Peace Churches and Restorative Justice: Past, Present, and Future

• In Event: Factors that Shape Criminal Policy Decision Making

Abstract

Criminologists have long recognised links between technologies of discipline and punishment, on the one hand, and religious doctrine and communities of faith, on the other. This paper is concerned with links between penological developments and a group of religious communities known as ‘peace churches.’ These include Religious Societies of Friends (Quakers), Mennonites, and a number of other anabaptist communities. The paper reviews the historical links between peace churches’ theological and religious alignment with movements for penal and criminological reform, with a particular focus on their relationship with restorative justice. Then, it reviews contemporary literature and dialogue within peace churches. Finding a broad base of support from theologians and organisations linked to peace churches for abolition as a Christian response to contemporary problems of social justice, the article invites criminologists to consider whether abolition is a natural outcome of restorative thought, and the extent to which criminologists should attend to theological arguments for abolition or other penological responses to wrongdoing.

Authors

• Meredith Edelman, Monash Business School

• Rick Sarre, University of South Australia