Light through the bars / Fr Babychan Arackathara with Helen Moffett and David Le Page.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arackathara, Babychan, author.

Moffett, Helen, author.

Le Page, David (Writer), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminals--Rehabilitation--South Africa.

Criminals.

Church work with prisoners--South Africa.

Church work with prisoners.

Recidivism--South Africa.

Recidivism.

Prisoners--South Africa--Conduct of life.

Prisoners.

Pre-release programs for prisoners--South Africa.

Pre-release programs for prisoners.

Restorative justice--South Africa--Religious aspects.

Restorative justice.

Criminals--Rehabilitation.

Prisoners--Conduct of life.

Restorative justice--Religious aspects.

Conduct of life.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

215 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 21 cm

Distribution:

[Johannesburg, South Africa] : Jacana Media, [2019]

Manufacture:

[Cape Town, South Africa] : ABC Press, [2019]

Other Title:

Subtitle from cover: understanding and rethinking South Africa's prisons

Place of Publication:

Kenilworth, South Africa : Mercury, 2019.

Summary:

"Lock them up and throw away the key!" is a cry we hear often in South Africa today. But this simplistic solution to crime simply isn't working. As Father Babychan Arackathara, a Catholic chaplain to some of the Western Cape's most notorious prisons, shows in this compassionate reflection on his work, even criminals have stories, and crime invariably has roots. He listens to those stories and untangles those roots on our behalf, sharing insights into the brokenness of our society and communities - and offering real, workable suggestions for fixing them. Can we move to the ideal of hating the crime, but loving the criminal? What must we do to see that offenders are themselves victims and to engage them constructively? How do we break the cycles of addiction, trauma and crime to reach for reconciliation and transformation?"--Back cover."

Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1: Family matters : understanding the importance of social context, in particular the importance of family

Chapter 2: Despair vs Hope : defining prison as either a place of self-destruction or of self-discover and rehabilitation

Chapter 3: The right path : assisting prisoners on their journey of rehabilitation with spiritual care and support

Chapter 4: Restorative over retribution : the role of restorative justice in repairing relationships destroyed by crime and stemming the rate of recidivism

Chapter 5: Second chances : taking the difficult step to re-enter society and regain credibility in the community

Chapter 6: Taking action : in search of effective responses to crime : lesson learnt and recommendations

Conclusions : the next steps.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-211).

ISBN:

9781928230687

1928230687

OCLC:

1109843216

Publisher Number:

99988678387