Session Information
02 SES 05.5 PS, General Poster Session
General Poster Session
Contribution
In our poster presentation we aim to analyse the pedagogical dimension of the re-education principle of punishment in the Italian and Hungarian legal system, governed by national and supranational law, in consideration of the prison context. We examine what kind of specific features appear concerning the education and training of inmates, what kind of settings the system provides for this group of prisoners in two countries, Italy and Hungary.
We delineate what was the turning point in the prison system when the Italian and Hungarian Penitentiary Act (1975 Italy and subsequent changes, 1979 Hungary) were established. In these acts social rehabilitation issues were emphasized along with the purposes of prison sentences. After 2000 another turning point took place in both countries, also due to the European Court of Human Rights judgements on respcting human rights of inmates. The search for new, more efficient methods and forms of social rehabilitation has become very important.
Our research questions are:
- What is the legal, financial, statistical background of prison education/learning in both countries?
- What kind of characteristic features does the Italian and Hungarian prison education/learning have?
- Which are the learning opportunities for detainees during their imprisonment in Italy and Hungary?
- What are the characteristic features of prison teachers/trainers in both countries?
- Who is responsible for inmates’ education and rehabilitation (or their “educational reimbursement”)?
Theoretical framework according to the research questions
- We study what are the characteristics of financial and legal background of prison education in both countries. The functioning of the penitentiary system is governed by the law in both countries. The most important of them are the Acts of criminal code: in Hungary the Act of the Executive Criminal Code 2013. CCXL. and in Italy: Penitentiary Act (L. 354/1975 and subsequent changes) The law dictates and states the rights of prisoners in relation to the options of learning in both countries. We will research how it works in practice concerning not only compulsory education, vocational education, university studies, integration of foreigner inmates, inside and outside employment.
- Prison education is very beneficial since in the case of detainees who take part in education there are fewer discipline problems in prison, the rate of those who become subsequent offenders after release and commit another crime is much lower. As the knowledge, abilities and skills acquired and the documents certifying them can improve the released person’s labour market chances, moreover they can be important tools of repeat offence prevention, they can contribute to the prevention of the development of a criminal career. We examine how the prison system works in both countries concerning education, whether in the two countries schools operating within penitentiary institutions are state schools or are contracted with schools subsidized by churches and foundations.
- We study the pecularities of detainees in both countries. The prisoners’ qualifications, basic skills are lower than the average of the society, which indicates that there was some disorder in the normal socializing processes in the case of the majority of the detainees. Intellectual deficit and partial ability deficit are more frequent among them, thus reading, logical, motor deficiencies, disorders are overrepresented. Despite all these difficulties, learning in prison has a lot of advantages.
- Prison teachers are subject to the same regulations, and they have to meet the same requirements as teachers employed at schools outside prisons. The special situation of inmates makes the prison teachers’ work a lot more difficult. During their criminal andragogical activity they have to pay special attention to the handling of the detainees’ schooling deficit and the separation of their special position.
Method
While researching the professional literature related to this subject matter in Hungary and Italy we started processing the European documents, result of forums, European Commission, Council of Europe and UN resolutions. We went through several primary sources and original documents, and paid special emphasis to European Prison Rules. After researching the international and European documents, we went on to compare the results of domestic and international statistics in both countries. Besides this we paid a great deal of attention to studying the sources of Italian and Hungarian prison education, thus not only did we read the most important books, studies, and articles in periodicals, but also participated in state exchange program to meet and discuss the topic personally (2018. June in Florence (Italy), 2018. December in Debrecen (Hungary)). The material to be presented at the poster can be used by the penitentiary systems of other European countries, as the difficulties of prison education are similar in most European states. What is makes the different is the culture and the approach towards the meaning of punishment. According to our opinion, the most important problem is caused by the fact that in the present system even the motivated detainees can learn at the expense of difficulties in both countries. Teachers try to teach them with the same methods, which often runs into difficulties because of their functional illiteracy, learning, behaviour problems, immature and quite often injured personality structure. Besides this, learning becomes rather restricted in the cell in the forced presence of the cellmates. There are no schoolrooms in every institution and they are not available for all convicts, this would be justified to change. Detainees’ access to education, tools connected to the study material and the library is difficult, often even the textbooks are not available. In order to explore these circumstances in more detail we plan to carry out empirical research in which we visit several correctional facilities in Italy and Hungary and ask the prisoners, educators, and teachers about their experience, views, and opinions about education.
