Newspaper Page Text
Search
For
Rehabilitation
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Sister Janet Valente, Assistant
Deputy Commissioner of Women’s Services for the
Georgia Department of Corrections, has submitted her
viewpoints on the January 19 BULLETIN article “The
Search For Rehabilitation” by John A. Gray, an
inmate of the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta.)
“The Search for Rehabilitation” is an apt title to situate the
challenge for those committed to the field of corrections today,
Though beset by frustrations and apparent failures, we are
precisely “in search” for both the meaning of this controversial,
worn term and the reality we can give it within the institutional
context of everyday prison existance. Furthermore, we must be
“in search” - there is no other recourse but to keep on going
on!
Mr. Gray is rightly angered by the Federal Bureau’s stance
that indeed Rehabilitation has failed and the answer now lies in
fixed sentences, no good time, no paroles, etc. Debating this in a
substantial way would take more time than is presently
available, but I Would make this initial response to points raised
in Mr. Gray’s article:
1) As a society we can not afford to abandon the search for
Rehabilitation, dismayed as we might be by what we perceive as
failure after concerted effort. There are ways in which one
could agree that rehabilitation has indeed never been tried or
realistically defined given the inherent limitations that flow
from the institutional setting itself. It is precarious at best to
blend treatment and security, particularly when the most
essential human element, namely freedom, can not be operative
behind bars; also the total affect of the prison environment and
the incarcerated experience can so harshly impact the human
person as to negate any substantial effect the treatment offered
can have in terms of enabling overall changes.
2) John’s point is well taken that we need to offer hope and
motivation. If this point is to be realistically dealt with, we must
remember that while human custody and re-allocation of
resources for treatment such as psychiatric care, etc., should
facilitate the motivational process, ultimately motivation has to
come from within the individual; the prison setting by its very
nature is limited in what it can do to actually motivate; resource
allocation has to be made on the basis of who we think will
benefit most. Thus, while there is a point that we can’t forget,
the multiple offender, it is understandable that the first
offender is getting a first shot at opportunities right now - one
has to face the pragmatic financial limits that exist.
3) I think that as a society we do not comprehend at all the
very stark effects that the separation from one’s home and the
deprivation of personal freedom involve - there can be no doubt
that this is the heart of punishment. Society needs to re-assess
this in its yen to keep compounding punishment. To what
good? To whose benefit? Certainly not the individual’s nor
society’s when we look at the astonishingly high recidivism rate.
4) The chance to earn good time restores the rightful sense of
responsibility a person must assume for his/her actions. To deny
this as an alternative to the perceived failure of rehabilitation
theories could not be any more self-defeating. Somewhere at the
core of every crime pattern is the question of the appropriate
use of responsibility and freedom. Adopting such a stance,
including no paroles, etc., would in the long run punish none
other than society itself.
THE REALITIES OF PRISON LIFE are shown to students by inmates
of Rahway State Prison in New Jersey. The not so glamorous tour is given
daily.
St. Valentine Verdict
A1 Capone was born in New York
City. But it was the City of Chicago that
thrust upon him the infamy of his
uproarious reputation. It was there in
the unforgettable Roaring Twenties that
he burned his name onto the history of
American lawlessness forever.
Capone had about a ten-year reign as
the king-pin of crime and it was a reign
of unconscionable terror and violence.
His sweeping machine-gun battles, for
the most part, were not with the forces
of the law. Chicago’s well-oiled
Democratic machine was well and truly
in his pocket. His ceaseless attacks were
aimed at the swelling growth of
underlying gangs, poised ready to
challenge his place at the top.
It was the colorful age of jazz,
ragtime and forbidden booze.
Prohibition gave
birth to the
lucrative and
incurable disease of
Organized Crime.
It has become a
fungus on our
society. Travelling
from the days of
unsophisticated
gun battles on the
streets, it has gone
respectably into
executive suits of
high-rise office buildings.
