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Prof. Yoshiyuki INOUE
Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University; Director, Correctional Religious Studies Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Specialist field of Shin Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu) studies. Author of “Views of Life, Death, and Transcendence in East Asian Thought” (co-author, Ryukoku University edition) and other works.

Prison Chaplaincy Work = Aiming for an Ideal Society
Publishing research papers and holding public research meetings are two potential ways to inform the wider public that prison chaplaincy involves serious confrontation of criminals to assist their spiritual rehabilitation and social reintegration. However, these activities would be meaningless if people only learn of the existence of prison chaplains. I would like people to see the role of the prison chaplain as appealing to an ideal state of society and personal interaction that is mutually supportive and where private society and the government work together beyond the boundaries of religion. I want my research to lead to creating this ideal state of society.

Aiming for an Inclusive Society Based on Shinran’s Ningenkan (View of Humanity)
The true teaching of Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu) is the founding spirit of Ryukoku University. From the view of humanity that constitutes Shinran’s basic principles, the work of prison chaplains is an essential topic for contemplation. We tend to see those who commit crimes as different from ourselves. Shinran’s view is that people are influenced by their circumstances and encounters, and we cannot know how and in what way people will change. In other words, it is through mere good fortune that we do not find ourselves in the offender’s shoes.
When a criminal is sentenced to a correctional facility and, from the various hardships they undergo and interactions with prison chaplains, the criminal confronts themselves, reflects on past conduct, and is reintegrated back into society. If they then find it difficult to handle the critical gaze of others and fail to integrate back into society, they run the danger of committing further crimes. Prison chaplains are not only a spiritual bastion for people in correctional facilities, but they can also serve as a bridge to reintegration by coordinating with welfare services and private society in assisting criminals after they re-enter society. In response, society must also have the tolerance to accept offenders and not view them as alien or exclude them from social life. This idea also accords with the university’s spirit of tomoiki (to build life together), which is found in the relationships.

Historical Prison Chaplaincy Work and Finding Relevant Themes Today
Ryukoku University runs a Corrections and Rehabilitation Degree Program based on the religious preaching of the Honganji sect of Shin Buddhism. Nevertheless, prison chaplains and their work providing face-to-face guidance addressing the religious needs of inmates get very little recognition in society. Despite a history of prison chaplaincy work that spans over 100 years in Japan, we are now having difficulty bringing new people into the role.
To serve as the basis for informing society of the work done by prison chaplains, we have started looking at historical prison chaplaincy work and use books, published articles, and other documents to learn about the history of prison chaplaincy. Although the job title of prison chaplain suggests someone who preaches rectification through instruction and admonishment, these days, prison chaplains place greater importance on talking and listening to inmates. The way inmates are treated also changed after World War II, and I believe by understanding the work done by prison chaplains over the course of history we can uncover themes that are relevant today. After extracting these themes, we may then move on and set our sights on creating a program of education for those aiming to become prison chaplains or with an interest in prison chaplaincy.

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Prof. Toshinobu TAKEDA
Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Ryukoku University; Director, Forensic Psychology Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Fields of study are psychiatry and developmental disabilities, and the current focus of research is ADHD in adults. Also provides medical care as a psychiatrist at a specialist outpatient clinic for developmental disabilities.

Educating Society Today for Future Results
With this research, I hope to succeed in informing society that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be a risk factor in creating circumstances that lead people to drug dependency and criminal involvement. When society realizes this, it should result in early detection and treatment for ADHD. To this end, I first want to try and identify which people in prison have ADHD tendencies and observe the potential effects of correctional education in preventing recidivism.
Based on my experience as a psychiatrist, I feel that there has been a steady decline in the likelihood of causing problems in the future by those children who have received treatment at my clinic. Similarly, when training and treatment are provided to groups or peer groups at adult facilities dedicated to developmental disabilities, many are able to return to society. Increasing this kind of training and treatment and achieving social reintegration will require discussion and support on multiple fronts.

Using Methods to Mitigate the Trials of Life
ADHD tendencies are apparent in the behavior of people dependent on drugs, though aspects of this observation are yet to be confirmed by neurocognitive tests, biological findings, and psychological tests. As such, I think there is something new to learn from conducting proper research in this area.
ADHD and drug dependency share the common characteristic of repeated failure and low self-esteem. People with ADHD also display a capacity for impulsive behavior, and particularly in new cases, they tend to involve themselves in things that appear interesting at first glance. These characteristics tend to lead to drug-dependent behavior.
ADHD is an innate tendency and hence difficult to cure, though it can be controlled by learning about oneself and compensating in areas where one falls short. I became interested in ADHD because many aspects of the disorder can be improved through appropriate behavioral therapy and the administration of drugs. Before someone falls into a spiral of negative thinking, they and the people around them must focus on positive details and positive behavior, as well as training to manage ADHD and make life easier for the afflicted.

