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Religion Matters pp 119–133Cite as

The Contemporary Relevance of Religion to Criminological Sciences

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Abstract

The case for greater interdisciplinary enquiry between those who engage in religious pursuits and those who participate in the criminological task is a strong one. For the most part, modern day theological insights have been ignored by criminologists. I do not set out to consider why this might be the case other than to repeat the passing observation of Stephen L Carter that religious practices and theological enquiries are probably perceived by many scholars as dominated by scriptural fundamentalists pushing theories of supernatural causality, and suited more for the needs of those seeking assurances about a life beyond this one than for those seeking to find meaning here and now. There is, however, a way that the criminological enterprise can be bolstered and illuminated by theological enquiries and religious precepts. This chapter is designed to explore how and why that can and should occur. It is focused upon the Christian religion and Christian theological precepts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    14th century through to the 17th century.

  2. 2.

    If not vice versa.

  3. 3.

    This is only a start of a conversation. There are other topics that call out for exploration, too, such as state crime (in a theocracy), and religiously-motivated war crimes.

  4. 4.

    Sentencing occurs in the midst of this dilemma. Often it is the case that a judge will excuse a defendant’s law-breaking on the basis of the defendant’s family environment, lack of education or abusive spouse (a deterministic judgment). At a later time, if the defendant fronts the judge again, the sentence is usually manifestly harsher, on the basis that the defendant had failed to ‘learn a lesson’ from the earlier leniency (a free will view). Punishment is thus often delivered to repeat offenders in the shadow of a philosophical contradiction.

  5. 5.

    At the time, he was the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town (1986–1996).

  6. 6.

    Colombia has been wracked by violence since the mid-1960s, with the formation in 1964 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC. Some 8 million lives have been lost in 50 years. In 2016 a peace deal was brokered, and since that time amnesties and restorative sanctions have been implemented (Braithwaite 2019).

  7. 7.

    Indeed, the task of proving desistance from crime is complicated by extraneous variables including race, socio-economic status, and social relationships (Conover-Williams and Chang 2016). Qualitative studies that support the value of Christian prison ministries have been more encouraging. However, they also face legitimate methodological criticism, as their small samples generate data with limited applicability to broad populations (see Clear et al. 2000).

  8. 8.

    ‘Sam’ is a fictitious composite of a number of young men Dr. Braithwaite had observed in restorative justice programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

    Rick Sarre

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  1. Rick Sarre
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Correspondence to Rick Sarre .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Adelaide Law School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Paul Babie

  2. School of Law, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Rick Sarre

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Sarre, R. (2020). The Contemporary Relevance of Religion to Criminological Sciences. In: Babie, P., Sarre, R. (eds) Religion Matters. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2489-9_8

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