Swarthmore Lecturer announced
'Friends will be encouraged to reflect on criminal justice, punishment, rehabilitation and to explore the broader and longer flow of Quaker witness on this subject.
The 2024 Swarthmore Lecture will be given by Ben Jarman. His talk will focus on imprisonment and punishment, exploring what Quakers have to say today about these topics.
A member of London West Area Meeting, Ben Jarman has worked in and around prisons and the penal system for nearly fifteen years. He was first drawn to the field while working for the Quaker Council for European Affairs in Brussels, then going on to Clinks, a membership organisation which supports the involvement of the wider voluntary sector in criminal justice. Ben has also managed the prison volunteering programme of Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise training prisoners in textile arts.
Sarah Donaldson, clerk of the Swarthmore Lecture Committee, said: ‘Ben’s rich professional and personal experience place him in a unique position to share his ministry on this complex area. The committee believes that Ben can help the Yearly Meeting tap into the many voices of those with lived experience of the criminal justice system. We hope that, through the lecture, Friends will be encouraged to reflect on criminal justice, punishment, rehabilitation and to explore the broader and longer flow of Quaker witness on this subject.’
Woodbrooke said that the lecture will aim to ‘explore the messy middle ground between seemingly rigid positions on how society responds to crime; escalating demands for more severe punishment; claims that a reformed system can rehabilitate; or calls to envision a future in which prisons and punishment no longer exist’.
Ben’s current project examines work and employment during and after imprisonment.
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