April 21, 2003
Chaplains call for aid to victim families
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___WACO--When a crime occurs, law enforcement officers and the judicial system seek out and respond to the offender. But who cares for the victim and the victim's family?
___Usually, the answer is nobody, according to two veteran Texas Baptist prison chaplains.
___"The victims and the victims' families are left out. Where's the church? Where's the healing? Where's the balm of Gilead?" asked Jim Young, community ministri
es director with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Young and Jim Brazzil, former chaplain at the Huntsville death chamber, co-led a session on families impacted by crime during the Hand in Hand Conference for church social workers at Baylor University April 7.
___The modern understanding of criminal justice focuses almost exclusively on retribution and protecting the state's rights, Young and Brazzil said. A better alternative, they declared, is to focus on restorative justice, which includes mediation between the offender and the offended.
___To that end, Brazzil recently left his role ministering to condemned prisoners at the death chamber and now works through the state corrections system to facilitate mediation between offenders and their victims.
___The reality, Brazzil said, is that everyone involved--victims, victims' families, offenders and offenders' families--suffers when a crime is committed.
___Bringing these troubled parties together at the appropriate time often brings healing on both sides, he explained.
___Brazzil explained the day he knew God was calling him to help bridge this gap.
___As the death chamber chaplain, he stood beside the gurney of each prisoner executed. At one execution, his vantage point offered him a view of two sobbing mothers peering into the death chamber. Unknown to them, the victim's mother and the offender's mother leaned against a common wall that separated their private observation rooms. Brazzil saw them merely 4 inches apart, both stricken with grief.
___In mediation, victims and relatives of victims often express forgiveness to an offender, Brazzil said. And the experience of coming face-to-face with a victim and hearing their story holds the power to melt the most hardened criminal, he reported.
___Christian clergy and laity could play an important role in promoting restorative justice and helping victims of crime who feel neglected by the criminal justice system, Brazzil and Young said.
___Opportunities for ministry include victim sensitivity awareness training, helping with victim impact panels, facilitating mediation and dialogue, offering grief ministries and support groups.
___Above all, Christians "need desperately to learn how to listen," Young said. Victims of crime "really just want someone who will shut up and listen."
___If uncertain about what to say to a victim, one phrase always is appropriate, he suggested: "I'm so sorry this has happened to you."
___Texans must face the facts on restorative justice because the criminal justice system has become a growth industry in Texas and across the nation, the chaplains said.
___Among current statistics:
___ One of every 142 Americans is incarcerated.
___ The United States has the largest prison population in the world.
___ Texas has 147,000 offenders incarcerated.
___ Texas spends an average of $26,000 annually to house each inmate in the state correctional system. That compares to $8,000 spent annually on the education of a child.
___ 86 percent of Americans will become a victim of crime at some time in their lives.
___Texas Baptists will ignore the needs of criminal justice ministries at their own peril, Young declared, describing it as a "pay me now or pay me later" situation.
___"What we do or do not do in community affects what we produce in community. ... The more we ignore hurting humanity, the greater the risk we take."
___For more information about restorative justice ministries, contact Young at (888) 311-3900.
___
If uncertain about what to say to a victim, one phrase always is appropriate: "I'm so sorry this has happened to you."
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
|