Contacts of persons serving prison sentences with family and other relatives. Sources and conditions

Aneta Jarzębińska

Uniwersytet Szczeciński; Instytut Pedagogiki

Abstract

Background: Contacts between convicted persons and their family as well as other relatives is an important issue in the area of penitentiary science. It is believed that such contacts reduce the discomfort of imprisonment and that they are a prerequisite for successful social rehabilitation and re-adaptation.

Aim: The aim of the article is to present the results of the research on who prisoners contact from among their own family and relatives and whether there are correlations between the sociodemographic features of prisoners and the possession of these contacts.

Methodology - The material for the research comes from own-made questionnaires completed by 345 people serving a sentence of imprisonment in one of four prisons in Poland.

Results - It was established that convicted persons have contact especially with the following types of sources: stepson, partner (be it female or male), friend outside the prison. After taking into account all contacts with children, stepchildren, sisters, brothers and friends (each respondent could have several), the order of contact sources changed and was as follows: partner (male or female), mother, stepchildren. Attention was drawn to the low percentage of inmates contacting their own children.

It was found that having contact with family members and loved ones depends on the gender and age of the respondents, as well as their education and the length of the prison sentence. On the other hand, the number of stays in penitentiary isolation was of little importance.

Conclusions - Maintaining and developing contacts of convicted persons with their family members and relatives should be a central element of penitentiary policy. Relatives who are known to be the main source of contact should be recruited as allies, who can help with penitentiary work. Bearing in mind that the source of support after being released is most often one's own family, when there is no contact with its members, the inmates should be encouraged to initiate it, especially with regard to the relationship between the father and their own offspring.

Keywords:

contacts of prisoners with the outside world, penitentiary rehabilitation, social readaptation of ex-prisoners, families of prisoners

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Published
2024-12-20

Cited by

Jarzębińska, A. (2024). Contacts of persons serving prison sentences with family and other relatives. Sources and conditions. Family Forum, 14, 169–193. https://doi.org/10.25167/FF/4874

Authors

Aneta Jarzębińska 

dr Aneta Jarzębińska, adiunkt w Instytucie Pedagogiki Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego; Obszary badawcze: problemy rodzin osób odbywających karę pozbawia wolności; kontakty ze światem zewnętrznym i nauczanie w resocjalizacji penitencjarnej, historia szkolnictwa przywięziennego, koncepcja hospicjum perinatalnego.

Tytuły znaczących publikacji:

  • The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Coping Styles Among First-Time and Recurrent Prisoners in Poland, M. Leszko, R. Iwański, A. Jarzębińska, Frontiers in Psychology 2020, 10.

  • A. Jarzębińska, Prisoners’ alienation and lack of contact with relatives, A. Jarzębińska, Pedagogia Christiana 2020, v. 45 no 1.

  • A. Jarzębińska, Wizyty dziecka u ojca osadzonego w zakładzie karnym (perspektywa matek), Problemy Opiekuńczo Wychowawcze 2021, nr 3.

  • Opieka paliatywna i hospicyjna w ujęciu społecznym i ekonomicznym, R. Iwański, E. Sielicka, A. Jarzębińska, CeDeWu, Warszawa 2018.

  • A. Jarzębińska, Kształcenie i szkolenie kursowe osób osadzonych w latach 1999–2020, Przegląd Historyczno-Oświatowy, 2020, nr 3-4.

aneta.jarzebinska@usz.edu.pl; ORCID: 0000-0001-5765-8741



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