Chaplains to the Imprisoned

Sharing Life with the Incarcerated

Richard D Shaw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781138970175
• eBook ISBN: 9781317764083
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Chaplains to the Imprisoned begins to fill the information gap through its in-depth study of prison chaplains as seen by co-workers, inmates, and the chaplains themselves. They describe their roles, share difficulties which are encountered in their ministry, and personal methods for coping with these difficulties, especially those which may be internalized as stress. The author, a Roman Catholic priest with a doctorate in criminal justice, provides a fascinating look into the work of chaplains who serve in correctional institutions. This new book sheds a much-needed light on the often hidden, yet significant, role played by chaplains within correctional facilities. Little is known of these chaplains and the work that they do. Though they are frequently depicted in television and film, many of these images are stereotypes from writers'imaginations. In this unique book, chaplains speak for themselves through the results of a survey questionnaire sent by the author to local- and state-level chaplains in New York State and to chaplains throughout the federal prison system. Chaplains to the Imprisoned, the first non-denominational book on these clergy, explores:

• the history of chaplaincy in this country, including the irony that chaplains have often been treated as unwanted intruders in penitentiaries--which were created originally by religious groups
• chaplains as seen by other professionals in the field--sometimes positive, often negative, opinions of chaplains drawn from literature written by wardens, corrections officers, and others who deal with chaplains on a routine basis
• chaplains as seen by inmates--published opinions by inmates who have recorded their impressions of facility chaplains
• chaplains as seen by chaplains--their own descriptions of their work, frustrations, successes, and failures, along with suggestions for the betterment of the role of chaplainsThis book is an eye-opening look into the world of prison chaplaincy for students of criminal justice and religion, policymakers for prisons and jails, seminary students, and clergy members themselves, as well as individuals interested in what often goes on behind prison walls from a chaplain's perspective.

Chapter 1
Prologue: Quest for Identity in the Chaplaincy

From Personal to Empirical

Like many men and women who serve as chaplains to the incarcerated, I found myself in this ministry without any prior ambition for the role or knowledge of what the ministry involved. In 1972, while studying in Boston, I responded to a call to assist the chaplain at that city's Charles Street Jail. A year later, upon returning to my home in the Capital District of New York State, I assumed the chaplaincy of Rensselaer County Jail, gradually adding the facilities of Schenectady and Albany Counties to what friends began to refer to as my "empire of jails."

In the late 1980s, intrigued by the idea of Shock Incarceration, I took on the chaplaincy at a New York State prison geared toward this "boot camp" approach to dealing with young, first time felony offenders. After the first decade of working in the field I decided to go back to school in part "to see what the theorists are saying." The pursuit of a doctorate in Criminal Justice revealed to me that the theorists knew (or perhaps cared) almost nothing about chaplains and chaplaincy, despite the fact that in most facilities in this country, chaplains are the only personnel, other than Corrections Officers, who regularly interact with inmates on the tier areas. Medical personnel, psychologists, social workers, and other clinical personnel call inmates from tier areas for consultation. Chaplains see them where they live and interact with other inmates. This alone gives chaplains a perspective which would make them a valid and interesting subject for study.

And yet, the literature in the field is all but naked of references to them. In one rare study (an unpublished 1956 dissertation on the social roles of chaplains of differing Faith groups), author George Murphy observed that although "prison communities have been an object of study for a number of years ... Criminologists generally have given very little energy to religion. Most have simply ignored the fact of religion and some have been openly antagonistic" (1956:6).

Religious thinkers had great influence in the birth of the prison system in the United States, as elsewhere in the world. Ironically, however, when religious ministers attempted to enter these facilities to minister to inmates, they usually found themselves regarded as strangers and aliens in this system created by religous impetus. Not only has their role been misunderstood, rarely has been found even so much as a clearly defined, universally accepted idea of what chaplains were to be and do in penal institutions.

During each era of constantly changing philosophies of penology in this country, chaplains have had to fight for every inch of turf gained, establishing their role in each separate facility in which they worked, as if each one of them had to re-invent what chaplaincy was. Definitions of what a chaplain should be, either when put forth by themselves or others, were subjective and applied to local situations. These were rarely nurtured by general usage and time into any concepts which might be considered as objective and universal in scope.

Initiating my own quest for a portrait ot chaplaincy with a search through the literature of the field of criminal justice, I found that references to chaplains were often so peripheral and passing in nature that they were not included in the indices of books. Like panning for nuggets one had to sift through each and every prison book hoping that the chaplain would make a momentary appearance on one of its pages. The process was worth the effort, and the nuggets which will be shared in the first section of this study were often pure gold; sometimes damning, sometimes praising those chaplains who made such momentary appearances.

Chaplains are, indeed, controversial figures. I he value of their presence within jails and prisons has never been wholly agreed upon by other personnel working within facilities, by inmates, by observers of the criminal justice system, or even by other members of the clergy. Nonetheless, their presence cannot by ignored, and their importance can well be measured by Daniel Glaser's discovery about their impact. In his classic study The Effectiveness of a Prison and Parole System, he noted that chaplains "constitute only a fraction of the total prison staff" within the system (1964:145). But their impact upon inmates and upon the system itself was then measured alongside the impact of those within facilities who, by far, outnumber them. Glaser found that one-sixth of those inmates in his study who were successful after their release said that the chaplains at their facilities had been a major influence in their reformation. Such a realization should make chaplaincy worthy of greater attention than has been given to it.

