Biblical Basis for Chaplaincy Involvement in Rehabilitating Prisoners in Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to examine the biblical teachings regarding rehabilitating prisoners in Kenya. The Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) has invested resources into prisoners’ rehabilitation programs. However, despite the government institutionalising prison chaplaincy since 1957 as valuable in the rehabilitation process, prisoners and recidivism rates have continued to escalate unabatedly, weakening the socio-economic and socio-political fabric of the nation’s development. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources. The study was informed by Mugambi's Reconstruction Theology and Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. Proportionate, stratified simple random and snowball samplings selected a sample size of 290 respondents from a target population of 4178. Quantitative data were analysed utilising the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Data was analysed thematically, coded and processed. The study findings show that Biblical teachings on rehabilitating prisoners are limited due to hermeneutical problems. The study concludes that Biblical teachings propagated by chaplaincy in rehabilitating prisoners demonstrate God's justice, mercy, unconditional love and salvation. The study recommends recognising multi-religious agencies and integrated Biblical reconstructions as effective in prisoners’ rehabilitation. The role of chaplaincy in nurturing prisoners to hear, study, memorise, meditate, put into practice, reap success and begin teaching biblical truth to others remains imperative.