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Religion in Prison: Equal Rights in a Multi-faith Society
Religion in Prison: Equal Rights in a Multi-faith Society. Beckford, J & Gilliat, S (1998).
Beckford and Gilliat present a clear understanding of "multi-faith" and "multicultural" as terms which define their area of sociological investigation within the prison system of the United Kingdom. They are sociologists with theological insight. Their inquiry is informative and useful to prison chaplaincy services outside the U.K. as well as to the government ministries of he alth and social services. They discuss religious activity in terms of "religious and pastoral care" throughout the book except in Chapter 7, Prison Chaplaincy in the United States, where they discuss "religious and spiritual care." By their arrangement of the material, it seems that the introduction of "spiritual care" as a concept is a North American phenomenon. Although the authors remind us of the unique Christian contribution to role of chaplaincy in a prison setting, they suggest, however, that future models of governance will need to take into account an increasingly multi-faith and multicultural society. In their last chapter, "Conclusion: State, Church and Diversity," they make the interesting observation that non-Christian religious leaders appreciate the efforts made by the established Church of England on their behalf. They write that "the evidence from our study shows that leading representatives of some faith traditions would like the opportunity to speak for themselves and to be heard in the corridors of power without wishing to appear ungrateful for all offers of Anglican support or mediation. For the same reason it may be true that members of other faith communities prefer to live in a country where at least one religious organisation is established in law, even if it does not represent their particular faith, rather than to be citizens of a secular state" (p. 218). I think it worth noting that Bradley, in his book, "God Save the Queen: The Spiritual Dimensions of the Monarchy", notes a similar attitude on the part of non-Christians. "It is interesting that just as some of the most enthusiastic proponents of church establishment are to be found among the non-Christian faith communities...so the supreme governorship has found some of its most fervent defenders among non-Anglicans..." (Bradley, Ian. 2002:177). To my mind, North American prison chaplains could find this study interesting from the perspective of professional development.
Allan Savage is Priest Chaplain to the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Posted by editor on September 30, 2003 10:09 AM