My Brother's Keeper?

In 1997 the Verne Prison permitted the setting up of a distinct Christian community within its walls, the first prison to do so within the western world. Offered as a solution to the problem of control in that prison, it rapidly spread to three other prisons in the UK. By 1999 it had inspired the development of similar programmes in other countries. By 2002, however, all but one of the units in England and Wales had closed. This book tells the controversial story of the sudden rise and fall of Kainos Community. It lays bare the twin origins of the programme in Brazil and the United States, and the confluence of forces within the Prison Service in England and Wales that led to its introduction and uncritical expansion. It looks at the collapse of the original Kairos-APAC Trust that made headline news in 1999. For the first time the book provides an accessible account of the findings of the independent evaluation of Kainos' operations, and why it generated both hope and concern. My Brother's Keeper?: faith-based therapeutic communities in prisons is a case study of an innovative programme - one that did not live up to its early promise, but one that still raised standards of humanity, decency and order in the Prison Service.
It is set in the context of the broader themes of religion and rehabilitation. Among other things it will explore the policy issues presented by Kainos Community and the place of religious communities in UK prisons in the light of heightened awareness of religiously-based terrorism. It will also explore the prospects of Kainos-derived programmes internationally.