MIĘDZY PRACĄ SOCJALNĄ A RESOCJALIZACJĄ. UWARUNKOWANIA PRACY SOCJALNEJ Z (BYŁYMI) WIĘŹNIAMI W POLSCE

Abstract

Between social work and social rehabilitation. Conditions of social work with ex-prisoners in Poland People leaving penitentiary institutions, being at particular risk of social marginalization, are one of the target groups of social policy in the countries of the European Union. Social work with this social category, however, runs at the intersection of social policy and criminal policy, between which a distinct "fracture" has been observed in Poland for years. Collaboration of penitentiary units with social assistance institutions is usually of a small range, and the support offered to former prisoners in the return to society is "blurred" between systems (justice, penitentiary, social welfare) and their institutions. As one of the consequences, the social rehabilitation system does not benefit from social work's achievements. The aim of the article is to outline the systemic context of Polish social work with people leaving penitentiary institutions and to draw attention to the possibility of using social work more widely than presently, in order to limit social marginalization of this social category and-from the point of view of criminal and penal policy-to reduce criminal recidivism.