Investing in the care of the social reintegration of detainees

Issue 2/2024 of the magazine Welfare and Ergonomics was born from the desire to question the total institution par excellence that is still active and full of meaning today: prison. A place symbolically and physically removed from the urban space, which continues to represent a challenge for our model of democratic coexistence and welfare.

Starting from a sociological and legal approach, the volume aims to reflect on the condition of people deprived of liberty and on the very meaning of punishment, starting from a fundamental question: How can welfare contribute to building concrete paths of social reintegration, respecting human dignity and constitutional principles?

The contributions hosted in the magazine, edited by Alberto Pesce and Veronica Valenti, address some crucial issues: prison overcrowding, the system's difficulties in ensuring care, training, emotional relationships and work for detainees, but also the specific condition of women and transgender people in prison, often doubly invisible. Space is also dedicated to the contribution of neuroscience, artificial intelligence and restorative justice, as alternative tools and visions to reform penal execution.

This issue is developed from a critical perspective, strongly inspired by thinkers such as Goffman, Foucault and Camus, and aimed at deconstructing stereotypes and security policies that risk reinforcing exclusion and recidivism. Social and work reintegration is not only a re-educational objective, but an essential condition for a more just and safe society.

The magazine therefore also questions the model of community that we intend to build: a community that recognizes solidarity and shared responsibility as its foundation, in which truly “no one is saved alone”.