Pepperdine’s Center for Faith and the Common Good to Host Human Flourishing and Justice: Offender Rehabilitation and Restorative Prisons Symposium
On Thursday, October 26, 2023, at 10 AM, Pepperdine University’s Center for Faith and the Common Good will host a virtual symposium entitled “Human Flourishing and Justice: Offender Rehabilitation and Restorative Prisons.” The symposium will feature leaders from Pepperdine, Prison Fellowship International, the Senate of Colombia, and the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute of Colombia.
The event will center around a first-of-its-kind, multiyear study in Colombia’s prison system to measure the efficacy of international prison programs in offender rehabilitation, recidivism reduction, and general correctional reform. Led by Pepperdine University and Prison Fellowship International (PFI), in partnership with the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute of Colombia (INPEC) and Prison Fellowship Colombia (PFC), the research study partnership findings will be applied to identify best practices that drive meaningful change in the lives of prisoners and their families around the world. This unique endeavor will also position the Colombian government as a global leader in restorative programs.
Panelists will include Pepperdine president Jim Gash (JD ’93); Andy Corley, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship International; Byron Johnson, co-executive director of the Center for Faith and the Common Good; Sung Joon Jang, visiting scholar at the School of Public Policy and research professor of criminology and co-director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior at Baylor University; Lorena Ríos Cuéllar, member of the Senate of Colombia; Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Fernando Gutiérrez Rojas, general director of INPEC; Lácides Hernández, executive director of Prison Fellowship Colombia; and Cameron McCollum (JD ’17), director of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law Sudreau Global Justice Institute and administrative director of the Center for Faith and the Common Good.
Watch the symposium on the Center for Faith and the Common Good website.