"nobody chooses to be an addict, nobody chooses to spend time in jail, these are things that happened because early childhood trauma has never been dealt with, and so many other contributing factors," says a prison chaplain.
prison chaplains are spiritual-care practitioners who provide emotional and spiritual support to meet the religious needs of prisoners during their incarceration—and a recent research paper has found that they are struggling.
"it's a complex and difficult duty in a multicultural and multi-faith country like canada," explains dr. davut akca, a criminology professor at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's orillia campus. dr. akca is also the lead author of a 2023 article about the obstacles faced by provincial chaplains called, "joy, compassion, and job satisfaction: insights into the canadian prison chaplaincy."
dr. akca has been deeply invested in understanding criminal justice matters for much of his adult life. he spent five years as a deputy inspector and inspector with the turkish national police in istanbul and ankara before earning a master of criminology and a phd in forensic psychology at ontario tech university in oshawa.
"i was always passionate about helping people live in a safe country and i was interested in criminological issues, which eventually prompted me to broaden my perspective and go into academia," dr. akca says.
he's now part of a research team that includes two senior researchers with decades of research experience in corrections—dr. nawal ammar from rowan university and dr. carla cesaroni from ontario tech university. the team also includes dr. brad shoemaker, a former chaplain and current adjunct professor at the university of toronto, and research assistant michael ouellet, a doctoral candidate at ontario tech university.
some of the ways that chaplains help prisoners include counselling, group worship, one-on-one prayers, and the provision of religious materials such as books, rosaries, and prayer mats. dr. akca (above) and his research team, however, found that some religious communities were unwilling to provide chaplains with support and religious materials because of the stigma surrounding incarceration.
their 2023 article is part of a larger research project being conducted in partnership with the canadian association for spiritual care (casc) and is funded by a partnership engage grant from the social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc).
using surveys and focus groups, dr. akca's research team gathered information from 55 chaplains about the state of prison chaplaincy in canada. the chaplains were primarily christian, but muslim, jewish, and buddhist chaplains shared their perspectives, too. it was essential to get the views of non-christian chaplains because religious diversity in canada is growing and ethnic minorities are overrepresented in canada's prison population.
one critical finding that emerged from the work led by dr. akca, as well as from previous research studies, is that chaplains' non-judgmental approach helps humanize correctional facilities.
"inmates view chaplains as compassionate and they want to talk to chaplains because they don't have an agenda, unlike regular prison staff. their approach helps diffuse tension and anxiety in prisons," dr. akca says. "and for chaplains, witnessing inmates' healing journeys brings them joy and satisfaction."
in fact, more than two-thirds of chaplains who were interviewed said that because of chaplaincy services, inmates became more engaged with others, were less likely to violate prison rules, and had fewer conflicts with fellow inmates. even more impressively, the positive influence of chaplains was found to continue after prisoners were released and began reintegrating into society.
"more than two-thirds of chaplains also agreed that prisoners developed better relationships with their families, had more pro-social lives, and were more engaged with society because of chaplaincy services," dr. akca says. "this can help prevent and reduce rates of reoffending."
one chaplain who participated in dr. akca's research project pointed out that many prisoners are depressed and that it's important that they have someone "to just spend time with them and to bring them to the place where they can know they are loved, that their lives matter, that they have hope, and there's a future for them."
prisoners are yearning for spiritual care
the importance of chaplains is recognized in international agreements, and the canadian charter of rights and freedoms guarantees prisoners' rights to religious accommodation. despite the constitutional protections afforded to prisoners and the incredibly valuable work that chaplains do, the team research conducted by dr. akca paints a bleak picture of what it's like to be a prison chaplain today.
"the top challenge confronting chaplains is being undervalued and unrecognized—something that results in poor working conditions," dr. akca says.
it begins with prisons' frequent lack of chapels, prayer spaces, and rooms for proper programming and is compounded by stringent security measures, recurring lockdowns, and covid outbreaks that prevent chaplains from visiting prisons as much as is necessary.
related to the problem of being undervalued is the low ratio of chaplains to inmates. dr. akca's research found that, on average, just one chaplain serves approximately 179 prisoners and that there are usually only one or two chaplains in every prison. in addition, numerous federal penitentiaries subcontract the recruitment of their chaplains to a private firm exclusively staffed by christian chaplains, depriving prisoners of non-christian faiths of pastoral care. it's for this reason that dr. akca recommends hiring more chaplains, and chaplains of diverse faiths, as well as mandating that chaplains receive standardized training.
not surprisingly, trauma caused by working with prisoners with complex needs in a stressful—and often violent—environment is another challenge that chaplains are contending with. their distress, unfortunately, is being made worse because the minimal support currently offered to chaplains to help with their recovery is not a priority for prisons.
the team research spearheaded by dr. akca reveals that the indifference of the prison system to creating better working conditions for chaplains stems from the fact that "their role is not understood well and because they are providing a faith-based service in a secular institution."
and in a society that increasingly demands evidence-based approaches to assess the value of things, dr. akca says that "it's hard to measure performance because chaplains provide an intangible service. that's why more research is needed to measure the impact of chaplaincy on things like improved rehabilitation, reduction in tension, and reduced recidivism."
dr. akca and his team of researchers aim to play a part in rectifying this gap.
the "joy, compassion, and job satisfaction" article is the first of four papers focusing on prison chaplaincy, and in upcoming papers the research team will seek out the perspectives of prisoners, staff members, and ex-prisoners to get a fuller picture of the impact that chaplains have.
as dr. akca notes in his article, "the work of chaplains in humanizing the prison environment, their ability to alleviate tension and anxiety, their provision of compassionate care and fleeting hope, and the potential of faith-based interventions in changing prisoners' behaviors are all crucial and valuable components of the experience of incarceration that should not be overlooked or dismissed."