On Thursday, October 26, 2023, Pepperdine University’s Center for Faith and the Common Good hosted a virtual symposium entitled “Human Flourishing and Justice: Offender Rehabilitation
and Restorative Prisons.” The symposium featured speakers from Pepperdine, Prison
Fellowship International, the Senate of Colombia, and the National Penitentiary and
Prison Institute of Colombia, and centered its discussion around a multiyear study
in Colombia’s prison system to measure the efficacy of international prison programs
in offender rehabilitation, recidivism reduction, and general correctional reform.
Opening the discussion was Pepperdine president Jim Gash (JD ’93), who is also a co-director
for the Center of Faith and the Common Good. He discussed the center’s scholarly investigations
of how faith and religion impact flourishing and how as a platform to integrate scholarship,
student engagement, and global impact, the center collaborates with scholars and thought
leaders to develop and enact innovative ideas around the world. “This partnership
is a perfect example of how Pepperdine’s Christian faith can partner with important
friends and other leaders as well,” he said. “Under the leadership of Byron Johnson
and his relationship with [Prison Fellowship International], we fully expect this
to become a model for global engagement around the world.”
Prison Fellowship International president and CEO Andy Corley expressed his excitement
for the partnership and the impact such a unique opportunity will have on the prison
landscape. “The opportunity to study the results of [this program] is just terrific.
We’re not afraid of quality data and empirical study, in fact it drives us and we
are looking forward to the collaboration, and all that we will learn from this [opportunity],”
said Corley. Prison Fellowship Colombia is one of Prison Fellowship International’s
most successful national ministries and reaches more than 20 percent of the prison
population. They also work outside of the prison with families, a vital aspect of
breaking the cycle of crime and the reason why Colombia was chosen as the initial
study location.
Sung Joon Jang, visiting scholar at the School of Public Policy and research professor
of criminology and co-director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior at Baylor University,
shared an overview of the project, including programs currently operating in Colombia,
research locations, details and data captured from surveys, and demographic and criminal
background information provided by the Colombian National Penitentiary and Prison
Institute.
Johnson, co-executive director of Pepperdine University’s Center for Faith and the
Common Good, included additional details, mentioning the one-of-a-kind integrated
database being created with data collection. By tracking prisoners in tandem with
studying their families, researchers hope they will be able to help explain how people
can live crime-free and apply these findings on a global scale.
“The beautiful thing about this is that Prison Fellowship International is operating
in [more than] 121 countries, [which is] about 60 percent of the world’s prisons.”
Johnson added, “It is not an understatement to say that we really could have an effect
on how prisons operate around the world at a time when [that information] is so desperately
needed.”
Prison Fellowship Colombia Executive Director Lácides Hernández, who has been dedicated
to transforming the lives of prisoners and their families in Colombia for more than
35 years, is working to counteract the country’s culture of cyclical violence and
murder. Prison Fellowship International has served as an inspiration and resource
for Hernández, as he has utilized key learnings when working with prisons and prisoners
nationally. “This project is an example [of how] faith can also be attached to good
work. Faith needs to drive us to change the environment that we are in and is also
a chance to show people that science and faith are not incompatible,” Hernández shared.
“Through academia, we can make a very important contribution to our society.”
Cameron McCollum (JD ’17), director of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Sudreau Global Justice Institute and administrative director of the Center for Faith and the Common Good, closed the
event by sharing the work that the University’s Sudreau Global Justice Institute does
in their mission to partner with governments around the world and aid them in providing
all people with timely access to justice. Additionally, McCollum shared his hopes
on potential collaboration opportunities between the Sudreau institute and Prison
Fellowship International.
“The work that Prison Fellowship International is doing in prisons around the world
is truly unrivaled in both scope and impact, and the Sudreau Global Justice Institute
would like to offer to all our friends to the extent that we can be of service,” McCollum
said. “We would love to serve in any capacity that we can.”
Research has already begun as pre-test administration was initiated the week of October
30, 2023. The studies will be conducted at a staggered rate, with some projects launching
in spring 2024, which will best accommodate the range of programs being studied across
different communities and in different prisons. This initiative has been projected
to continue for three to five years but will likely continue for an unspecified period
of time.
The symposium is available to watch on the Center for Faith and the Common Good website.
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