Drug Dependency and Criminal Tendencies from a Medical Standpoint
For many years, I have carried out clinical research into ADHD, a developmental disorder and a kind of brain dysfunction. People with drug dependency are said to exhibit behavioral characteristics similar to ADHD, and by applying the experience and knowledge I have gained through many years of work as a researcher and doctor, I believe I can help people escape drug dependency.
Japan attaches importance to punishing people criminally for dependence on drugs, and this creates a revolving door phenomenon where recidivism causes addicts to repeatedly enter and leave prison. With this research, I hope to find an approach that will improve this situation. Neurofeedback has long been studied and utilized as a means of non-drug therapy for ADHD and more recently has occasionally been applied in the field of criminology. ADHD drugs are particularly difficult to use in treating illegal drug users, and since these users also often experience little improvement with psychotherapy and become persistent offenders, we hope that neurofeedback will be an effective treatment. However, many aspects of the evidence in support of neurofeedback in the treatment of ADHD are uncertain, hence we are preparing to study the effects of neurofeedback in adults with ADHD.
My ultimate goal in this project is to find any effective treatment for those who are susceptible to drug dependence including individuals with ADHD.

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Prof. Koichi HAMAI
Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University; Director, International Section; Director, Policy Evaluation Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Previously worked in correctional institutions as an employee of Japan’s Ministry of Justice, has held researcher posts at the Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, and is well versed in domestic and overseas crime and criminal policy. Current criminological research is based on criminal statistics and scientific evidence.

We Need a Discussion Based on Scientific Evidence
I saw the need for scientific evidence in criminology, in discussions about crime, and in policymaking when I noticed a discrepancy between statistics on crime and the criminals I actually witnessed and the state of criminal punishment. While working for the Ministry of Justice, upon being transferred from a research institute creating Japan’s annual White Paper on Crime and studying criminal policy to the prison system, I encountered prisons full to capacity and convicted offenders held in jails. A large proportion of prison inmates had disabilities or were elderly with dementia, unable to work as a form of punishment, had no place to go after leaving prison, and displayed a high rate of recidivism. The jumping-off point for my research was having doubts over whether punishing criminals under these circumstances or toughening the law had any beneficial effect, and concerns about how this set of circumstances arose. Criminology studies in Japan have an insular and top-down structure; few people consider what kinds of people commit crime, why they commit crime, or the series of events that befall criminals after entering prison; and nobody conducts research into these matters.
My specialty is criminal statistics, and after spending time both compiling Japan’s annual White Paper on Crime and working in the prison system, upon starting research I quickly realized that an increase in arrest rates was not necessarily evidence of a deterioration in civil order. When statistics are not viewed scientifically and when anti-crime measures and criminal policies are instituted on baseless necessity, we end up going down the wrong path. In collaboration with professor Hiroshi TSUTOMI of the University of Shizuoka, a Japanese representative for the Campbell Collaboration, we set to work translating and analyzing reviews issued by the Campbell Collaboration, which is an international social science research network that produces high quality, open and policy-relevant evidence syntheses, plain language summaries and policy briefs.

The Campbell Collaboration
The Campbell Collaboration issues systematic reviews of (science-based) evidence presented as meta-analyses of data collected in experiments conducted in various countries by the same methods and criteria. These reviews are accessible on the Campbell Collaboration website and address the needs of people who require access to the best available evidence in fields of education, criminal justice, crime, and social welfare. When new evidence comes to light, the reviews are also promptly updated and revised. At present, these reviews appear in English on the web site in the form of a scientific article and an abstract summarizing the article, and our work mainly involves translating abstracts and reviews into Japanese.
Legal scholars, lawyers, and other legal experts in Japan rarely discuss matters based on scientific or statistical evidence. I would like people in Japan to discover and recognize the significance of the Campbell Collaboration as a means of sharing systematic reviews, and to make high-quality evidence available for policy evaluation and decision-makers in Japan.

Using my Unique Vantage Point to Examine Criminology on a Scientific Basis
My unique vantage point is based on time spent working for the Ministry of Justice and consists of first-hand experience in all correctional facilities spanning juvenile and adult offenders. I am also familiar with the places where statistics are created. Being experienced in the production of Japan’s annual White Paper on Crime as an editor, I can also compile and analyze all types of statistics collected in the field. Furthermore, having also been temporarily assigned to the United Nations agency that gathers and analyzes statistics from every country, I have a comprehensive understanding of the situation concerning crime in Japan and how Japanese criminal policy is viewed by the rest of the world.
Unlike America and Europe, criminology departments do not exist in Japan, hence few people in Japan understand the significance of discussions on criminology, data that can be used in policymaking, or are capable of analyzing the significance of how these data are created or figures derived from them. By building a foundation for a statistics-based scientific examination and discussion of crime, I hope that the Criminology Research Center will become both a hub for criminology research in Japan and a useful ally to the world.

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Prof. Kayoko KUROKAWA
Professor, Department of Social Welfare, Ryukoku University Junior College; Deputy Center Director; Member, Socio-legal Studies Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Conducts research into social welfare studies. Research topic is the development of practice models for bereavement support.

