Victims and Faith

The "good" Samaritan in Luke 10 is called that because he, unlike the religious people, stopped to assist a crime victim. Why didn't the religious people help? What do victims need from people of faith? The following articles explore the link between victims and faith.

Helping victims of clergy sexual abuse: Suggestions for Pope Benedict XVI:

from Robert M. Hoatson's post on Road to Recovery: Based on Road to Recovery’s on-the-ground experience helping the abused cope with the effects of their abuse, we offer to Pope Benedict and his colleagues in the hierarchy the following suggested action steps that will help restore clergy abuse victims to fullness of life (these steps do not preclude the necessary and/or statutory reporting of all crimes to local and/or national law enforcement):

Better not bitter says activist Mukoko

By Taurainashe Manonge in The Zimbabwe Telegraph: Abducted and tortured activist Jestina Mukoko, has said that the pain and trauma she experienced in the hands of state officials last year, has left her Better and not bitter. Speaking on December 17, 2009 at a meeting organised by the Zimbabwe Human rights forum to celebrate her City of Weimar Human Rights Award, Mukoko also director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, said it was inner strength and the knowledge that people all over the world were rallying alongside with her that kept her going. “I believe there was a purpose in all this. It might have been a nasty experience but looking at how I now deal with people who have been tortured I have a different perspective to it.”

A Pilot Study of a faith-based restorative justice intervention for Christian and non-Christian offenders

from the journal article by Armour, Windsor, Aguilar, and Taub in Journal of Psychology and Christianity: Restorative justice and faith-based programs are receiving increased attention as innovative ways to help change offenders' internal motivations as well as external behaviors (Rockefeller institute of Government, 2007). The purpose of the present pilot study is to examine change in offenders' pro-social responses after participation in an in-prison faith-based program that draws from the principles of restorative justice.

Victims and victimizers

"We as society do not allow people to be victim and victimizer --- they are one or the other," said Suzanne Neuhaus, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation victims' services specialist.

Shattuck, Michelle D and Lampman, Lisa Barnes. God and the victim: Theological reflections on evil, victimization, justice, and forgiveness

This collection of essays grew out of a 1997 "Theological Forum on Crime Victims and the Church," sponsored by Neighbors Who Care. Neighbors Who Care (NWC) was a non-profit organization affiliated with Prison Fellowship Ministries. The purpose of NWC was to assist churches that serve victims of crime in their congregations and communities. Seeing a need for serious theological and biblical reflection on issues of crime victimization and the Christian Church, NWC invited a number of religious scholars, clergy, and victim service-providers to present papers on and discuss key issues facing crime victims. Out of that forum in 1997 came the essays in this book. Written by various participants in the forum, the chapters cover questions about the presence of God in relation to the experience of crime, the role of the Church in caring for crime victims, victimization and healing, restoring justice, forgiveness, and more. Included in the book are a study guide for individuals and groups, recommendations for further study, resources for victim services, and a list of forum participants and contributors to the book.

Achtemeier, Elizabeth. Victimization and healing: The biblical view

In this chapter, retired seminary professor Elizabeth Achtemeier urges the Church to consider crime victims and respond to their needs primarily from the perspective of God’s purposes in the world rather than from contemporary cultural perspectives. Achtemeier examines key biblical themes and passages to explicate what this means. God created the world intrinsically good. Our rebellion against God corrupted the world and human existence, leading to many forms of victimization. Yet God acts to overcome our rebellion and heal the harms caused by it. Therefore, according to Achtemeier, we should respond to victimization in accord with God’s purposes. In drawing out the implications of this, Achtemeier discusses vengeance, forgiveness, trust in God, assistance to victims, and restitution.

Ruth-Heffelbower, Duane. Building the Restorative Faith Community: Lessons from Indonesia

Duane Ruth-Heffelbower begins his reflections on the restorative faith community with acknowledgment of the many ways in which faith communities themselves are damaged and fractured by wrongdoing and broken relationships. Often faith communities do not know how to work at broken relationships both within their own community and in the world outside their community. Against this background, Heffelbower offers the Peacemaking Model – developed for victim-offender reconciliation in Fresno, California – as a tool that can be used in every type of situation where broken relationships leave feelings of injustice. If restorative justice is a natural fit for faith communities, how then can restorative faith communities be built? Heffelbower explores this question by drawing on his observations of Indonesia’s experience in dealing with diversity and conflict.

McElrea, F W M. A Christian approach to conflict resolution.

In this address, Judge F. W. M. McElrea looks specifically at mediation and at restorative justice as a New Testament or Christian approach to conflict resolution. He provides several reasons for this characterization of restorative justice: (1) its rejection of legalism and formalism is akin to the thought and spirit of the New Testament; (2) it allows a place for grace; (3) it expresses other Christian values or makes possible their expression; (4) it reflects a partnership model rather than a dominator model; and (5) Christians are called to avoid revenge, thus leaving judgment to God.

Fossland, Anne Lise. Reconciliation and Discipleship: A Journey from Being a Victim to Becoming a Victor.

The paper is (as is the thesis) theologically speaking to be found in the intersection between dogmatics and ethics. I intend to see whether the suffering and attempts to reconciliation in the South African society can give a deeper understanding of the reconciliation in Christ. And also to see how or whether the reconciliation in Christ can give a new dimension to human suffering and injustice on the one hand, and on the other to a healing settlement after times of war and suppression. (excerpt)

Church Council on Justice and Corrections. Fire in the Rose: Churches Exploring Abuse and Healing. Resource kit.

