Christian Worldview of Criminal Justice

Christian Worldview of Criminal Justice

Criminal justice as both a field of study and a vocation poses challenges to the individual who seeks to do both: practice the discipline while at the same time, putting one's beliefs and values into the work s/he does within the discipline. Achieving this balance is not easy, as criminal justice as a discipline can be viewed from different perspectives and framed from different schools of thought. Criminal justice can be thought of as a social science, wherein aspects of political science, sociology, psychology, and even law and public administration are integrated together. However, another interesting component that can be incorporated in this 'mixture' of disciplines is theology, which inevitably influences criminal justice (particularly when the concept of moral justice is factored in on the discussion).

Theology and the world's different religions have also different perspectives in understanding and discussing the issue of justice and concepts of humanity and forgiveness. One of the most salient and popular example of humanity as applied in both criminal justice and theology can be found in the Book of Genesis, wherein it said, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). This verse is one manifestation that what is exacted to humanity is, through transference because of humanity's likeness to God, also exacted to Him. It becomes a challenge, then, for the practitioner of criminal justice to implement the principles of justice to another individual because any form of punishment given to him/her could also mean exacting the same punishment to God. Practicing the profession, then, becomes a constant practice of judgment call and careful discernment governed by the person's beliefs and values about moral justice.

Take as an example, one's view of the country's prison system as an issue that needs to careful discernment and thought even when it is just being discussed, either on a private or public forum. The prison system was built on the principle of behavior correction and the individual's social rehabilitation; however, over time, the overarching goal has become simply, punishment, and numerous forms of abuses against inmates have been committed since (USCCB, 2000). On one hand, there is a need to promote correction and rehabilitation of the deviant behavior of offenders; on the other hand, a Christian practitioner who is part of the criminal justice system also recognizes that God alone has the right to decide and judge the people who were considered deviant in laws of humanity. For the Christian practitioner, s/he must remember that everyone "are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

What results, then, is a compromise as the Christian practitioner seeks the balance needed between his/her faith and vocation/profession. The law exists to be respected, recognized and implemented. S/he must therefore implement correction and rehabilitation measures as the courts of the country see fit for the convicted individual. However, the compromise would be the kind of treatment the convicted individual gets from the Christian practitioner. As a person of faith, s/he must recognize also that the person is an individual who might have shown deviant behavior to society, but s/he is nevertheless a person who must be treated equally despite his/her unfortunate circumstance (i.e., incarceration) (McCrudden, 2008:659).

Preservation of human dignity in the face of legal punishment is the compromise that is developed as the Christian practitioner tries to achieve the balance of maintaining criminal justice as both a profession and a vocation. And what about love and forgiveness, which also comes into play as one tries to understand the unfortunate circumstances of other people who are punished by the legal system? Convicted individuals deserve the love and forgiveness of God, in the same way that non-deviant / non-convicts deserve love and forgiveness from Him. In Romans 12:12, the Christian practitioner is reminded that, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."