page_title: Chaplain
section_title: Prison
hierarchical_section_title: Chaplain / Types of chaplaincies / Prison
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Rabbi Philip R. Alstat, to go with article about him.
context_page_description: A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric, or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence agency, embassy, school, labor union, business, police department, fire department, university, sports club, or private chapel.
  Though originally the word chaplain referred to representatives of the Christian faith, it is now also applied to people of other religions or philosophical traditions, such as the case of chaplains serving with military forces and an increasing number of chaplaincies at U.S. universities. In recent times, many lay people have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed as chaplains in schools, hospitals, companies, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside, or instead of, official members of the clergy. The concepts of a multi-faith team, secular, generic or humanist chaplaincy are also gaining increasing use, particularly within healthcare and educational settings.
context_section_description: Prison chaplains can be a "safety valve, through listening and pro-social intervention" in potentially explosive situations. They also reduce recidivism by linking offenders to positive community resources, and in the work they do to help offenders change their hearts, minds and directions.
  Rabbi Philip R. Alstat (1891–1976), who—in addition to work as a chaplain in New York hospitals and senior citizen facilities—served for three decades as the Jewish chaplain for "The Tombs", the Manhattan Detention Facility, once described his service as follows: "My goals are the same as those of the prison authorities—to make better human beings. The only difference is that their means are discipline, security, and iron bars.
  Mine are the spiritual ministrations that operate with the mind and the heart."
  In Canada in 2013, a $2-million contract for chaplaincy services for federal prisons was awarded to Kairos Pneuma Chaplaincy Inc., a company newly formed by five current and former federal prison chaplains. About "2,500 volunteers, many of them of minority faiths, would also continue providing services." There has however, been very little research looking at the role of chaplains and volunteers working within correctional facilities.
  Chaplains to sports communities have existed since the middle of the 20th century and have significantly grown in the past 20 years. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia have well established Christian sports chaplaincy ministries.
  Sports chaplains consist of people from many different walks of life. Most commonly, the chaplains are ministers or full-time Christian workers but occasionally, chaplaincy work is done without charge or any financial remuneration. Often, sports chaplains to a particular sport are former participants of that sport. This helps the chaplain to not only provide spiritual support and guidance to a player, but also to give them the ability to empathize and relate to some of the challenges facing the participant with whom they are ministering.
caption: Rabbi Philip R. Alstat, c.1920, Jewish chaplain for "The Tombs" – the Manhattan Correctional Facility – for thirty years.
exif: {}