This program will assist your congregation to begin a journey of discovery and growth. Through Fire in the Rose, you will explore the nature and consequences of abuse; you will examine your own attitudes, feelings and experiences; you will reflect on the roots of abuse and violence, and identify tools and skills that promote new ways of living together; and, you will work with others in the congregation and the larger community to create and strengthen ministries of healing and prevention. (excerpt)

Marshall, Christopher D.. Satisfying Justice: Victims, Justice and the Grain of the Universe.

In many ways the religious community still struggles to respond appropriately to the plight of victims, and the legal community still has much to learn about satisfying justice, in both senses of the phrase – what truly satisfies the demands of justice, and what form of justice brings most satisfaction to the parties involved, particularly to victims. In this article I first offer some reflections on the nature of victimisation and on why the presence of victims poses particular challenges to the faith community. I then turn to consider restorative justice, which is one of the most promising justice alternatives to emerge in recent times. I propose that there are theological as well as practical reasons for why restorative justice merits our support and confidence as a satisfactory, and satisfying way, to address the justice needs of victims, as well as those of others caught up in the tragedy of crime. (excerpt)

McDermott, Debbie. A review of faith based restorative justice in the Catholic Church

This paper will offer a view of faith based restorative justice by the Catholic Church, a review of the US Bishops statement; our experiences in setting up our Symposium; and the outcomes of that event. On March 15, 2003 two thousand people braved record rain storms to attend our Symposium at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. They came to explore how the common good intersects with crime and punishment in California. They were victims of crime, law enforcement custodial staff, administrative staff and parole officers, attorneys, judges, prison chaplains and volunteers, former offenders, families of the incarcerated and people looking for answers and for hope. The goal of our Symposium was to move public opinion and create a political climate more amenable to restorative justice in line with a Catholic vision presented in the statement of our U.S. Catholic Bishops, Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration. To accomplish this we offered eleven keynote presentations and seventy-five workshops in English and Spanish plus a special track for youth. We covered every topic possible, from the story of a victim family member, to the story of a warden and the death penalty, to a presentation on how restorative justice promotes public safety by the former director of the California Department of Corrections; to a presentation by the current State Secretary for Youth and Adult Corrections on living out your faith while working in a correctional setting. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Rea, Lisa. Sexual Abuse in the Church: A Restorative Response

Since 2002, the Catholic Church in the United States has responded to increasing reports of sexual abuse by clergy. In 2000 the Catholic Bishops of the United States took a policy position embracing restorative justice. The Justice & Reconciliation Project, JRP, headed by Lisa Rea has publicly encouraged leaders in the Catholic Church to apply restorative justice principles to itself during this crisis. How has the Church responded? What could it do? How could healing occur in these cases? Should monetary settlement paid to victims of sexual abuse be enough? Are these cases closed? These questions will be covered during this presentation as well as probing the possibility of one on one victim offender dialogue in such cases. In addition, the presentation will include a discussion about the role of restorative justice practitioners in providing a higher standard as we advocate for restorative justice throughout the world. This standard of justice is based on the hope of redemption and forgiveness undergirded by offender accountability. (The Justice & Reconciliation Project (JRP): a non-profit organization based in the United States committed to working to restore the lives of those harmed by crime by advocating for reforms promoting forgiveness and reconciliation between crime victims and offenders. JRP works to raise up a victims-led voice in support of restorative justice policies. JRP can be reached at www.thejrp.org). Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Martin, Anne Marie. Visions of Justice, the Question of Immortality: A Study of the Nature of Oppression and Liberation in the work of Rosemary Radford Ruether and Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki

This thesis examines the ways in which two Christian, feminist theologians, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki understand the relationship between liberation, the fulfillment of justice and the concept of an immortal self. Central to this discussion are Suchocki's and Ruether's differing views of immortality. Suchocki argues that without subjective immortality (the possibility of continuing to experience some form of "life" after death as a subjective centre of consciousness) there can be no justice. Ruether, however, contends that the concept of an immortal self is the root of injustice. While Ruether reproaches the concept of subjective immortality, this thesis shows that she nevertheless defends a form of "objective" immortality (that all that occurs within the creation is taken up within the divine)…. I conclude that while both Suchocki's and Ruether's theologies are driven by a concern for justice, Suchocki provides a better understanding of the nature of oppression which results in injustice, and a better understanding of liberation as the fulfillment of justice. I, moreover, conclude that while for the most part the concept of subjective immortality has been viewed as anathema by feminist theology, Suchocki's view of subjective immortality may in fact open up the possibility of reassessing the concept of an immortal self within feminist theology as not only consistent with but as an aid to developing its own deepest concems for liberation and justice. Author's abstract.

Marshall, Christopher D.. Christian Care for the Victim

Christopher Marshall discusses the Church's place in caring for victims and the pitfalls that hinders the Church in this work.

Cook, B. Bruce. Justice that reconciles and heals: Developing a ministry for crime victims with a restorative justice perspective

The purpose of this thesis is to propose a model of crime victims ministry that uses restorative justice principles as its base. The scope of the thesis is to develop, design, implement, and evaluate this model during a six months period from September 2000 to March 2001. I worked with my D.Min. Advisory Committee to design, operate and evaluate this model while serving as the chaplain and director of pastoral care for the Crime Victims Advocacy Council (CVAC) in Atlanta, Georgia. CVAC is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization that has operated programs for crime victims since 1989, and began the crime victims ministry in 1999. The doctoral project facilitated pastoral care sessions for crime victims, a memorial service for homicide survivors, the design and implementation of a crime prevention program, technology used to interact with crime victims, and legislative education efforts. The project was based on the Good Samaritan Parable, and doctrines of shalom, reconciliation, forgiveness and healing revealed in the incarnational Christ and other religious teachings. Author's abstract.