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To find out, in 2017, Prison Fellowship® commissioned polling through Barna to gauge Christians’ attitudes toward criminal justice reform.
Most of the survey questions and responses were released in 2017, but today we are revealing more of our key findings. The newly updated survey report includes more questions and responses, and a detailed breakdown of responses by practicing Christian sub-groups (Catholics, mainline, non-mainline, and evangelicals). Read the newly revised report for more.
Here are some highlights of the newly released information:
- Most Americans believe making amends for one’s crimes should be a part of the justice system. Practicing Christians feel somewhat more strongly, while evangelicals and Catholics are most likely to strongly agree (51 and 48 percent, respectively).
- More than three-fourths (77 percent) of practicing Christians agree or strongly agree that their values compel them to take a stand and advocate for criminal justice reform.
- About half of Americans strongly agree that people who have completed their just punishment should have the opportunity to be productive members of the community, showing that most Americans favor the general idea of second chances. Men are most convinced of this, as are evangelical Christians (61 percent strongly agree).
- However, Americans showed less support applying the general idea of second chances to specific policy implications. Only about one-quarter of Americans and one-third of practicing Christians strongly agreed that restrictions should not be placed on people with criminal records.
These findings indicate that the foundation has been laid for the Church to use its unparalleled capacity to continue playing a role in creating a more restorative justice system, but there is still work to be done. This is especially the case when it comes to growing support for sentencing that fits the crime and removing barriers that prevent people with criminal records from flourishing. We are working hard to grow that support, but we can’t do it without you.
You can make a difference in challenging Christian perceptions of justice reform and growing advocacy efforts by signing the Justice Declaration, if you have not already, and then using our social media toolkit to spread the word.
Prison Fellowship plans to repeat the same survey in the future to measure progress in educating and engaging believers to advance justice that restores. We look forward to updating you with future results.
P.S. You can share the report with friends and family on social media. See our coverage on Facebook and Twitter.
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