Examining the Social Function of Children’s Cafeterias
Since my specialty is in social welfare studies, I want to aid research activities across the entire Center through engagement from a social welfare studies perspective. Social welfare studies as an academic discipline examines what it is for people to have well-being and what kind of social infrastructure, including technology, regulatory policy, and welfare, is needed to support them.
Providing support for the socially vulnerable such as children, people with disabilities, and elderly people, poses an especially large number of challenges. This is why my research is now focused on children’s cafeterias.* We live in a period when one in seven Japanese children live in poverty. Child poverty is not just an issue for the individual child but presents a problem for the society around them. Data shows that children who grow up in poverty tend to have lower rates of educational advancement. When lower rates of educational advancement present a hurdle to finding employment, poverty can persist for generations. Children have no choice in the environment they are born into. When lingering poverty robs children of hopes and dreams regardless of hardworking parents, what role can children’s cafeterias play in creating children’s spaces and fostering healthy development? This was the motivation behind starting my research.

* Children’s cafeterias: A social service in Japan that provides good food and warm company either free-of-charge or at low cost to children, parents, and others in the community.

Thinking about Care and the Various Losses of Society
I have studied bereavement care for many years. Just as the bereaved lose someone important to them, a society that needs children’s cafeterias can also be described as having lost many things. For example, loss of community, loss of a safe family environment, and loss of people who eat meals together. People need places where they are needed and where they belong. The loss of places to belong leads to a loss of self-esteem and self-worth. We cannot deny the potential effect of these losses on delinquency and crime. In terms of the “compassionate” criminology advanced by the Criminology Research Center, I plan to study these matters from a social welfare perspective and the perspective of loss in particular.

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Prof. Shin-ichi ISHIZUKA
Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University; Director, Criminology Research Center; Director, Therapeutic Jurisprudence Unit and Legal Education Unit, Criminology Research Center
[Profile]:
Serves as director of the Criminology Research Center and as leader of the Entaku (round table) project, which is an informal network that connects people wanting to recover from substance dependence and violence dependence.

Broadening the Appeal of Criminology to a Wide Audience
I set up the Criminology Research Center to create a hub where academic researchers intent on studying criminology as a scientific discipline can network, and to also raise the profile of the academic field of criminology in Japan.
Ryukoku University has the Ryukoku Corrections and Rehabilitation Center (RCRC) and is an important contributor to research into correction, rehabilitation and criminal policy in Japan. Similarly, the goal of the Criminology Research Center is to be a contributor in this field through research that combines a good balance of knowledge from the human sciences, social sciences, and natural sciences and to convince people that criminology is an interesting field of academic study.
Considering the social background and origins of people who commit crimes as well as the state of our nation, this gives us pause to ponder the state of the world. A close examination of crime opens our eyes to how people are inextricably linked with the world around them. When considered in this way, criminology is actually a rather interesting field that can be approached from all manner of directions.
The main goal of the Criminology Research Center is that each of its members works on education, human resources, and policy advocacy with the findings of their research. Moreover, another major goal is to facilitate a wide range of students and laypeople learning the appeal of criminology. Through the study of criminology, I want to foster a criminology literacy that guards people against the effects of inflammatory crime news.

Outreach that Supports the Individual
My own research is in the field of therapeutic jurisprudence and mainly covers drug-related problems through formulating drug policy to address the drug-related problems found in Japan. Japan once followed a draconian policy of long-term imprisonment of abusers and possessors of drugs but has recently altered its orientation towards the institution of measures that prevent recidivism by supporting social reintegration through state and civic coordination. Nevertheless, because this support is provided within a legal system that categorizes drug users, the mentally disabled, and elderly people under the same umbrella, it serves to thwart people’s independence.
We must seek to understand the needs of individual people and provide support for people to live according to those needs. People who make a criminal misstep deserve the support of people and society around them so they may work towards resuming life on a new path and avoiding the same misstep. Relating this situation to Aesop's Fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, it is important to respect the life of each; thus it is not the case that only the ant pursues the only correct way of life, but rather that the ant lives as an ant would and the grasshopper lives as a grasshopper would, and each have their own way of living. It is by this doctrine and through research and outreach activities that I intend to support offenders and continue policy advocacy and outreach activities that protect individual ways of pursuing life.

Bringing Criminology at Ryukoku University to the World
Criminology at Ryukoku University advances the Buddhist ethos of tomoiki (to build life together) that is represented in the idea that all existence rests on fate, and is also underpinned by Shinran’s views on human nature that stem from accepting things as they are. Although criminology as an academic discipline is not well recognized in Japan, my goal is to bring this criminology of Ryukoku University to Japan and the world.
While incidences of crime in Japan are very low compared to the rest of the world, we still have no clear understanding of why this is the case. Uncovering the reasons for this unique situation may help reduce crime in other countries and I look to foster research that has a positive influence on the international community.

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