Support for Family Relationship Inside and Outside Prison

An intervention aimed at maintaining positive prisoner-family relationships responds to needs of warranty and support so that the imprisonment of a parent doesn’t deprive the child a normal relation life. Clinical practice shows that the majority of inmates experienced in their childhood the imprisonment of a parent or emotional distance from him/her. This deprivation could lead to development, in adulthood, of a difficulty in recognizing authority, social conventions and an inability to tolerate frustrations. Research shows that: 30% of the children of inmates are destined to repeat the detention path of the imprisoned parent; families with experience of detention are exposed to a high risk of exclusion; the children are more exposed to abandonment and deviance; long incarcerations undermine the relationship of the couple. Intervention in this direction also pursues pro-social purposes: Bahr shows how a strong bond with their family reduces the risk of recidivism. With this project, we operate in different directions: on under-age children to support their relationship with the imprisoned parent in a perspective of empowerment; support for relationship of the couple, helping the family to manage the forced separation between child and imprisoned parent, supporting the relationship with the child and accompanying him/her in search of words that allow him/her to represent the parent beyond the crime committed.