The process of penitentiary rehabilitation in the experiences of former convicts

• Main Author: Elżbieta Łuczak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fundacja Pedagagium 2020-12-01
• Series: Polish Journal of Social Rehabilitation
• Subjects: penitentiary rehabilitation; penitentiary isolation; experiences; convicts; interpersonal relations
• Online Access: http://resocjalizacjapolska.pl/index.php/rp/article/view/306

The content presented in the study is an excerpt from a broader research conducted by the author on the effectiveness of social rehabilitation impacts of selected prisons in our country. In this study, we used the results related to the external effectiveness of social rehabilitation, in which a lot of space was devoted to reconstructing the experiences of former convicts made with the use of open in-depth interviews. The aim of the analyses was to obtain answers to the following question: What factors in experiencing penitentiary isolation and achieving success in social rehabilitation do former convicts attribute the greatest importance to? The area of research exploration outlined in this way consisted of two research fields focused on giving meaning to the conditions of imprisonment and the interpersonal relations of the convicts. The research provided rich empirical material showing the multiplicity and sometimes also different meanings associated with experiencing penitentiary isolation. However, the greatest importance was given by the subjects to good relations with the family and other closest people as well as character traits manifested in high resistance to stress and difficult conditions of penitentiary isolation. Although the research results obtained are limited in terms of sample selection and do not give rise to wider generalizations, they show - contrary to popular beliefs - that penitentiary rehabilitation is not as bad as it is believed to be, but it is also a process that has positive aspects that must certainly be found and, of course, developed.