Books by Andrew Skotnicki

This text evaluates the influence of the religious community on the American penal system, with emphasis on the role of the prison chaplain. It looks at penitentiaries, and the like, between 1820 and 1913 and assesses the influence of historical and theological trends on the rise in number.

Traces Christian history to show that Christians of an earlier age took very seriously the gospel injunctions against punitive legal judgment and how the advent of formal legal codes and philosophical dualism undermined that perspective to create a division between a private Christian spirituality and legally sanctioned violence.

The Catholic Church has had an impact on both the structure and understanding of criminal justice. This book surveys the history of the church to suggest that despite demonstrable abuses, a coherent theory of criminal justice can be constructed that is harmonious with biblical sources, tradition, and normative emphases in Catholic social thought.