Degase: Religious Freedom or Proselytizing?

If you look at the religious counseling offered to teenage detainees in full or part-time residential custody in the Rio de Janeiro State branch of Brazil's national juvenile corrections system, Degase, (in full, Novo Departamento Geral das Ações Socioeducativas) you will see it is mostly Evangelical, according from data from a recent study.

Of the 22 detention centers that offer such services, at least one of the religious denominations present is Protestant, Evangelical or Pentecostal, and in 19 centers, the service is provided by members of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, UCKG.

The information comes from the study “Religious assistance offered in the Rio de Janeiro youth corrections system” (“Perfil da Assistência Religiosa no Sistema Socioeducativo do Rio de Janeiro”), developed by the Institute for Studies of Religion, Iser, conducted from September 2008 to June 2009.

Study coordinator Pedro Simões analyzed material provided by Degase and  scores of interviews made with directors and religious counselors. The teens themselves were not consulted directly for legal reasons. The study was released at a seminar on the topic held at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Uerj.

Although the Census-2000 classifies Brazil’s protestant churches in Evangelical and Evangelical Pentecostal churches, Iser chose to apply a single category of Protestant/Evangelical for this grouping of faiths.

There are on average three religious institutions acting in each Degase center, according to the study. At least one Evangelical/Protestant church is active in each center, and in eight of them they are the sole denomination present. The Catholic church is present in 14 centers, and in 10 of them the Catholic church offers religious counseling along with Protestant/Evangelical churches. In other 4 centers, Spiritism is present.

The Protestant/Evangelical institutions conduct close to 74% of the religious activities at the Degase in Rio de Janeiro state. The Catholic church, although it shows greater levels of organization, does not reach more than 20% of the Degase system in the state of Rio. Ecumenical groups and Spiritism are present in less than 10% of the Rio Degase system.

The UCKG's presence in youth detention centers is almost double that of the other churches, (Evangelical and Catholic), according to the study. This is attributed to the UCKG's heavy presence in youth detention centers that offer open custody (regimes de semiliberdade). The UCKG was founded and is headed by Bispo Macedo, who also owns the Record Television network, among other business enterprises. He is currently under investigation for money laundry and racketeering. The Catholic church offers religious counseling in four open custody centers.

As for Spiritism, religious counseling is offered by the Grupo Espírita Irmão Demétrios (Geid) of its own initiative. The group combines Kardecist teachings with Eastern teaching based on Sai Baba.

According to Degase directors, Afro-Brazilian religions do not offer religious counseling because they simply have not requested to do so, while the other denominations, Evangelical, Catholic and Spiritist, did. Practically 90% of religious counseling services began with the enactment of Brazil’s Child Rights Law, known as the ECA, the Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Most of the religious assistance has been given by the Protestant/Evangelical churches.

Freedom of religion is a legal right

Religious counseling for young offenders in custody is a legal right, and it is guaranteed in Brazil’s Child Rights Law, the ECA. Religious counseling however, must be respectful of freedom of religion and must not be compulsory.

There are a number of open questions however, according to the introduction to the study written by Pedro Simões. There is no precise definition of religious counseling, for example, or what practices constitute religious assistance. Other questions: is it possible to hold mass or religious services inside a detention center, or merely to pray and offer advice? What are the appropriate venues for religious practices? In terms of logistics and safety, how do religious counselors have access to the detention centers? Are religious counselors to make themselves available upon a young offender’s request, or should they be a constant presence in the detention centers?

As Simões writes in the introduction, “...(in translation) since we lack precise regulations determining how religious assistance is to be provided inside youth detention centers, the law is subject to various interpretations, and this is more striking if we consider that some religious groups exert political influence. It is up to Detention center directors to accept or reject the presence of specific groups as service providers. This means means there is a wide range of possibilities open as to what directors, technicians and agents of discipline attribute to “common sense”. This leads to the prevalence of the values and beliefs of individuals in regulating religious assistance.”

Simões, a professor at the School of Social Services of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, stated that services that offer religious counseling ought to be in keeping with a democratic and secular state, it should be offered by trained agents who are committed to championing the rights and interests of young offenders, according to socio-educational principles.

Religious counselors lack an understanding of the law

A number of interviews were conducted with religious counselors, asking them whether they are familiar with the Child Rights Law enacted in 1999 and the Sinase, the National Corrections Guidelines for Young Offenders enforced in 2006, that stipulates the legal guidelines on religious counseling for young offenders.  Although in general Catholic counselors had better knowledge of the law, followed by Spiritists and Protestants, practically 75% of counselors said they were aware of the Child Rights Law, ECA, and while only 23% were aware of the Sinase.

Religious assistance is stipulated as a Human Right in Sinase guidelines. That means that religious assistance is not only a legal right but a humanitarian issue. The Sinase also establishes that religious assistance should be given in locations selected for that purpose, and specific architectural projects ought to be developed. This was news to most religious counselors, 82% of Protestant/Evangelical counselors, 60% of Catholic counselors and 75% of Spiritist counselors (three interviewees) were unaware of these two provisions.

Although most religious denominations had little knowledge of the Sinase, the same could not be said for the Child Rights Law. Protestant/Evangelical counselors were the only ones that, in approximately 35% of the interviews, were ignorant of the Child Rights Law. The percentage is true across the board, for all Protestant/Evangelical denominations.

Only in the Protestant/Evangelical denominations was there a reported complete lack of knowledge of both legal instruments. “This means that for 35% of the Protestant/Evangelical counselors, their actions are based exclusively on their understanding of their need to take their religions to the teens. In other words, they are purely motivated by religion,” said Simões.

Social scientist Silvia Regina Alves Fernandes, a professor at the State Universtity of Rio de Janeiro, understands that the law provides for freedom of religion, but stressed that the provision of such services require planning, education, monitoring and on going evaluations. She was critical of the study in two respects, pointing out that it failed to address youth identities and their needs, on the one hand, and, on the other, believes the study should not have treated Protestant and Evangelical churches as a single grouping. “Each denomination has its own peculiar approach. The UCKG is more prevalent in the Degase system, and its approach is different from the Protestant, Lutheran or Baptist churches. We must have an eye for diversity when we are considering the Evangelical/Protestant churches,” said Fernandes. 

Pedro Simões said that the study would have benefited from hearing the young offenders, but that they lacked the time. He also noted that legal authorization would have been required to interview detainees, which meant added costs and operational problems.

Photos by Kita Pedroza, from the book "Pescadores de homens".

Translated by Lis Horta Moriconi