Expected Outcomes
We define accurately in our poster how the prison education systems in Italy and Hungary work, which are the main similarities and distinctions concerning these systems. There are crucial differences in the following issues: legal framework, types of detention centres, financial and statistical background, organisation of education, the ration of foreigner inmates (in Italy 70%, Hungary 4%). There are some similarities as well, e.g. the rate of overcrowding, situation of prison teachers (they are mostly school teachers from the local schools). Similarity is, that both in Italy and Hungary, the system of punishment, rehabilitation and education of convicts evolved, underwent changes adapted to the conditions of reality. The school system in prisons operates in accordance with the Act on the Education System in both countries. They follow the same curricula and education programmes as schools in the free world. The Re-educational treatments are crucial in both countries. They consist of a programme aimed at supporting subjects in building up their social and professional integration via a treatment programme. The ratio is to understand how to re-integrate prisoners (that have been sentenced with a definitive judgement) into society after incarceration and how to prevent them from returning to a life of crime. Prisoners education significantly contributes to the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts. The detainees are mainly trained in the practical preparation for work they should undertake after leaving prison. They acquire or improve their skills in areas and occupations that are in demand on the labour market.
References
Ács-Bíró Adrienn (2016). Szakképzés és foglalkoztatás a rácsok mögött. Tapasztalatok a Kalocsai Fegyház és Börtönben. [Training and working behind bars. Experiences in the Prison of Kalocsa] EDU 6(3) 147-156. •Constitution of the Italian Republic, https://www.senato.it/documenti/repository/istituzione/costituzione.pdf •Decreto Presidente Repubblica 30 giugno 2000 n. 230 Regolamento recante norme sull’ordinamento penitenziario e sulle misure privative e limitative della libertà. •European Commission (2010). Pathways to Inclusion – Strengthening European Cooperation in Prison Education and Training Prison education – Context, trends and policy issues: Background paper. Atti della Conferenza, Bruxelles: European Commission. •European Commission (2011). Prison education and training in Europe - a review and commentary of existing literature, analysis and evaluation. Bruxelles: Directorate General for Education and Culture, European Commission. •Ministero della giustizia, Legge 23 giugno 2017 n. 103. Modifica al codice penale, al codice di procedura penale e all’ordinamento penitenziario. •Budai Gábor (2017). Fogvatartottak képzése és foglalkoztatása a Pálhalmai Országos Büntetés-végrehajtási Intézetben. In: Börtönügyi Szemle 36(1) 5–21. •DECRETO LEGISLATIVO 2 ottobre 2018, n. 124 •Riforma dell'ordinamento penitenziario in materia di vita detentiva e lavoro penitenziario, in attuazione della delega di cui all'articolo 1, commi 82, 83 e 85, lettere g), h) e r), della legge 23 giugno 2017, n. 103. (18G00150) (GU n.250 del 26-10-2018 - Suppl. Ordinario n. 50 ) Entrata in vigore del provvedimento: 10/11/2018 •Palma, M. (2011). Due modelli a confronto: il carcere responsabilizzante e il carcere paternalista, Roma: Ediesse. •Council of Europe (2006): European Prison Rules •Hawley, Jo – Murphy, Ilona – Souto-Otero, Manuel (2013): Prison education and training in Europe. Current state-of-play and challenges. A summary report authored for the European Commission by GHK Consulting. In: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/education/library/study/2013/prison_en.pdf •Torlone, F. (2018). The Right to Educational Compensation of the Prisoners in the Italian System, Hungarian Educational Research Journal-HERJ, 8(2018), n-.4, pp. 52-69.ISSN: 2064-2199 •Torlone, F. & Vryonides, M. (2016). Innovative Learning Models for Prisoners, Florence: FUP-Florence University Press. •Torlone, F. (2015). La Formazione al Rispetto dei Diritti Umani. La Sperimentazione nel Sistema Penitenziario [Training for the Respect for Human Rights. Experimentation in the Prison System]. In P. Federighi, F. Torlone (Eds.), Training for the Respect of Human Rights in the Criminal System (pp. 135-182). Firenze: FUP-Florence University Press.
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