Redeeming a Prison Society

A Liturgical and Sacramental Response to Mass Incarceration

The U.S. criminal justice system is in a state of crisis, from unprecedented (and increasing) rates of imprisonment and recidivism to the privatization of the prison system and the disproportionate representation of particular racial, ethnic, social, and economic groups within the penal system, all of which is subtended by a larger social justice context. Catholics and Protestants have largely failed to offer vital theological responses: Catholics have either inadequately addressed the interrelationship of the social and justice crises or failed to engage the current realities of the problem through recourse to abstract theory, while Protestant responses have been generated from a socio-political perspective distant from the crucial theological resources. In Redeeming a Prison Society, Amy Levad offers a Catholic perspective that directly addresses the concrete issues from a strongly interdisciplinary approach and utilizes the rich liturgical and sacramental resources of penance and Eucharist to offer a theological vision of reform.