When considering reforms to the criminal justice system, a good place to start is with an examination of what other nations have done to make their corrections systems more effective and just. Looking at the practices and polices of who have seen success in reducing crime rates and recidivism elsewhere can help to form the groundwork for new innovations and changes here.
Recently, Prison Fellowship’s senior vice president for policy and advocacy, Craig DeRoche, joined other policy advocates in visiting a number of prisons in Germany. DeRoche was interviewed about the trip by Art Van Wolde of Crossroad Bible Institute.
“It really is an engagement difference—the way the Germans … have elevated the value of life and human dignity to a constitutional level, not just a statutory level, that every human being requires the same amount of human value and dignity whether they are in prison or not,” DeRoche says. Despite the fact that much of Germany was a part of the Communist Bloc until recently, DeRoche states that many of the values in the German system have more in common with Christian values than that of the United States.
“The most dramatic thing the [German] prison system says … [is] that we are not the victims of the crime,” DeRoche continues. “The victims of the crime get their retribution, their restitution, and their rights through the court system, the prosecutors and the police. We are here to have you pay your penance and to transform you to someone that is not going to do it anymore.” The purpose, DeRoche says, is not to tear down, but to build up the prisoner.
DeRoche highlights three key points on which Prison Fellowship focuses when working for reform—proportional punishment, developing a constructive culture inside the prisons, and closure once a punishment has been paid.
“It’s not politics to me,” DeRoche concludes. “I think as Christians we can advocate. … What we need to do is advocate for our values. … We need to take our voice to the criminal justice system so the real solution [of Christ] is heard and is available for people in that system when they are experiencing the brokenness.”
Justice Fellowship, Prison Fellowship’s advocacy arm, continues to work to create a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, and more reflective of our values as Christians. To learn more about Justice Fellowship’s efforts toward this end, and how you might get involved, click here.