions, articulate their needs and suggest ways their needs could be honoured by offenders.
Offenders tell their story, too. It gives them an opportunity to acknowledge the pain they’ve caused, take responsibility for their actions and give victims a fuller picture of what motivated them to commit the crime.
In order for restorative justice to work, though, all parties must consent to the process. Facilitators meet with both parties separately, making sure the victim is prepared to participate and the offender is ready to acknowledge the harm they’ve cause so there is no danger of revictimization. Community members also participate in the process: they act as allies to either party, express their own concerns and gain a fuller understanding of crime’s underlying causes and outcomes.
“The key to restorative justice is participation in the process,” said Bromwich. “That’s the biggest difference: you have the community being the engine for the response, instead of it going this professionalized system. It’s taking it out of an institutionalized context and into a community based response.”
