Dr. Michelle Lelwica, professor of religion at ×ö°®ÊÓƵ, releases her newest book, “,” which incorporates visits with her students to West Central Regional Juvenile Center. The book explores religion’s impact on Americans’ beliefs about justice and on teenagers who get in trouble with the law.
Lelwica first started working with the juvenile detention center through teaching Religion, Race & Social Justice. The course explores how religious beliefs and narratives have been used to challenge — or justify — social injustices, while also examining how these beliefs and narratives have functioned to promote violence and trauma or to foster compassion and healing. Concordia students travel to WCRJC once a week for mindfulness sessions with the youth. These mindfulness sessions start with a short meditation followed by small group discussions based on class readings or conversation cards.
The small groups allow the youth at WCRJC to explore topics like what they want to do after they are released, who in their life they admire the most, and their highs and lows of the week. Students engage in these conversations as well, but they are mostly there to learn from youth who have vastly different life experiences.
Lelwica was inspired to bring her students closer to the issues discussed in class by Bryan Steverson, a civil rights lawyer and author of “Just Mercy.” His grandmother often told him, “Some of the most important things in your life, you will never understand until you get close to them.”
“That concept of proximity really resonated with me,” Lelwica said. “I can live my life quite fine without ever having to think about racism or poverty or some of the devastating impacts of sexism. Most of the young girls that we visit have experienced some kind of sexual trauma or physical abuse traced to sexism. To overcome that comfortable distance, I wanted to bring my classroom outside the confines of Concordia.”
Lelwica says these trips changed her outlook on life and helped her recognize how different her upbringing was from the youth she was visiting. Through “Hurting Kids,” Lelwica shares snippets of her conversations with different youth at WCRJC.
“Oftentimes, justice in America is synonymous with punishment, and there are theological narratives that often fuel that notion of justice and punishment, divine vengeance, divine retribution, and punishment for sin,” she said.
Lelwica challenges readers to question their assumptions about “guilt” and “innocence” by sharing how whatever harm these children have inflicted on others is rooted in generational trauma — trauma shaped by systemic injustices. Lelwica advocates for a new version of justice for youth that uplifts equity, compassion, and accountability.
“People with privilege haven't done enough to create a society in which all kids can flourish,” she said.
Lelwica is also the author of “Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement,” “Starving for Salvation: The Spiritual Dimensions of Eating Problems among American Girls and Women,” “The Religion of Thinness: Satisfying the Spiritual Hungers Behind Women's Obsession with Food and Weight,” and multiple book chapters and journal articles.
Written by Alyssa Czernek '25