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Religions and prison

Legal aspect

The main information regarding legal status and religious practice in prisons are presented in a recent note by the prison authorities: Paper NOR/JUSK1440001N of 16 July 2014 on religious (...)

The main information regarding legal status and religious practice in prisons are presented in a recent note by the prison authorities: Paper NOR/JUSK1440001N of 16 July 2014 on religious practice in custody (see Legirel).
Spiritual support constitutes an exception to the principle of not using public funds to finance religious practice set out in Article 2(1) of the law of 9 December 1905, which stipulates that: “expenditure that relates to chaplaincy services and is intended to ensure the free practice of religions in public institutions such as secondary schools, primary schools, homes, asylums and prisons may, however, be included in said budgets”.

Although chaplaincy status does not exist as such, a procedure is in place for approving chaplains. These full or part-time workers “provide prisoners with spiritual support, perform religious services, organise religious meetings and organise religious celebrations (in consultation with the authorities)”.

Prisoners are not obliged to declare their faith. Although it is compulsory to provide information on the activities offered and the presence of chaplains, it is up to prisoners themselves to request that they practise their religion.

Religious practice is regulated (meals, prayer, visiting entitlements, etc.).

Furthermore, the administrative court of appeal in Lyon overturned the judgement of the administrative court in Grenoble of 7 November 2013 that ordered Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison (in the French département of Isère) to offer halal meals to Muslim prisoners, on 22 July 2014.

D 31 August 2015    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

Sociological perspective

Chaplains are recruited and trained, through varying procedures, by each religious group. They must be accredited by the prison administration. They may benefit from compensation paid by the (...)

Chaplains are recruited and trained, through varying procedures, by each religious group. They must be accredited by the prison administration. They may benefit from compensation paid by the State.
For a few years, there were claims that Jehovah’s Witnesses were victims of discrimination, particularly in their ability to be prison chaplains. Debate ended with the publication of the Opinion on the exercise of worship in places of deprivation of liberty published in the Official Journal of 17 April 2011, text No. 13, which states that “the administration shall not [...] give a reduced status to chaplains” of a minority religion. The opposite would amount to assuming that the prison administration would have the authority to assess “which faiths may be accepted and with which prerogatives in places of deprivation of liberty”. On 16 October 2013, the Council of State confirmed that chaplains of the Jehovah’s Witnesses must be accredited for prisons.

As of January 1, 2015, there were 1,628 religious workers in the prison administration, hailing from different faiths: Catholic 760, Protestant 377, Muslim 193, Jehovah’s Witnesses 111, Israelite 75, Orthodox 52, Buddhist 10, Other 50 (figures provided by the Government).

According to Sarg and Lamine, “religion often appears as one resource among others in prison”, while being “not exactly the same as the others”: in this context strictly regulated by the administration, the status of chaplaincy, which is on the margins of the institution, gives the religious powers flexibility and a broad and important role, for instance enabling individuals to bring structure (back) to their existences, give meaning to their lives, experience the symbol of another possible world. Whatever their faith, chaplains play multiple roles (psychologist, legal counsel, brother or friend).

In recent years, debate in society has frequently focused on the religious radicalization that would take place in prison, particularly in the case of Islam. Islam has a distinct status in prison environments, in two respects. Firstly, because this faith is the one that most frequently falls victim to discrimination. The report of the Comptroller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty of 17 April 2013 points out that the administration sometimes lacks neutrality towards non-Christian religions and especially Islam, noting for example the difficulty in obtaining halal meals, the lack of chaplains, the lack of respect for religious objects or times of prayer, and the disrespectful remarks from staff on religious beliefs and practices. Secondly, because, among the various possible uses of religion by detainees, Islam is the religion that is used for protest, according to Sarg and Lamine. However, Béraud et al. point out that religion in prison remains a minority phenomenon, especially in its radical modes, which “most often remain minor, alongside a peaceful and ordinary form of religiosity”.

D 31 August 2015    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

Main or recent publications

Official reports CONTRÔLEUR GÉNÉRAL DES LIEUX DE PRIVATION DE LIBERTÉ, Rapport d’activité 2013, avril 2014 [chapitre 8 consacré à l’alimentation conforme à des prescriptions religieuses dans les (...)

Official reports
 CONTRÔLEUR GÉNÉRAL DES LIEUX DE PRIVATION DE LIBERTÉ, Rapport d’activité 2013, avril 2014 [chapitre 8 consacré à l’alimentation conforme à des prescriptions religieuses dans les établissements pénitentiaires].
 CIOTTI Éric, MENNUCCI Patrick, Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d’enquête sur la surveillance des filières et des individus djihadistes, juin 2015
 DELARUE J. M., contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté, Avis du 24 mars 2011 relatif à l’exercice du culte dans les lieux de privation de liberté, avril 2011.
 DIRECTION DE L’ADMINISTRATION PENITENTIAIRE, Le fait religieux en prison: configurations, apports, risques. Actes des Journées d’études internationales organisées par la Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire, 28-29 nov. 2013, Paris, 2013.
 LARRIVE Guillaume, Avis de la commission des lois sur le projet de loi de finances pour 2015 n° 2267. Tome VI, Justice : Administration pénitentiaire du 27 octobre 2014 (sur la radicalisation islamiste dans les prisons).

Publications
• Beckford, James A., "Les aumôneries de prison : une introduction au dossier", Archives de sciences sociales des religions 153-1, 2011, p. 11-21.
• Beckford, James A., Danièle Joly et Farhad Khosrokhavar, Les musulmans en prison en Grande-Bretagne et en France (Globalisation, espace, modernité). Louvain: Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2007.
• Béraud, Céline, Claire de Galembert, Corinne Rostaing, Des hommes et des dieux en prison, note de synthèse, 2013.
• Eckert, Raphaël et Jeanne-Marie Tuffery-Andrieu (dir.), Le travail en prison. Mise en perspective d’une problématique contemporaine, Strasbourg, PU Strasbourg, 2015, 238 p., ISBN:978-2-86820-902-3.
• Kies, Ouisa, "Des aumôniers musulmans en prison", in Le fait religieux en prison: configurations, apports, risques. Actes des Journées d’études internationales organisées par la Direction de l’administration pénitentiaire, 28-29 nov. 2013, Paris. 2013, p. 53-73.
• Khosrokhavar, Farhad, L’Islam dans les prisons (Voix et regards). Paris: Balland, 2004.
• Sarg, Rachel et Anne-Sophie Lamine, "La religion en prison. Norme structurante, réhabilitation de soi, stratégie de résistance", Archives de sciences sociales des religions 153-1, 2011, p. 85-104.
• Sarg, Rachel, La foi malgré tout. Croire en prison, Paris, PUF, 2015.

D 31 August 2015    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

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