Release date: April 22, 2008

Churches Should Work With Prison Population, Says Emory Professor

Contact: Elaine Justice, 404-727-0643, elaine.justice@emory.edu
Contact: Kelly McLendon, 404-727-4481 kelly.mclendon@emory.edu

Churches looking for a way to make a difference in their communities should begin by looking toward the nation's prison population, says Liz Bounds, associate professor of Christian ethics at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

Bounds, who has received two grants for her work, will spend the coming year researching and writing about justice, forgiveness and grace and the role of churches in dealing with this problem.

"Our rates of incarceration are extraordinarily higher than other countries -- more than one in 100 of our citizens is in prison, on parole or probation," says Bounds. "And we are also one of six countries responsible for the largest number of executions."

"We have been in a long cycle of punitive attitudes, such as the 'three strikes and you're out' legislation," says Bounds. "I understand that there are people who should be incarcerated, but the degree and the conditions under which we incarcerate is a big problem."

Bounds is recipient of a 2008-2009 Lilly Theological Research Grant, awarded this year to only five faculty members in the United States, and a Christian Faith and Life Grant from The Louisville Institute.

She will use a sabbatical year from Candler to research and write two related volumes. One will be a practical guide for churches on possibilities of prison ministry, the other for academics on Christian ethics and the U.S. prison system. Both works will draw upon her research on prison systems, experiments in alternative sentencing and faith-based nonprofits working on prison re-entry in Georgia, New York and Minnesota.

The guidebook will be designed for churches who accept the theological imperatives and are willing to face the challenges of engaging in some form of prison ministry -- not only offering pastoral and worship resources but also possibly providing job training and placement, mentoring and transitional housing, or lobbying for improved state policies.

"Few churches systematically consider what they might offer to persons in prison beyond a worship service, a nice meal and a Christmas package," she says. "We don't have the programs we need to deal with increased numbers being released; in 2006, there were over 20,000 persons on parole in Georgia alone."

For more than 20 years, Bounds has been involved in educational programs for prisoners, including teaching spirituality and creative writing class in a women's prison in Atlanta.

"I have observed deeply damaged persons struggling to accept the wrongs they have done and to believe that they may truly be deserving of God's love," Bounds says.

"We need to get a grasp on the human element of being in prison. We are condemning large groups of people -- disproportionately African American young men, but also men and women, boys and girls, of many races -- to no future," says Bounds. "It is heartbreaking. This is not what we think America is supposed to be."

"When people come out of prison, they have to have some way of making it so they don't go back into crime and back into prison. You have to be strong to break this cycle. And we have to work on ways of preventing young people from starting the cycle in the first place," says Bounds.

"It's both a policy question and a human question," she says. "Along with better education and better jobs, there also has to be someone -- a parent or a teacher, a counselor or someone in the community -- who believes in you and pays attention."

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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