The glamor of stealing to flashily
spend is gone. Today’s gangsters steal to
build and profitably invest. The
illegitimate gains from unmerciful
transactions, especially in narcotics, go
into the support of respectable hotels
and legitimate businesses across the
country. It is estimated that taxes alone
from the take of Organized Crime today
would meet the operational budget of
the Pentagon for many a fiscal year to
come.
Keeping all the rules, Federal Agents
are still led a merry dance and an
unaroused public remains the victim of
their own irresponsible cooperation.
Shaded by business suits of
respectability, the Capone Boys are alive
and well.
St. Valentine’s Day 1929 marked the
end of an era for gangsterism in
America. From his lavish compound in
Palm Beach, A1 Capone ordered the
elimination of his final serious Chicago
challenge, the Bugs Moran gang.
Posing as policemen on a routine
bootleg raid, five Capone marksmen
entered the Moran headquarters on
North Clark Street. The Valentine’s Day
Massacre became history. Seven men,
hoodlums all, were lined up as targets
for a dreadful machine-gun death. It was
the end of his opposition, but ironically
the end of A1 Capone too.
A vocally enraged public, clamering
above the excuses of local politicians,
demanded an end to this chapter of
violence. The Internal Revenue had the
answer. Busily segregating himself from
the possibility of capital charges,
Capone had forgotten to pay his taxes.
He owed $87,000. His personal fortune
was 50 million. Unable to buy off his
Federal accusers, he was sentenced to
10 years and went to jail. In the San
Franciso Bay, the island of Alcatraz
became his home.
Retribution was still to come.
Physically destroyed by diseases of his
life style, Capone was paroled to
painfully end his days, broken and
insane, amidst the luxurious
surroundings of his Palm Beach
hideaway. The roaring days of Chicago
gangsterism were over. He died in 1947.
The so-called St. Valentine’s Day
killer was 48 years old.
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 16 No. 7
Thursday, February 16,1978
$5 Per Year
THE WORK OF THE MISSION CHURCH is supported by the
Archdiocesan Charities Drive. Glenmary Missionary Father Frank Ruff
travelled the hills of North Georgia as a regular part of his job.
CHARITIES DRIVE
Georgia Missions Minded
BY FATHER RAY HORAN
Rural Life Director
A landmark in Atlanta went the way of dust and ashes. The Loew’s Grand burned,
and then was demolished. The end of an era. But also a reminder of its heyday and
“Gone With The Wind.”
The story of “Gone With The Wind” is a story that has been repeated time and
again in Georgia. Small settlements of Catholics dotted the countryside of North
Georgia - in Sharon, Hartwell, Milledgeville, Dalton, Elberton, etc. But there were no
priests. So the Scarletts of days gone by said their rosary each night and joined the
free Church that was the only Church in their area in order that they could worship on
Sunday.
Some made the transfer complete, for it was better to be churched than to simply
wait for the day when the Catholic priest could be a part of their community. Others,
especially at the turn of the century, kept their identity as Catholic Christians, even
though the sacraments were great distances away, and travel once a month was their
only nourishment in their faith as Catholics.
I remember well when a Glenmary priest came to Dahlonega, bought a small home,
and began to show the presence of Catholic Christianity in Lumpkin County. It was
not too long ago. And when we were strapped for priestly presence in Washington,
Elberton, Sharon and Thompsom, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate offered to be
priests in that area.
And the LaSalette Fathers came to the needs of the Church in Bartow and Cherokee
counties, and so many others who realized the need and responded, exerted
themselves, because the love of Christ urged them. Religious men and women,
volunteers and couples, people excited about being Catholic Christians and seeking to
share in whatever way that they could their own talents and gifts.
The small Catholic Communities are simply that: they are small. As small - but
vibrant and vital Catholic Churches - their needs are greater and their resources are
(ewer. They know that they are a part of the whole excitement of Catholic
Christianity by the signs and the care that all of us together bring to them. The
distances they travel are great, and you will recall Father Tom Scanlon’s letter to the
editor a few weeks ago that honestly communicated that the travel is still not always
easy.
