Istruzione, formazione e lavoro in carcere: verso un nuovo trattamento penitenziario

The Italian legislation considers prison as an opportunity for thedetainees' resocialisation. However, in most of the Italian prisons, no educational/training programmes and job opportunities are provided, even though they are depicted by literature as essential elements to carry out an effective process of prisoners' recovery. Stemming from this background, this research project is aimed at providing a comprehensive review of the penitentiary treatment in Italy, and contributing to the ongoing debate on the current and future perspectives of the penitentiary sector, in the belief that it can play a crucial role in the promotion of active citizenship and social inclusion. To this purpose, the research project is structured as follows. The first part is dedicated to a literature review, based on the analysis of the main sources of law, doctrine and jurisprudence on this topic. This preliminary work is particularly relevant to acquire the theoretical knowledge, which is necessary for a valuable assessment of the current penitentiary system in Italy. The second part is thus devoted to a mapping exercise concerning 190 Italian prisons and 16 juvenile penal institutions. This exercise shows that the majority of prisoners are low educated and poorly skilled. Plus, they rarely receive training and job opportunities during the retention period. Drawing on the theoretical hints provided by the literature review and the results of the mapping exercise, the final part of this project lays down possible lineguides for the development of the Italian penitentiary treatment. Notably, it emphasises the urgency of strenghtening education, vocational training and employment oppotunities in prisons, in order to turn the Italian penitentiary system into a real driver for the former inmates' successful reintegration in society.