Soliciting the Input of Other Chaplains

After allowing observers to portray chaplains in the first part of this study, I then wanted chaplains to be able to portray themselves. I reasoned that it was advantageous that the gathering and editing of such a self-portrait be done by someone who is both a member of the clergy and a chaplain with a generation's time of work experience within jail and prison facilities. Many writers approach any topic concerning the clergy either with trepidation, treating them as sacrosanct, or, at the other extreme, often making sweeping generalizations which have the ring of iconoclasm. Both extremes, and even moderate approaches, tend to present the clergy as if they were somehow not quite human.

This writer who, as a clergyperson, is already beyond this barrier, accepts as a matter of fact the human qualities (failings as well as virtues) in himself and others who serve in ministry. Unlike Corrections Officers who work every day with a large peer group, chaplains work in near isolated circumstances. The pooling of shared experiences and opinions can be a means of reducing this day-to-day sense of isolation. In this instance, chaplains would be responding to a peer and an insider to their world. Such an element of commonality, it was hoped, would produce a sense of confidence and encourage them to be open and frank about sharing what they perceive to be concerns within their ministry.

Having spent many evenings, both at formal conventions and at private gatherings, listening to chaplains regale one another with stories and comparisons of their respective fields of ministry, I formulated a questionnaire, borne of such discussions, and then ran it by individual chaplains until it was welded into what seemed to be a good instrument for self-portrait.

The men and women whose input was solicited felt that more should be requested of the chaplains than a self-portrait. Chaplains can become nearly as street smart as the people they serve. If they are going to take time to fill out a questionnaire it would have to serve some practical purpose. My colleagues felt that the daily difficulties, problematic issues and stressful factors which chaplains share in such a ministry should be measured and presented. These should, then, be balanced alongside the experiental wisdom of individual chaplains who would make suggestions as to how chaplains might change, alleviate or learn to cope with such difficulties, issues, and stressful factors.

Chaplaincy and Stress

Few people would contest that chaplaincy within jails and prisons is a tough ministry. That this is accepted as "a given" was borne home to me several years ago when we were having a particularly rough time at the Albany facility. During a heat wave which frayed already bad tempers into near riot situations the inmates on the second east tier attempted to take an officer hostage during their time in the yard.

Not only was that tier put in 24 hour lock-in, so too was the third east tier which had fomented much of the trouble from windows facing the yard. For security purposes both tiers were forbidden to go to communal religious services that weekend. The administration asked the chaplains to go to each cell, bringing services to those on the tiers who wanted to pray.

On a day-to-day basis, we Christian ministers work well as a team: two Baptists, an Episcopalian and myself as Roman Catholic. We went to the cell blocks together and as we moved along the tiers we encountered the full fury of all the anger which had built up. We were cursed, vilified, and spit at.

As soon as we were out in the main hallway, one of the two Baptist ministers, Rev. Cleveland Everette, visibly shaken, mopped from his brow the perspiration (and whatever else had landed there), sighed, and murmured: 'There's got to be an easier way to make a living."

The evening after this occurrence, I was standing in the rectory kitchen talking with the two parish priests with whom I lived at St. Pius Xth Church in nearby Loudonville. The telephone rang, and the young associate pastor answered it. As I learned afterwards, an angry voice at the other end yelled at him: "I'm gonna kill you, Mothah F — kah!"

Without answering a word, he blanched and handed the receiver to me: "It's for you," he said. It was not the head of the Rosary Altar Society, and, yes, he was right; it was for me. If it is thus accepted that some of the demands of chaplaincy go beyond the expected rigors of day-to-day parish ministry, these stressful factors, and the wear and tear they imply, should be examined in any full portrait of chaplains.

The use of the word stress, pioneered and popularized by the distinguished psychoanalyst Hans Selye (1956), has snowballed in the clinical literature into a catch-all term which is simultaneously applied to the subject studied, the environment in which the subject exists, and to the transaction between the subject and the environment. In recent years a great number of articles and books have been written which focus upon a type of career related stress labeled "burn out." Many of these works have chosen, as subjects, people who work in service oriented occupations and much of what is said in these studies about the problems of persons in helping professions would seem applicable to the clergy in penal institutions. H. J. Freudenberger, the father of the "burnout" concept, notes that "the helping professions get to see a lot of failure and misery." These professions attract "determined idealists" who are "dynamic, charismatic goal oriented men and women." In the face of constant discouragement they learn to wear a facade of optimism and encouragement and this takes its toll. "When trouble sets in," Freudenberger and Richelson observe, "it is usually a result of overcommitment or overdedication." They add, "Whenever the expectation level is dramatically opposed to reality and the person persists in trying to reach that expectation, trouble is on the way" (1980:13, 45).