Our annual Charities Drive is an important sign to the small parishes that are outside
metro Atlanta that we care. Just as their gift in the Drive supports programs for the
Atlanta metro area, our gift in the Drive supports their programs in the towns and in
the country.
CARDINAL SUENENS
Renewal Leader For Atlanta
BY MICHAEL MOTES
Leo Cardinal Suenens, Archbishop of
Malines-Brussels and Primate of
Belgium, will be in Atlanta March 4 for
an Ecumenical Service at the Cathedral
of St. Philip, 2669 Peachtree Road.
The noted Charismatic leader and
author has accepted the invitation of
Dean David Collins of the Episcopal
community of St. Philip to be homilist
at the service scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
In 1976, Cardinal Suenens was
recipient of the Templeton Foundation
Prize for Progress in Religion and used
the money to support a center for unity
and spiritual renewal in Brussels.
One of the leading international
figures in the Catholic Charismatic
movement, the Cardinal has authored
books ranging from an analysis of an
explosive Church-State issue in Belgium
(“The School Question”) to a
delineation of the Church’s missionary
role (“The Church in Mission Lands”).
He has also written several books of
devotion.
One of his most recent visits to the
United States was in July 1977 when he
was among the speakers at the
Conference on Charismatic Renewal in
Kansas City, Mo.
From Atlanta, Cardinal Suenens will
fly to Milwaukee to attend an
ecumenical conference.
“We are very surprised and delighted
that Cardinal Suenens is coming to the
Cathedral,” Dean Collins said. “We
visited him in Belgium last summer. At
that time we extended the greetings of
Archbishop Donnellan and invited the
Cardinal to come to Atlanta. We just
recently received his acceptance of our
invitation.”
The basis of the March 4 service will
be an updating of Charismatic Renewal,
said Dean Collins. “It will be a service of
prayer and praise to which everyone is
invited.”
Archbishop Donnellan will
participate in the service, as *vill
Methodist Bishop William R. Cannon
and Episcopal Bishop Bennett Simms.
Other religious leaders being invited
to participate include Dom Augustine
Moore, OCSO, Abbot of the Monastery
of the Holy Spirit; Bishop Raymond
Lessard of Savannah; Bishop Ernest L.
Unterkoefler of Charleston, SC; Bishop
Michael J. Begley of Charlotte, NC, and
Bishop F. Joseph Grossman of Raleigh,
NC.
Cardinal Suenens will also speak to
the governing board of St. Philip’s while
in Atlanta. Prior to the evening service
on March 4, a buffet will be held at the
Cathedral during which the Cardinal will
have an opportunity to meet religious
leaders of Roman Catholic and other
Christian churches. According to Dean
Collins, the buffet will start at 5:30
p.m.
Cardinal Suenens is no stranger to
Atlanta. In 1967 he spent a week here,
lecturing at an ecumenical institute
sponsored by Emory University;
officiating at a Solemn Mass at the
Cathedral of Christ the King, and
speaking at a convocation at the Hyland
Center at which honorary degrees were
presented to him and to Methodist
Bishop Fred P. Corson of Philadelphia.
At the consistory of March 19, 1962,
Archbishop Suenens was one of 10 new
cardinals proclaimed by Pope John
XXIII. On March 31, 1962 King
Baudouin and Queen Fabiola attended
his enthronement as archbishop in
Brussels.
LEO CARDINAL SUENENS, (center) Archbishop of Malines-Brussels
and Primate of Belgium, visited Atlanta in 1967 and was awarded the first
Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree awarded to a Roman Catholic by
Emory University. He returns to Atlanta on March 4.
6 Magazine’Is Coming!
Next week we will begin a new monthly feature, which we are calling our
“Magazine” page. Feature stories and photographs will spotlight persons and
events of interest throughout the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Our first story will focus on the work of two Sisters who visit the elderly in
the metropolitan area.
Watch out for the “Magazine” page in the last issue of each month
beginning February 23!
Support Each Other - Charities Drive March 5
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