Prison and Social Reintegration: The Voice of a Formerly Freedom-Deprived Individual

Abstract

This study uses the voice of a formerly freedom-deprived individual, resorting to his memory, perception, and the exchange of the information acquired during his tenure in jail to interpret and understand the implications and manners of thought of those who live the prison reality. Following the qualitative methodology as the approach in the case study, this investigation demonstrates that in spite of the years that have passed, and of the efforts undertaken by the governments to make changes, jails continue being frequently damaged spaces, and in their interiors reigns a particular way of life in which violence is a necessary consequence, where socially diminished individuals retrain, with insufficient programs of attention, limited offers and opportunities of access amongst other restrictions, which end on disrespect and violation of their human rights because many times, more than stimulation for their rehabilitation, which is the proclaimed goal of the penitentiary system, jail is constituted into a place of development of their criminal career.