The personality factors of subjects introduce a subjective element into any study of stress. As observed by Veninga and Spradley: "each person learns to see the world through stress-colored glasses... But the character of the lens differs for each of us so that an event that brings intense, unrelieved stress for one individual may affect another in only a minor way" (1981:29). In this respect, one must keep in mind that the subjects of this study are people sensitive enough to have dedicated their lives to God's purposes. Spiritual writers speak of the idea of "kenosis," that the person of God is one whose life is poured out for others. As beautiful as this idea is, such a manner of living is not accomplished without cost and pain. Louis Camelli, in a remarkable article entitled "The Response of Spirituality," notes that "ministry does not engage a person merely on the level of task... it engages the whole person," and that "some stress in ministry results in a displaced sense of responsibility" (1979.105).

Christina Maslach has explored sources of burnout among diverse members of helping professions. "Obviously," she notes, "it is more pleasant and personally rewarding to be involved with someone who is likeable than with someone who is a pain in the neck." The prison chaplain reaches out to embrace very many people who might fit into the latter category. Referring to the sense of overload which this creates, Maslach makes an example of the scene in Jesus Christ Superstar in which Christ, swamped with people who want his help, wearily says: "You're pressing — too closely. There are too many of you and too little of me" (1981:23, 40).

Strictly speaking many studies of stress are most concerned with inappropriate responses stress situations. Given this insider's vantage point of having observed as many chaplains as I have over many years of time, it was presumed that this study would find chaplains working in situations which are unpleasant and harsh but which are within the boundaries of their capabilities for coping. In this respect, we are mostly dealing with nondisabling stress stimuli, and that this fact would color the responses made in a self-report study. However, reports of disequilibrating, unsettling, disquieting, annoying but managable stressors are nonetheless valuable for the sake of identifying job-related difficulties which routinely affect performance and which might be reduced as threats or impediments or hurdles.

The questionnaire which was sent to chaplains (included in the Appendices) asked each to describe his/her ministry. Following this, a double, five-point Likert Scale was used for 29 factors which might affect one's ministry within a facility and which might be labeled as problematic or stress-inducing. Each of these could be rated by the chaplains as to the frequency with which the conditions were encountered (ranging from "never" to "occasional" to "constant") and the intensity of their experienced demand (ranging form "not at all" to "moderate" to "significant").

The observations matched against these scales were divided into two-item groups. The first grouping focused upon stress brought about by conditions created by the nature of the facility. The second grouping focused upon one's relationships with other people while working as a chaplain. Both sets of observations were followed by open-ended questions which asked the respondent to point to situations different from those cited which he/she might regard as pertinent to the subject, even though they had not been touched upon in the questionnaire.

The first group of observations (those focusing upon stress factors associated with the nature of the facility) included:

• Physical danger
• Fears of contracting an illness such as AIDS
• Noise factors
• The invasion of inmates' privacy
• Preaching of love in a punishment setting
• Overcrowding and work overload
• Disruptions at religious services
• Working for both Church and State
• Dealing with bureaucracy
• Fitting in facility scheduling
• Injustices within the system and within the facility
• Working in a dead end ministry
• Seeing little results from one's work
• Isolation from other clergy

The second group of observations, dealing with relationships, included:

• Backsliding of rehabilitated inmates
• Infrequency of success stories
• Being used by con artists
• The social chasm between chaplains and inmates
• The monotony of inmate woes
• Dealing with the personal tragedies of inmates
• Inmate suicide
• Dealing with emotional feeling about inmates
• Dealing with the amorality of inmates
• Coping with dislikeable inmates
• Coping with mentally ill inmates
• Dealing with confidentiality
• Racial and religious tensions
• Becoming jaded
• Representing the system
• Friction with other staff members and clergy

The questionnaire concluded with further open-ended questions wherein the respondent was asked to contribute ideas for strategies that might be helpful in coping with stress-related conditions. The subjects of these questions included:

• What advice should be given to new chaplains
• How one should evaluate one's own contributions as a chaplain
• Any specific techniques the respondent had found effective in coping with ministry-related stress
• Where chaplains might turn for professional and emotional support
• How the respondent's philosophy of jail/prison ministry has changed through the years, owing to experiences in chaplaincy work.

The questionnaire ended with a request for added perspective or understanding which the contributor had evolved based upon his or her experience as a chaplain.

Adventures in the Fields of Research

The questionnaire was mailed to every Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic chaplain listed as an official chaplain in the Federal and State prison systems within New York State. The questionnaires, with a stamped, addressed envelope for return, were mailed to the chaplains at the prison facilities, each chaplain being addressed individually rather than having the survey sent to them as a group through the chaplain's offices. A total of 156 questionnaires was sent out in the State system. The process of getting the questionnaire into the hands of chaplains was an a...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Haworth Criminal Justice, Forensic Behavioral Sciences & Offender Rehabilitation
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• About the Author
• Contents
• Prologue: Quest for Identity in the Chaplaincy
• Historical Perspectives on the Prison Chaplaincy
• Status and Reputation of the Chaplaincy
• The View from the Chaplain's Office
• Sharing Life with the Incarcerated
• Chaplains on Chaplaincy
• References
• Appendices
• Index of Names and Topics