Living on the Edge: Ethics Inside San Quentin
The structures of our thinking and ethics are deeply influenced by our social, economic and political environment. One of my concerns as a poor graduate student was how my theology and ethics would be affected by a Ph.D. and a comfortable job as a professor. After teaching graduate students about so...
| Published in: | Journal of law and religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1988
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| In: |
Journal of law and religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The structures of our thinking and ethics are deeply influenced by our social, economic and political environment. One of my concerns as a poor graduate student was how my theology and ethics would be affected by a Ph.D. and a comfortable job as a professor. After teaching graduate students about social ethics for several years I became alarmed at my own insularity from the experience of people at the bottom rungs of our society. In 1986 I began weekly visits to San Quentin Prison.Entering the maximum security "holes" of the prison, I was amazed and appalled. Strong men, mostly minorities, are locked in small cages with very little privacy, minimal community, loneliness without silence and regimentation without security. They can touch opposite walls and the ceiling of their cells from a standing position; I saw cells with peeling paint where people may stay 23 or more hours per day for years on end. I heard that up to 1,000 of them are likely never again to see the outside world. |
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| ISSN: | 2163-3088 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of law and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1051159 |